A Brief Analysis of Assumption and Intuition
I take a break from Shakespeare this afternoon and go to get something to eat at Hardee’s. (That’s a Carl’s Jr. for you Westerners.) I wear a white T-shirt, pajama pants, and a silver engagement ring. I have a carseat in the backseat and I pay entirely with change. I am also clean-shaven, so I look approximately 2-3 years younger. As the window opens and I reach out my change-filled hand, I can already notice the pistons of assumption beginning to fire…
- (As she took my change, pocketing the last 2 cents…) “Well you just barely got it this time! Pretty lucky!”
- “You sure are awful young to be married! How old is the little one?” (I sighed inwardly and let her run with it.)
- “It’s a shame you’ve got a 4 year old. You know it won’t last between you two. My daughter is 26 and has been married 4 times.”
- “My son’s in college, so he’s still single and doing good.”
With one wave of a spatula, this woman assumed that I was married, had a kid, had a typical failing relationship, and was uneducated. (If there is one thing Tom Cruise and I have in common it is the way we look away and grin – I was doing that a lot.)
This incident did make me think. What is the difference between assuming something and knowing it intuitively?
Here are some things a more perceptive person may have noticed:
- I had a ten dollar bill sitting in the passenger seat.
- My ring only cost around 10-15 dollars, and it shows. It doesn’t look expensive, i.e. it isn’t wedding ring material.
- My red TN Tech parking permit.
- The lack of anything else related to a child besides a carseat. Any mother should know that a family will always have more than just a carseat when it comes to a kid.
When I think about these, though, they must be simply glorified assumptions. Again, I ask you, what is the difference between assumption and intuition? Is intuition anything more than extraordinarily perceptive assumption?
If this woman could tell that I was simply a frugal college student taking a study break before returning to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” would she be intuitive or just plain psychic?
The closest I can get to solving this riddle is by thinking in gambling terms. Those who are presumptuous go home empty-handed, whereas those who are the most intuitive beat the house.
This discussion is by no means over. What are your thoughts?