It isn't the assumption, it's what you do with it.

I recently finished Max Tegmark's "Our Mathematical Universe" which is basically a cosmologist's attempt at the ultimate theory of Life, the Universe and Everything (or, at the very least, a philosophical discussion thereof underpinned by math and cosmology). One of the interesting points he makes is that "reality" is not only subjective, but there are, for practical purposes, three kinds:

- Physical reality (that which would be, regardless of whether there's anyone to observe it)

- Consensus reality (a collective, agreed-upon interpretation of physical reality)

- Internal reality (an individual's perception of the universe as it appears only to them)

Within that framework, you can't help but make assumptions. "Making assumptions" is the only way to create an internal reality - "I cannot see through the table, therefore I assume it is solid." "Ramona is consistently rude to me, therefore I assume she's a bitch." The tricky part is in wedding your internal reality with the consensus reality.

That's where it goes off the rails. This is where "people skills" come in. At some point, you're going to need to broach the subject with that other person that you've assumed they're a white male between 18 and 25 that doesn't date much. "People skills" are necessary to test your assumptions and revise them so that your internal reality better matches consensus reality.

The problem with The Internet is You Are Always Right. When the other side of the argument is an abstraction, lending it credo takes a heapin' helpin' of humility.

If you aren't practiced at it, discarding a hypothesis is a dreadful chore. If you aren't zealously willing to be wrong, amending your perceptions is a painful process. Forming opinions? Easiest thing in the world. Reforming opinions? You have to practice at it.

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself; I am large, I contain multitudes."

- Walt Whitman

One has to have been consistently right for a boring amount of time before being wrong is a reward. If you're clever, though, you discover that being wrong is perhaps the best possible way to learn something. The trick is being wrong without being a dick about it - something that I struggle with.