What we don’t know we make up

What we don’t know, we make up.  It’s true.  And we don’t even know we’re doing it most of the time.  Don’t believe me?  Ok – if it’s safe for you to do so right now, I’d like you to imagine a scene I’m going to describe to you.  Ready?

A man is pushing a car.  He is beside a hotel and he is bankrupt.  Got it?  Now you may not have a picture in your mind, but then again, maybe you will.  I’m going to ask you a few questions about your scene.  What type of car is it?  Do you have a make? A model? A colour?  How old or new is the car?  Is it a saloon, a hatchback, estate or maybe a convertible?  Large?  Small?  OK.  Hold those thoughts about your car.  Now what about this hotel?  Large?  Small?  Where are we?  In the countryside? A city? A town?  How much detail about the hotel do you have?  A lot?  A little?  Do the car and the hotel in your scene mean something to you personally?  Is it a car you own or have owned or would like to own?  And the hotel – is it one that you have been to?  Or perhaps would like to go to?

Let’s turn our attention to the man in your scene?  How old is he?  What’s he wearing?  Does that fact that he’s bankrupt affect how he looks or what he’s wearing?  Would he be dressed differently if he weren’t bankrupt?

If you could ask me some questions about this scene what might you want to know?  Has the car broken down?  No.  It hasn’t.  Is he stealing the car?  No, he isn’t?  Is he staying at the hotel?  No, he isn’t.  Does he work at the hotel?  No not that either.

So just take a moment to notice how much detail you might have in your scene and let me remind you of the information I gave you in the beginning.  A man is pushing a car.  He is beside a hotel and he is bankrupt.  Whatever specific detail you have in your image you have made up (what we don’t know we make up).  If I give you one more piece of information, I wonder if  your scene will change?  The hotel is red.  It is small and it is made of plastic!  Got it?  Yes that’s it.  He’s playing monopoly!  How has the detail of that one aspect changed your scene?

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in." Isaac Asimov.