Why are so many people so mentally limited by their assumptions?

Question

Can they not see what is actually there?

That's exactly what I mean. Already most answers assume I think I'm not included in this, but I've never said that at all.

Answer 1

Because questioning oneself implies a constant critique of all that defines you.. trying it is the toughest test of the self..

Answer 2

Most people are limited by their assumptions because nobody is born knowing. We all (hopefully) keep learning thru our lives. There is also another, more relevant reason.

When we think, we always act in some intellectual context, what you call assumptions. Whether this context is properly understood, or whether we need more information to understand, is not always obvious. In philosophy, there is a branch, epistemology, which deals with such knowledge. Needless to say, the existence of this branch is not common knowledge. Besides, there are unknown questions even within this branch of knowledge. The humanity is left scrambling for answers, individuals are doing the best they can.

The fact that the issue is more complicated than expected can be seen from your very question "can they not SEE what is actually there ?" You used SEE not in the sense of sight, the action we do with our eyes. You used the word in the sense of understanding. This understanding requires knowledge, which in turn requires two things.

The first requirement is effort. I am a better person today than how I was ten years ago. I have learned from the experience of those years, and I hope to continue learning in the future. I understand things now that were completely invisible to the person I was ten years ago. I am wiser. Yet, I have met people who merely grew old, who learned nothing in that time. They were not willing to make the effort to learn.

The second requirement is the science epistemology itself. No man is an island. Civilization exists because we profit from the experience of others. I see gaps in epistemology, on how do we know what we know. Until this science is more developed, the humanity will continue to tumble.

Answer 3

If we had to rely on absolutes and truths for every decision that we made, then we would not function well in the world, which is filled mostly with clues and circumstances. The part of our mind that makes assumptions is actually the most developed parts of the brain. It takes painfully small details and operates in the best way it can with the small information that it gets. These skills we absolutely necessary in the wild, when a split second decision would mean the difference between life and death. It's all actually pretty amazing.

Answer 4

And you are not, eh? We are all limited by assumptions, because that is how our brains work. The brain makes assumptions based on its experience and on how we evolved. Since we are, so far as we know (or assume), at the top of the food chain, it has worked pretty well for us. Too bad you seem to have a brain that missed out on its evolutionary development. Maybe you will survive despite that. Or maybe you are wrong in your assumption!

Try reading up on illusions if you really believe you are free of assumptions or see only what is really there.

Answer 5

There is no such thing as a completely open mind. To make any sense of the world, we have to make assumptions based on our experience. We assume that our senses don't deceive us, although they often do. Babies cry when their parents leave the room until they learn to assume that they will come back. We assume the sun will rise every morning and set every night. We assume broccoli will taste like broccoli and not like ice cream. When it comes to more complicated issues, like what to do about taxes or immigration, these are far too complex for most people to really grasp, so we reduce them to something simpler that our assumptions (Mexicans are bad, taxes should be lower) can come to grips with. It's just human nature.

Answer 6

Some people are blind to how things actually are and society and the media influences the assumptions we make about others every day. I think being open minded and being accepting is the best way to be, holding no grudges and not being prejudiced is the way to move forward.

Answer 7

Everybody is working their way to their truth, at different stages and different rates.
One by one we experience our beliefs and conditionings and they drop away.
However frustrating these experiences are to witness in others or ourselves, they are all exactly what each one needs, to uncover themselves.
It is a continuous process, so there are always many who cannot see clearly.
The notion that this situation is anything other than perfect, is another assumption. One day, this judgement will drop away too.

Answer 8

My dear, why make hasty remarks?Have you gone deep at their mental capacity? You know there are many pretenders (or actors in this world to mislead assumptions. How you reach your guess?Think well.Then we come to the whys. Worry not I will still be here for long!

Answer 9

Good question.

My thought is, it's because they prefer the choice they've made so's to limit their options. Laziness, maybe. Fear, maybe. Deficiency in the area of imagination, gullibility, growth paths that don't involve deep thought, maybe.

Whatever the reason might be, it's theirs. Their choice, and they know best what they need.

Answer 10

Because they allow the negative thoughts to hinder them, rather than pushing through and ignoring the negative, they dwell on it and allow it to hold them back. It is much easier and the lazy way out of tough situations in life. It takes too much energy to do what is right.