Have you made any assumptions lately? How did they turn out? Why do we have to be careful with them?

Assumptions are tricky, one size does not fit all. You can’t say whether they are good or bad, there are two sides to the assumptive coin.

When it comes to human nature, you can’t go wrong with The Four Agreements approach. Don Miguel Ruiz is clear – when it comes to other people, never assume anything!

You can’t know what’s going on inside another person‘s mind, body, or consciousness. Besides, what they choose to do is less important than how you choose to react to it.

Pattern recognition is somewhat different. If someone is a proven liar over a long period of time, you may want to take their next promise with a grain of salt.

However, when it comes to the natural world, and the universe that surrounds us, the flipside of the assumptions coin is positive. Without assumptions, there is no science. And while it’s fashionable in certain circles nowadays to denigrate science, the fact is, where would we be without it?

Science is where curiosity and assumptions collide. Typically, it works like this. A scientist sees a common assumption and questions it. They come up with a hypothesis that gives them a way to test it. They either prove the assumption correct, or they open the door to new questions. Poking holes in assumptions is the scientists job.

Take the case of Monica Gagliano, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia. Based on her personal insights gained by ingesting entheogenic plants, she started to question the assumption that plants lack intelligence.

She designed two different experiments that have shown that in certain situations plants can do more than just learn — they can remember, communicate, and make decisions as well.

She calls her work ‘cognitive ecology’, and her controversial findings are upending the way people previously thought about plants. Perhaps the idea that neurons are necessary for intelligence is an assumption worth questioning after all?

Assumptions are everywhere. With science, asking “what if?” is always the first step in the process. With people, it’s “what if I’m reading this wrong?”

While it can be tricky to avoid making assumptions in the first place, making an eloquent inquiry is the first step in the dance towards better understanding.

The moral to the story is this: every assumption leaves itself open to questioning, whether we’re talking plants, people or the infinite possibilities of the universe.

Learning to leap to the question before jumping to conclusions is how you stay nimble in the great dance of life.

Much love till next Monday!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #666

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar