I hear this a lot, often from my dear mother, but she's not the only one. It comes without thought from many mouths, upon utterance of any such thing as "I thought . . ." or "I was under the impression . . ." -- and it misses the point entirely.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I say that I thought that widget was secured before it fell out of the doodad and we had to spend the day picking up the pieces, it means I was sure, but I was wrong, and there's nothing to be gained by telling me I should have checked if I wasn't sure. I was. I wasn't assuming, taking for granted, speculating, guessing, or supposing anything. There was a fact in my mind, a true fact, which stated that the widget was secured. This was an entirely true fact in my mind and I was absolutely certain of it. The fact was wrong. Oops.
I'm all in favor of being against actual assumption, in which one settles for expecting that the widget is secured without having any reason to. Now, when I could have sworn I secured that widget, and I say I thought I did; that is, that I know I did, I don't need a lecture about how assuming makes an ass out of u and me, and you're not just the funniest fucker around like you think you are, anyway. It's old.
Assumption is perfectly warranted and acceptable in many cases. When I have set a condition (widget = secured) and I have no reason to believe that the condition has changed (I haven't changed it and no one else should have) I have every reason to believe that it has not changed, and that if someone has changed it, they will tell me before I start the doodad and ruin everything. If everyone took the time to double-check every little thing they can't be immediately and totally certain of, we'd be moving pretty damn slow. A great deal of largely unnoticed efficiency lies in the small, unspoken act of assuming things that it's all right to assume.
So shut up talking about assumption and help me wash away all this gasoline before we get blown up.
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