All my life I’ve dealt with race-related assumptions made against me. There’s nothing more frustrating and emotionally distorting than being judged and treated as someone you are not. I am an individual. My upbringing formed me and my siblings into unique individuals. The outside world is unfamiliar with this and won’t accept it. Nonetheless, it’s real, as real as the many things about me and my family that do not conform to assumptions made against people who look like us. The perpetual slights and judgements I receive from the outside world, and even from some friends who have yet to know my upbringing and life journey intimately, have induced me to write examinations on race, gender, social issues–and where supposed human intellectuality rests on each issue. Just how intellectually advanced are we humans? That’s the prime question in all my stories.
The foolish don’t ask questions, but make assumptions.
The arrogant believe in their assumptions.
And arrogant, narrow-minded fools act on their assumptions.
The intelligent ask questions not simply to avoid being foolish, arrogant, and narrow-minded, but to gain more knowledge and understanding of the complexities and variations in the world around us.
– The Clerk
That’s right, those who ask questions get smarter, while those who rely on assumptions only make further fools of themselves.
Know someone who trusts and acts on their assumptions — a prejudice teacher, a close-minded relative, or a co-worker? Share the above quote with them. Perhaps they’ll reflect on their line of reasoning — or, rather, lack thereof.
The Clerk 
Beautiful piece. I find it so incredibly frustrating as well. Assumptions are high where Emotional intelligence is lacking I think… Great piece.
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I agree with you about a lack of emotional intelligence and assumptions. I’ve been meditating on a new way of summing that up based on my everyday experiences. It’s not quite polished, but here it is, “humans, while intellectually capable, are all too often emotionally immature when it comes to separating what they see from what they actually know.”
We need to use the tools of reasoning humans have been blessed with and ask questions, gain information, not judge the world based on our senses like other species that lack the ability to ask questions and gather facts. Assuming is a waste of human intellectual capabilities – worse, is acting on those assumptions.
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