Assumptions (That People Make About You)

[Kakumei]

Curious... when you say weight, do you mean fatty tissue, or just that when you step on a scale, the number that comes up? I say this because I'm 5' 3" and when I step on the scale, it usually says around 160 lbs... which, according to traditional wisdom would suggest that I'm overweight. (A person of my height is "supposed" to weigh about 130 lbs, or so I've read.) While I do have my share of fatty "deposits", I would describe my body type as just a bit over slim. I believe my weight is mostly due to bone structure, and muscle tissue, especially in my legs. I know that muscle tissue weighs more than fatty tissue, so that often active folks gain weight while losing clothing size.

DarkcatXXC, are you my twin, by any chance? My height and weight are almost exactly the same (give or take a few pounds in the summer). I realize that I do have a little excess around my stomach, but it's impossible to see unless I pull my shirt tight over my gut. When I gain weight, I don't get wider, I just start to stick out a bit more in front. Other than that, though, I can't detect any fat deposits in my legs, and very little in my arms. Makes for fun times whenever I get people to guess my weight.

[Islander9]

I'm 167cm (5'6") and I weigh between 185 - 192 pounds (the extra half stone goes on during winter and is gone by the end of whitebaiting season.

I'm hefty but I dont carry a lot of fat. Almost none on my arms and legs which tend to the muscular.

Polynesian bones actually do weigh heavier (plus 10% heavier, and up to 20% in exceptional individuals) - they are more robust. Which is great for archaeologists, and which makes some of our sportspeople formidable.

Here's to diversity - cheers, kia ora Islander9

[thepoeticjustice]

To get back to the original's first question...

Big assumptions people make about Dave:

He's a Bible Thumper. No, just because I am religious, go to church weekly, and have read the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Q'uran, and other less notable religious books does not mean I am a Bible Thumper. It just means that I think there is a God and I want to know more about Him. If you ask me about religion, I will answer you, but I don't generally start up a conversation about it.

He's gay. No, I just think it's nice to be with a girl who can do more than balance a beer on her breasts. Sometimes its nice to be able to have a conversation with someone without having to explain your vocabulary, eh? Also, sex is not the be all and end all of life. I'm pretty sure we'd survive without it. Our species wouldn't, but meh, that's besides the point. I somehow doubt we're in much danger of going extinct any time soon

He doesn't like to have fun/is boring. Wrongo. I love to read, it's true. And my reading material is generally way too "boring" for most people, but I enjoy it. Nevertheless, if your idea of fun is more than just getting drunk and picking up chicks, then yeah, I like to have fun :) I play basketball, lazertag, paintball, snowboard, etc. They're al lquite fun.

He hates poor people. Wrong, especially since I spent most of my life as white trash. It's actually just the opposite, I think, from experience, that socialism actually benefits the rich and the lazy, while the free market helps the poor, the middle class, and the hard-working. So I support the free market.

He's a socialist. Very wrong, as you may have noticed. But people think this just because I am extremely anti-war and count as warmongerers JFK, FDR, and Lincoln.

He's a racist. Wrong. I'm part black (Indonesian to be specific), so it's pretty impossible. I'm also a bit of a wigger in that I'm so into basketball and most of my friends are wiggers or black But people think I am because I am very disparaging about Lincoln. Hoever, that is because Lincoln was a warmonger, not because he freed the slaves. Also, learn your history, Lincoln was racist and he didn't free all the slaves. He only freed the slaves of the states ffighting agaisnt him. The states which fought with the union that had slavery kept slavery long after the civil war was over. And Lincoln wanted all the blacks shipped back to Africa. Look at his inagural address, he pledged in there that he WOULDN'T free the slaves if he could help it. So, no, I'm not racist, I'm just knowledgeable about Lincoln...

Those are the biggest ones 8)

[Hexpiral]

Hey Dave, you sound very much like me!

Except for the free market part. I´ve seen the Chicago Boys in action and didn´t like it at all, even though I no longer consider myself socialist. I like G.K. Chesterton´s phrase "The problem with capitalism is that there aren´t enough capitalists". In any political discussion, trotskysts will consider me fascist, and vice versa.

And that I don´t really move that much if I can help it.

