Assumptions

“Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” – Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)

There are some premises on which you build your thoughts and opinions; and often there are times when you visit these very assumptions and question them. These are usually when we find that something is not in sync with what we believe in or what we believed as self evident.

Assumptions exist at different levels. At individual level, it these are usually the core beliefs upon which we base our other beliefs and attitudes. Most of them have been passed on to us, as part of our environment or teaching. There are some assumptions on which institutions like the legal system are based, like principle of natural justice or principle of equality of all men. And there are assumptions in bureaucracy about seniority being equivalent of competence. Those in favor of caste based reservations (in principle … and not just politics!) do so under assumption of normal distribution of competence within each caste/ group.

There are assumptions upon which societies are built. For example religion assumes that there is a supreme power controlling everything in the world. As an extension of this, it is often assumed that bad guy will always be defeated sooner or later or that god is fair and just or assumptions that caste system is the way things are actually supposed to be. On the other hand there may be people who don’t believe in these assumptions or have diametrically opposite assumptions, and hence they may have completely different viewpoints.

Then there are some assumptions on which nations are built. Different countries have been built and have progressed with different sets of assumptions. USA was based upon individual freedom and individualism, which reflected the culture in western world. Russia, on other hand was built on completely different assumptions which gave rise to communism. Countries in Middle East were built upon same assumptions that of their chief religion. Of course, circumstances play an important part in it, but how they deal with them depends upon the set of assumptions.

There are opinions which are based upon these very assumptions. Yet, there are times when we think that things ought to be in particular way, and we might face a dilemma as to which side of the line we are actually towards. This is when it becomes imperative to visit our assumptions, and maybe even challenge these assumptions. Take for instance, issue of reservation. There would be people for it based upon the rationale provided, there would be people against it and there would be people in both groups who might be confused between the opposites in the rationale provided. All these views are a function of their assumption.

And there are individuals who have influenced the course of history by challenging these very assumptions – like Raja Ram Mohan Roy or Gandhi or Martin Luther King or Galileo. Had they not challenged these basic assumptions, history might have been different. Factors like discrimination or inequality or simply assuming that they had a right to challenge the existing practices probably made them review his assumptions of life and do the things they did during course of their lives. Not only them, but since long, since the prehistoric times, the course of history has always been given shape by people who challenge the very assumptions of their existence, and same would be in times to come!