What do you tend to assume about others?

From the Heteronomative thread, I got to thinking about assumptions I tend to make, and when I wrote them down I was curious what others tend to assume.

I tend to assume until proven otherwise that people are:

If I meet you in Real Life and you look over 65:

• Heterosexual, happily married with adult children, happily retired, Christian, morally & politically conservative.

If I meet you in Real Life and you look 25 - 65:

• Heterosexual, happily married with children, happily employed, Christian, morally conservative but politically liberal.

If I meet you in Real Life and you look under 25:

• Heterosexual, single, working in a really crappy job or in school, don't care for religion, morally & politically liberal.

If I meet you online:

• White, male, something other than heterosexual, single, don't care for religion, morally & politically liberal.

I assume:

In real life, if you're smiling: Happy.

In real life, if you're not smiling: Unhappy, probably an asshole.

On the internet: Probably an asshole

One second, I'm too busy masturbating into a sock to an anime character in my (white) mother's basement to reply at this very moment.

Depends on a number of factors. Age, dress, skin color, sex, gender expression, behavior, way of talking, cleanliness and so on. I'm too lazy to write up anything in depth at the moment.

edited 17th Apr '11 8:24:56 PM by Aondeug

Strange, I almost never assume people I meet are married or in romantic relationships. Single is the default for me, as is being agnostic/lapsed christian.

I assume that:

• You are probably not a criminal.
• I can trust you not to be a runaway axe murderer.

Dependent on appearance:

• You may or may not be a member of a gang (or were at one point). Don't ask why I mention this. Just know that where I live, you can usually tell.

Oddly enough, I assume that, if I were to go up to you in Real Life and ask for help, you'd probably give it. I tend to assume that people are way nicer than we give credit. :3 Though I acknowledge I'd have a tough chance getting proper help with my life problems, as my problems tend to bring out awkward reactions in people.

For most people middle-aged or younger, I assume that they're heterosexual and vaguely Christian, but not particularly devout. If their clothes look pretty good, I think they have a generic white collar job and are middle class. If they're 30 or older, I assume they are in a steady relationship/married and they probably bought a house. If they're older than middle-aged, I assume they're a pretty devout Christian, married with kids, and have their own home.

@TMA: Those are pretty solid assumptions to make, I think. More likely to be true than most of ours, at least.

edited 17th Apr '11 8:49:23 PM by OnTheOtherHandle

I try not to assume anything at all.

In reality, I assume you don't like me and you're going to try and find anything you can to harm me in some way.

That they're human, heterosexual and less important to me than myself. Apart from that, I don't go in with a lot of assumptions without any information. Given more data, of course, I can come up with more. I do tend to make snap judgements, though.

I assume that people in meatspace are watching and judging my every action, and that they probably have some measure of contempt for me or at least perceive something 'off' about me, but they hide it with politeness; I assume they'd try to harm me if they thought they could get away with it. I assume they don't suffer from any anxiety or mood disorders, and are more comfortable in their present situation than I am. Though I sometimes remind myself of rape statistics, I tend to assume the people around me haven't been victims of violent crime. I assume everybody is single and childless.

edited 18th Apr '11 6:38:50 AM by Tongpu

I assume that they're normal, and I'll leave it at that.

"I assume that people in meatspace are watching and judging my every action, and that they probably have some measure of contempt for me or at least perceive something 'off' about me, but they hide it with politeness."

Yes, me too. I feel like I can actually see it. Likely true. Not the other stuff though. Although I do tend to assume that they have much nicer lives.

edited 18th Apr '11 8:28:05 AM by LoveHappiness

I assume they think I'm a nerd.

Upon first meeting, I assume the average person is an atheist, agnostic, or lapsed Christian unless actually seen wearing a religious symbol or entering a place of worship. I assume they're unfamiliar with most of the fiction I like, but I'm surprised whenever they criticize new media as inherently evil. I assume they're stronger than I am unless they're obviously frail. I assume they won't publicly admit to any form of sexual deviance, even homosexuality. On the flip side, I'm shocked when they publicly admit to disliking homosexuals (and my jaw nearly dropped the first time I heard someone make a black joke.) If they're obviously a generation older than me, I assume they've never even heard of half the stuff I've found on the Internet. When in America, I assume they speak English. Whatever their personal standards of attractiveness may be, I assume I don't fit them. I assume the average person has some method of telling what time it is. I assume everyone knows how to ride a bus and use a computer, and if over 18 I assume they own a car and can drive.