[thepoeticjustice]

haha, I'm an Austrian Economist man, so about as close to the Chicago School as you can get ;) I actually just had one of my articles published in Consent, which is the Freedom Party's magazine. Of course my beleif in the free market is that it actually has to be free AND SEPERATE from government... i.e. Halliburton and Reagonomics aren't the free market...

Think USA and UK 1815-1850.(Right after they got over their warmongering phase)

Frederic Bastiat, Ludwig von Mises, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frederick Douglass, and James Madison are my heroes :oops:

But yeah, so do people misunderstand you as much as they do me?

[gypsylady]

Dave - Wow! Interesting post!

Questions:

1. What is a "wigger"?

2. Is that your pic on your avatar (do you have Irish blood as well?)?

3. (More of a statement than a question) I hope you aren't easily offended... Several of our members are aetheist - please don't get into any discussions that are meant to change minds. *Although* you sound very openminded about religion and I think it's really cool that you've checked out so many.

4. (Also a statement) Fascinating point about Lincoln freeing slaves - I didn't know that. It's an amazing bit of information!

[thepoeticjustice]

1. What is a "wigger"?

Think white n-bomb. Basically it's a white guy who "acts" black, but most people don't realize that we're not acting. I grew up in the same neighborhoods, in the same situations, is it any wonder I act the same as my black friends? Generally its used as derogatory, but I don't care. Eminem is a good exmple of a wigger.

2. Is that your pic on your avatar (do you have Irish blood as well?)?

Yes that is my pic, and I'm afraid I don't know half my genealogy, so I couldn't tell you if I'm part Irish, although coincidentally I've been listening to Irish and Celtic music all day.

3. (More of a statement than a question) I hope you aren't easily offended... Several of our members are aetheist - please don't get into any discussions that are meant to change minds. *Although* you sound very openminded about religion and I think it's really cool that you've checked out so many.

My rules on religion are thus: I talk about religion when I have to use it to show why I believe a certain thing (For example, I believe in souls, and why I believe in souls has a lot to do with religion). I will also talk about religion when a person directly asks me about it (i.e. Hey Dave, do you believe in God?). I beleive the only time other than those two that you will ever see me talking about religion is if you become a good friend of mine and you are going through difficult times. I confess that when I comfort my friends about things, I do often bring up religion unless they ask me not to, it's just the way I look at the world. Other than those, I don't really say a lot about religion, I prefer to study it rather than debate it or try and convince someone else of it. Sidenote: I'd personally like it if the atheists would stop trying to proselytize me, but that is like a constant fixture of online forums ;)

4. (Also a statement) Fascinating point about Lincoln freeing slaves - I didn't know that. It's an amazing bit of information!

Indeed, it surprised the heck out of me that the two American presidents I used to think of as heroes were actually two of the worst when it comes down to principles.(FDR and Lincoln) If you really want to get an indepth view of the real lincoln, you should read "The Real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo. Absolutely fascinating book.

[Neabsco]

Hey Dave!

I get some assumptions like that, too - I go to church and do mission work in Mexico, but I don't try to convert people or even encourage them to live by some religious-based standards.

It really surprises me how many people still think of missionaries as nosy Bible-thumping extremists. Where I work, we need to be specifically invited by the communities to come to the Mexican churches.

I just read an article that my be of interest to you that discusses the lies about Lincoln, found here:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/jarvis/jarvis82.html

LewRockwell.com always has lots of interesting articles, many about the economy and the virtues of free-market capitalism and freedom in general.

[anima]

OMFG. x_x

The assumption that because I'm very thin that I must be anorexic. :evil:

Okay... So I'm ~5'6 in height, and during the off season of drum corps, have weighed in at around 105 lb. give or take about 2. I had gained 15 lb. last summer, putting me at just under 120 lb.

And the other thing with that... the people who tell me they "wish [they were] as skinny" as me! JEEBUS! No, it's not healthy, it sucks ass! It's NOT COOL.

[thepoeticjustice]

Prufrock,

I get Lew Rockwell's daily email... I've been down with that shiznit for nigh on a year now :D I like Mike Rogers' columns best, yourself?

[Boris]

- that I am dying. contrary to popular belief, I actually expect to live a normal life span! but people assume, since I do have many medical conditions and see many doctors, that I will die before I turn 30.

- that my sister is my daughter. she's the same age as I am.

- that I'm probably a lesbian. which I'm not.

- that I want to be a nun (I'm Jewish).

- that I eat paper and drink eggnog (went around as a rumour for so long that lots of people now think it's true!)

