Assumptions and Words
When we speak to or about others, our words are often crafted to fit our assumptions of the person we are addressing. I was recently listening to the audio book “Being Wrong” by Kathryn Schulz and she listed three assumptions we often make about others: the ignorance assumption, the idiot assumption, and the evil assumption. I think that these three assumptions are largely responsible for the incivility we see around us in both personal interactions and on social media.
The ignorance assumption seems to be our starting point when others have an opinion or understanding of the world that is different from ours. Kathryn Schulz points out that the ignorance assumption is our most generous assumption. Rather than considering the possibility that this person who disagrees with us may know something we do not, and that we could learn from them, it is so easy to assume they are just ignorant. Once we make this assumption, we may feel we no longer need to listen to them and that we have a duty to educate them. Because of their ignorance – and our superior knowledge – we may also feel morally superior to them. Once me accept this assumption and its baggage we very quickly move to the next assumption.
The idiot assumption is a deepening and hardening of the ignorance assumption. The person is no longer seen as simply misinformed on the issue at hand, rather they are intellectually incompetent, their ignorance being a continual choice. When someone is ignorant, I can easily feel pity for them, but once I judge them to be an idiot, it is not compassion but contempt I feel for them. The assumption broadens from a particular subject to a blanket rejection of the person based on their character. If I have too many encounters with an assumed idiot, I easily move to the third assumption.
The evil assumption moves the person in my sights from an intellectually lazy or incompetent person to a morally disgusting person. Once I decide someone is evil there is little hope for rehabilitation. This also moves every disagreement, no matter how small, into a major issue because all issues with an evil person are considered moral issues. The perceived increase of moral stakes makes every disagreement more important than it would be at a lower level of assumption. Ironically, the perceived morality of this level of assumption can lead me to make moral mistakes! In my hatred of evil, I can act in evil ways.
Jesus warns us that we will be held accountable for “every empty word” we speak, for by our words we will be acquitted and by our words we will be condemned. (Matthew 12:35-36) Knowing that our words flow from our assumptions, we must be very careful about the assumptions we make concerning others. If we give people the benefit of the doubt, will that change the assumptions we make about them? If we consider that we, not they, may be in the wrong concerning this issue, how would that impact our assumptions?
It seems to me that patience is the best path forward when making assumptions about others. There is no need to rush to the worst possible assumptions, for there is time to listen carefully to others and make wise decisions about them without the need for hasty assumptions. If someone is either an idiot or evil, that will certainly be confirmed with further interaction. Patience in reaching that conclusion can save you from making an idiot of yourself with a bad assumption, or even worse, from doing evil because of a poor assumption.