Avoiding assumptions

Assumptions are dangerous. While they are a natural part of life - a coping mechanism for new and unknown experiences - you have to be careful not to rely on preconceptions too much. This seemed to be a theme of classes and experiences last week.

Last Wednesday night, my entire dorm emptied out for our first of a series of monthly symposia. The kick-off speaker was Dr. Dennis Van Gerven, an anthropology professor and dynamic speaker. All I knew going into the talk was that it was about mummies. Thus, I was expecting a kind of "how-to mummify" lecture, describing the gruesome details of Egyptians removing brains through belly buttons and so forth. Or a history focused talk on the importance of mummies in Egyptian culture. In short, something I had heard before. Instead, the Dr. Van Gerven explained the history of the region he's interested in, Nubia, and what he sees when he studies a pile of bones: the details of the lives of people who lived thousands of years ago. He showed slides of hips, arms, skulls, telling us of the diseases these individuals may have had, the kinds of lives they probably led. He described how he gets to be a detective, except his clues are all in bones! It was a fascinating snapshot of an interesting profession.

So, lesson learned, right? Not quite. On last Thursday night, I headed to my evening film class, Honors Women in Film, prepared to face a 3 hour documentary on Leni Riefenstahl, a female director who worked under Hitler. Leading up to watching this film, I was prepared to write her off as a misguided Nazi. Even while watching the film, I was conflicted in trying to understand her motives. Again, I had walked into an experience with a specific expectation; what I experienced was extremely different. Riefenstahl is still one of the best known female directors, even if she did direct Triumph of the Will (a film about the Nazi Party Congress). I had to let go of my assumptions in order to try to understand her.

The reason I bring this up is because it's something I want to avoid. It's so very easy to assume I know what something is going to be like, and in doing so, miss out on the actual experience! This doesn't just apply to classes or scholarly talks... it can be equally problematic to assume you know what someone in your class is like -- you may miss out on a friend!

Anyway, I had a very busy weekend - a lot of work seemed to catch up with me all at once. I hope everyone reading this had a lovely and safe Labor Day, and a good weekend (despite CU losing the football game against CSU). I must say, it was extremely entertaining to watch the tailgating festivities kick into gear right outside my dorm - from cowbells to chanting to barbeque smells wafting in, it made for an interesting Sunday afternoon.

Feel free to leave me comments... Do you have any experiences where you caught yourself forming a preconception? Or where an assumption was completely different from the actual experience? Or know anything about Leni Riefenstahl? Or just want to let me know you're reading this? Have at it! Other than that, I'll be back next week.


Cheers :)

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