Assumptions
....are generalizations of people and/or realties, often just based on a single story we have heard or an experience we've once made.
Trachmann and Bluestone define it as follows:
Every human society rests on assumptions that, most of the time, are not only unchallenged but not even reflected upon. In other words, in every society there are patterns of thought that most people accept without question as being of the very nature of things.
Trachman and Bluestone (2005)
Just a couple of days ago I read an article about a popular German fitness-influencer on Instagram who suffers from severe depression. He reports that people, including doctors, didn't believe him. They assumed that because he is a muscular. tattooed, sportive, heterosexual cis man, it is unlikely that he meets the criteria of a depressed person.
This example illustrates very well how much we actually limit ourselves in in the way we perceive people and realities. At the same time we also limit the perceived individual´s being.
I believe, that if you know one story you only know one story. In my day to day life I try to be as open-minded and curious as possible, seeing personal stories and experiences as an enrichment to my knowledge and a precious addition to my treasure chest of narratives.
Thank you for reading my post :-)
Trachman, M., & Bluestone, C. (2005). What´s love got to do with it? College Teaching 53, (4), 131-136.
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ReplyDeleteHi Maria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this intriguing post! I spent much of Module 1 processing my tendency to make assumptions in my practice, and tried in Module 2 to allow a shift in thinking feed my Inquiry Proposal.
It is all too easy to make assumptions as to why people dance, why they want to dance, why they are here, what they have been doing in the meantime, what they have been thinking about since last time I saw them.
We are all so different and we do/want/need/expect/prefer/see/feel very different things.
Let's go with Module 3!!
Ben x
https://benwarbis.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a thought provoking post Maria!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking a lot about writing assumptions when it comes to our research. During the process of writing our papers, what do we do if we might suddenly realise that our research has inherent flaws?
I guess an assumption in research is something we need to accept as a premise whereby our work can move forward. However, we must bookmark these assumptions for future reference and should always be sure to go back and check if the assumption proved critical in view of our findings?
Looking forward to travelling through the rest of Module Three with you! X
https://natashagoldstein-opasiak.blogspot.com