I'm spending way too long on this, aren't I?

I assume you are better than I really am capable of seeing right now. You are not insane yet. You don't like me.

Hm, I tend to assume everyone is less intelligent than I am, though I don't let others notice. Think only one or two people have caught that.

Let's see, on first glance I will assume that overweight people are lazy and possibly unintelligent, people who smoke too much are probably slobs and that people who wear enough makeup for me to easily notice are shallow, vain and not worth holding a conversation with.

@feo: You hit a lot of things that I didn't even know I assumed, like being able to use a computer, being able to drive, etc. Oh, I also assume that they don't have a criminal record, but have probably done something illegal, most likely underage drinking and/or digital piracy. If they look to be in their twenties, I assume they have had sex at some point. Unless they obviously look like a recent immigrant, I assume English is their first and best language. I assume that if I ask them for the time/directions somewhere, they will be willing and able to help.

...I just realised that I assume if some random person on the street speaks to me in a non-English language, I assume they are not particularly proficient with English.

I assume that they have no motivation to hurt me and are looking primarily to avoid trouble. They'll be polite to me but have no actual interest in my well-being.

My assumptions:

• People who like to drink a lot of alcohol do not like thinking.
• People who watch a lot of television (at least 2 hours / day) do not have as much imagination as I do.
• 95% of everyone I meet probably likes conforming. They will never admit it, but once they start repeating certain lines and phrases with their friends, it's all over for them.
• People who think that drinking alcohol is "fun" do not like dealing with reality.
• People who base their reality entirely on what they hear verbally are not intelligent. Once someone says, "Well, I've never met anyone who..." or "I've never heard of someone who..." or "But my friends all said that..." I automatically start making all kinds of assumptions about them.
• People who shout at those who do not do what they say are probably either sociopaths or control freaks.
• People who get extremely upset when their exact plans are not realized, or if people do not do exactly what they say, even if the same end result occurs, are probably people who I need to avoid.
• People who look forward to drinking lots of alcohol are probably not very good at self-control in other areas of their life.
• People who proclaim that their culture's way of doing something is the best way to do things (e.g. driving big loud cars is the best way to drive, or making lots of money is the only worthy goal for their children) are probably inflexible in their thoughts.
• When someone says "Fuck you" or "Fuck them" when I say something like, "No, the party is not here, it may be that apartment down the hall," that person is probably someone I should avoid.
• When someone's rationale for joining a religion is "because things are out of control these days," this person may not be interested in the finer points of that religion or how it differs from other belief systems.
• Most people probably enjoy hating some other group of people, since it makes them think that they have a group identity of some sort that is worth belonging to.

This all sounds quite Captain Obvious, but it is not so obvious to most people I meet.

"This all sounds quite Captain Obvious, but it is not so obvious to most people I meet."

No, it all sounds quite presumptuous and arrogant, actually.

edited 19th Apr '11 1:22:45 AM by kashchei

Yeah, it sounds kind of ridiculous, rather than common-sensical.

Something I assume if I hear a female using Valley Girl speech: They do not like, nor know about, anime. They also try constantly to pick up guys. (The latter goes the same if you are wearing a very revealing shirt.)

Something I assume if you're a buff-ish (lol, Buffy Speak pun) dude: They do not like anime and they like sports. The anime they know about will be mainstream, and they will favor DBZ but make fun of Naruto and, less often, of the people who like Naruto. They will also think Kingdom Hearts is for 5-year-olds because it has Disney characters.

Something I assume if you speak as though you are a stereotypical nerd (can't stop talking, has that voice... you know what I mean by that): You like DND.

I should note that I've encountered these stereotypes and have not met exceptions IRL.

edited 19th Apr '11 5:08:35 AM by Enzeru

'This all sounds quite Captain Obvious, but it is not so obvious to most people I meet. '

It sounds a bit mental, actually. Stop being so mean about booze. Booze is tasty and fun and makes random people want to have sex with you. Also, it goes well with a nice dinner.

I tend to make very few assumptions, but apply them widely:

1. On the internet, everyone is a nutter and will be (a) obsessed with weird Japanese cartoons or (b) an illiterate buffoon who spks in txt lol.

2. In real life, most people have an appallingly narrow field of experience and a correspondingly narrow view of the world.

3. Humans are bastards.

That way, when I meet anyone to whom the above do not apply I get a warm, happy surprised feeling.

edited 19th Apr '11 8:21:26 AM by InverurieJones