- that I'm allergic to nuts.

- that I'm terrible at English, history, other social sciences. quite the opposite, actually. a person CAN be good at both arts and sciences.

- that I don't care what I look like. although I DO sometimes give that impression.

- that I'm vegetarian/kosher. I don't always eat meat, but I'm neither vegetarian or kosher on an ongoing basis

- that I don't like them. I'm still trying to figure out if I truely send off such negative vibes.

- that since I'm smart, I must be happy. sorry but intellect doesn't buy happiness.

- that I'm really rich. really it's just that I went on a scholarship to an independent school, and that I save every penny for things like camp/vacations.

- that I'm Irish. I DO have red hair, but I'm actually Russian in origin...

[Neabsco]

Cool! Another LR reader!

I certainly do like Mike Rogers, and Brad Edmonds, Fred Reed, Gary North . . . lots of very good writers. It's the first site I visit in the morning.

[Ally]

The assumption that because I'm very thin that I must be anorexic. :evil:

Yes! Another person that gets that!

One of my friends had this happen to her too, but on my first days of high school, the most random of people would ask if I was anorexic. Can't blame them for being curious, but jeez. .

Other assumations have included:

- That I'm younger than I really am, which I reaaaaally don't mind, and wish would happen more often. >>;

- That I'm overly shy. Just because I don't have something to say - or the right words to say it - doesn't mean I'm shy. It's just hard to speak on the topics you're going on about. .

- And one that's really gotten me. . Whenever I'm tired, I usually lay my head down to rest, mainly for comfort. EVERYONE and their great grandparents assume that I'm depressed or something because of that. That's annoying.

Anything else I'm not sure about. I don't exactly go up to people and ask, "Hey, what are you assuming about me at this particular moment?"

[anima]

The assumption that because I'm very thin that I must be anorexic. :evil:

Yes! Another person that gets that!

Yes, and it sucks. Grr.

- That I'm overly shy. Just because I don't have something to say - or the right words to say it - doesn't mean I'm shy. It's just hard to speak on the topics you're going on about.

Dude, I get that a lot too... And people will tell other people that I'm shy just because I haven't said much, at which point I step in and say, "No, I'm not." And when they say, "You're shy, aren't you" or some variant of that, I say "No" and they ask why I don't talk more.

My answer? "I don't talk unless I have something to say." Meaning I don't just go on about whatever just because it's what people are talking about. And this irritates some people to no end!

[Dippy]

message deleted

[Ghastly Beast]

Hrm...

:roll: The Top Ten Assumptions People Make About Ghastly Beast::roll:

1. Since I'm a 5"10 female with a buzz cut, I must be a man-hating feminazi.

2. Since I'm a 5"10 female with a buzz cut, I secretly hate myself, and all women.

3. Because I'm an artistic, creative person, I must not be very logical, or rational.

4. I'm schizophrenic because I'm a hermit who prefers to be by herself as oppossed to being with other people.

5. I hate people (I don't, I'm just allergic to them).

6. Since I'm a 5"10 female with a buzz cut, I must really be a male.

7. I'm suicidal because there's a history of suicide in my family, and I rarely come out of my bedroom.

8. I want to hear about people's sexual problems.

9. I like receiving scented candles for X-mas.

10. I'm uncool because I don't hate my parents.

[gambit_boi]

people tend to assume i'm a little slow.... which i may well be, who knows.

aside from that.... not really. i look too generically white for there to be any confusion over my ethnic background. :roll:

[Hexpiral]

5. I hate people (I don't, I'm just allergic to them).

:lol: :lol:

[Marc]

I'm schizoid (DSM-IV 301.2) so I tend to have a Spock-like emotionless appearence. Subsequently, everyone thinks I hate them because all I ever give them is a blank expression (actually, I think my blank expression is probably kindof menacing). Come to think of it, I would really prefer that they go away, so I guess this works to my advantage.

[firefly99]

Assumptions people make about me:

That I'm conservative because I don't have sex, do drugs, drink, smoke. Actually nope, I'm probably more liberal than the majority of people who assume that, I like to point out that as a liberal I accept everybodies right to do the above as much as they please, I simply choose not to, besides expecting everybody to be the same is just another type of conservatism.

