Sometimes another's assumptions useful for your own self-realization.

I'll agree to that, not to mention the opportunities that arise due to people's attributions.

For example, I once applied for a job teaching with a smaller English language center on the recommendation of a friend that worked there. Like most of the foreigners in Viet Nam, my friend is a white guy. I spoke to the owner on the phone several times and she scheduled an interview at a centrally located cafe, as her language center was located in a warren of narrow alleyways. When I got to the cafe, I called her and spotted her looking around for whom she might be speaking to. To spare her the trouble, I walked over to her, while still on the phone and said, "excuse me, I think you might be looking for me. Are you Ms. (I forget her name)?" She took one look at me and flatly said, "No."

Now, a word about my appearance. While I am American, I'm not white. My parents are Filipino and I spend a lot of time outdoors with my dog, so I can get pretty dark. In the West, it's good to be tan. In the East, that's no good. It denotes that one is a laborer. Now, I was wearing my business clothes, had a nice phone to my ear and my big ol' smile that usually gets me treated nicely, but I was not what this lady was expecting to see. She did her best to recover gracefully, but I pressed her hard and was able to demonstrate my value as a teacher such that I was able to get a much better rate than she was offering.

People tend to show more than they want to when they resort to assumptions and attributions and while it can be hurtful at times, it can sometimes show you where to stick the knife and how deep. That goes for gambling too.