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Do you have any assumptions to declare?
• Generate knowledge
• Precision
• Scope
• Depth
• Communicate clearly
Data-Free Zone!
This Is Personal...This Is Personal...
• Personal = Generally applicable (at least potentially)
• How different?
• Why is nobody talking about this?
Let Me Say This...Let Me Say This...
• Anecdote
• Principles
• Your ideas and experiences
• Questions for your toolbox
Definitions:1. Assumption
1. a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof: they made certain assumptions about the market | [ with clause ] : we're working on the assumption that the time of death was after midnight. [emphasis added.]
2. the action of taking or beginning to take power or responsibility: the assumption of an active role in regional settlements.
Definitions:2. Belief
1. an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists
2. (belief in) trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. [Emphasis in original.]
The DifferenceThe DifferenceI assume democracy is the best form of
government.
I believe democracy is the best form of government.
Once Upon A Time...
Once Upon A Time...
Yes, but...
Yes, but...
Four “Laws” of Assumptions
• Invisibility
• Ubiquity/universality
• Power
• Can be chosen
Four “Laws” of Assumptions
• Invisibility
• Ubiquity/universality
• Power
• Can be chosen
In Black & WhiteIn Black & White
Four “Laws” of Assumptions
• Invisibility
• Ubiquity/universality
• Power
• Can be chosen
Four “Laws” of Assumptions
• Invisibility
• Ubiquity/universality
• Power
• Can be chosen
Just 1 Powerful Assumption
Just 1 Powerful Assumption
Four “Laws” of Assumptions
• Invisibility
• Ubiquity/universality
• Power
• Can be chosen
Action/Cause
Not responsibl
e
Responsible
Responsible
Most freedom
Not responsibl
e
Least freedom
ToolsTools
Questions for uncovering assumptions
1.“What has to be true for me to act this way?”
2.“What could I be wrong about?”
More ToolsMore Tools
Questions for testing current assumptions
1.“Can life be workable when I live as if this is true?”
2.“Does this assumption express my values?”
3.“Is starting with this assumption stopping me from acting according to my values?”
Still More ToolsStill More Tools
Matrices
1.Pascal’s Wager
2.Johari Window
You/They
KnowDon’t Know
KnowPublic “Blind
Spot”
Don’t Know
Secrets Hidden
Johari Window
Disclosure
Seek Feedbac
k
Risk/Creativit
y
Still More ToolsStill More ToolsQuestions for creating new assumptions
1.“What if...?”
2.“Just suppose...?”
3.“In a world where [proposed assumption] were true... how would things change then? How would you behave differently?”
4.“If I substitute this new assumption for the old one, what does it ask me to give up?”
Dangerous Assumptions
"Grant an idea or belief to be true," it says, "what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash-value in experiential terms?” - William James
“You have to choose which future regret you're going to have.” - Christopher Hitchens
Dangerous Assumptions
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" - Charles Darwin
"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision." - Bertrand Russell
Right or Happy?Assumptions are:
Everywhere
Invisible
Powerful
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