Well, first of all, we all know what happens when you ass-u-me something.
But as I've traversed the Xanga world I continue to see things where people completely freak out when things are assumed about them.
I don't understand the freak out over a complete stranger getting something wrong about you. I find it amusing when people assume things like I'm a lesbian or have never read the Bible or am not American. I just sit at my computer and smirk at how incredibly off base they are. But I rarely ever clue them into the truth because clearly they are lacking in intelligence (since one click on my screen name reveals my entire life) and it's really usually not relevant to whatever we're discussing.
But, having a degree in psychology and being rather bored about 20 hours a day, I started analyzing the asumptions people make about others.
By far my favorite is when someone assumes someone else is a Christian (erroneously) and the nonChristian flies off the handle in a mad frenzy to distance themselves from the assumption (clearly this says a lot about how people perceive Christianity but that's another discussion entirely).
This is my favorite for a few reasons.
1. Even if someone assumed I was a Satanist I wouldn't get as worked up as some of these people. Let alone if it's just some relatively peaceful and sane religion (ie. no alien watchers or sacrificing human babies). And especially if it is the personal religion of the person doing the assuming. If a Hindu assumes I am Hindu from the things I am saying, why would I be offended? Clearly we have a lot of common ground and they have noticed that I am not antagonistic toward them.
2. The psychology behind it (here it comes!). Studies have shown that when we like or agree with someone we tend to project all of our positive attributes (and even our physical features) on this person (and vice versa). When I find someone I find who is snarky and funny and knows what they're talking about I immediately picture a white/whitish college-educated girl about my age with wavy brown hair sitting in her bedroom in the US. On the flip side, when I find a troll I can't stand I tend to picture a pimply fatty man with greasy hair, bathed in the irridesent light of his laptop as he munches on pork rinds in a virtual cave. Rarely are these ever the case, and when I find out otherwise my visual picture changes but not my opinion.
The reason we do this is that we want to imagine having as much in common as possible with people we deem "like us." This is why we tend to be surprised when someone from "our side of the tracks" likes something (music, a SO etc) from "the other side." We also want to put as much distance between us and people we disagree with. Our brains like to categorize into "like me" and "not like me" even though the world is so much more complex.
So, when I write "I assume you're a Christian"
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