Hahah, yeah, b_b totally owned me, nice and proper-like. :)

Firstly, minimize drunken hubski posting.

Secondly, this entire topic is one of those lifelong conundrums.

You can't assume nothing, which is what the Buddhists might tell you to do. Perhaps not, but it sounds "zen"... or something. Unfortunately, not assuming things can be dangerous, in some circumstances. A date rapist won't politely inform their target "Yes, yes, I'm going to rape you"... the target can (typically) only evade the attacker via inference. That's an extreme example, but humans benefit in many instances from inferring new facts based upon context clues. Indeed, it's hardwired into our psychology, related to our survival instincts.

So yeah, we're always judging. We're always categorizing. We're stuck in an era when we were such primal creatures so recently, with society now evolving at a breakneck pace. We're trying to run Windows 7 on Compaqs. Of course we're confused and fucking up all the time.

I guess the real trick is to figure out when it's best to turn assumption-making on and off. I'm not going to pretend I'll ever master such a skill, so speculating on it here would be baseless. In general, though, it does like us humans are too quick to jump to a conclusion.

Whenever I am wrong in an assumption, I find it refreshing. I love seeing stereotypes smashed. Even spotting a car with handicapped plates tearing ass down the highway delights me. It seems like it's always best to make explanations, not excuses, but the line between the two can be a bit hazy at times...