That I'm boring because I don't drink -well I hope thats not the case! It's actually because I have various health problems and allergies and if I did drink more than once in a blue moon I would be quite ill for a long time, not that that explanation ever sticks for more than half a second in anyones mind though!

That I'm being selfish and a party pooper for not drinking - not much to say to those people, I've since stopped hanging round with them...

That what I really need is a good shag - uh puleeease!

That I am bored/don't like people because I don't talk much - actually I'm shy and am usually doing my very best to be friendly.

That I need to be more feminine so I can get a boyfriend - firstly being girly is not a prerequisite to getting a boyfriend, and secondly I don't bloody want one!

That because I'm generally a happy positive person I have no problems what so-ever and my life is really easy, I wish that was the case!!

When I was younger people always assumed I was much older than I was because I'm tall.

Also I'm often mistaken for a guy online and occasionally in real life!

[thepoeticjustice]

9. I like receiving scented candles for X-mas.

Could be worse, my family thinks I like to receive socks and body wash and gift certificates for movie rental stores.... After I specifically tell them all I want are books and basketball-related products :P

[pejoratist]

OMFG. x_x

The assumption that because I'm very thin that I must be anorexic. :evil:

Okay... So I'm ~5'6 in height, and during the off season of drum corps, have weighed in at around 105 lb. give or take about 2. I had gained 15 lb. last summer, putting me at just under 120 lb.

And the other thing with that... the people who tell me they "wish [they were] as skinny" as me! JEEBUS! No, it's not healthy, it sucks ass! It's NOT COOL.

Ditto. So much. If I have to hear another gushy middle-aged woman telling me that I have "a great body" and that they are "envious", I'll go insane. And when people suggest that I might have an eating disorder, I feel so fundamentally offended. So yeah, sucks. I prefer it to the polar alternative, I must say.

On another note, I happen to adore recieving scented candles, though a bookstore giftcard would be the one thing more preferable.

[Kakumei]

This hasn't happened yet, but I won't be surprised if/when it does. . .

Because I'm studying library/information science, I must be or do one or more of the following:

1) Boring.

2) Nerdy

3) A kinky nymphomaniac when I'm outside of a library setting.

4) My job consists of telling people "shhhhhhhhhh!!!

5) I only deal with old, dusty books (if I end up becoming an archivist)

I also hate the assumption that all attractive-looking women are stupid and all intelligent women are ugly. Oh, and has anyone (in the States, that is, don't know about anywhere else) seen that McDonald's commercial where the man is going to pick up lunch and his girlfriend tells him to surprise her? He doesn't know what she likes, so he asks a coworker what she would get if her boyfriend told her to surprise him. She answers that she doesn't have a boyfriend. What I find so annoying about this commercial is that the woman without the boyfriend is portrayed as a dowdy, nerdy type. . .in other words, someone like her couldn't possibly have a boyfriend. :roll: Now, I know that humans tend to be a very visual species, but I'm sick of this idea that conservative dress/behavior=unattractive loser with no life, and vice-versa. For a species that's supposedly so evolved, we sure haven't changed much in that regard. :x

End rant.

[Po.]

3) A kinky nymphomaniac when I'm outside of a library setting.

That made me laugh. Really hard.

Oh, and has anyone (in the States, that is, don't know about anywhere else) seen that McDonald's commercial where the man is going to pick up lunch and his girlfriend tells him to surprise her? He doesn't know what she likes, so he asks a coworker what she would get if her boyfriend told her to surprise him. She answers that she doesn't have a boyfriend. What I find so annoying about this commercial is that the woman without the boyfriend is portrayed as a dowdy, nerdy type. . .in other words, someone like her couldn't possibly have a boyfriend. :roll: Now, I know that humans tend to be a very visual species, but I'm sick of this idea that conservative dress/behavior=unattractive loser with no life, and vice-versa. For a species that's supposedly so evolved, we sure haven't changed much in that regard. :x.

Well, we're not that highly evolved. I'm sure if we were we'd make use of more than 10% of our brains.

When she says she doesn't have a boyfriend, she says it in the oddest way, like she's hiding that she actually /does/ have a boyfriend.

It's either that or she says it in a way that seems very offended.

But yeah, she's rather nerdy, and it's ridiculous that we're all so visual.

[thepoeticjustice]

I'm sure if we were we'd make use of more than 10% of our brains.

That is an erroneous myth that has absolutely no basis in science or reality!

/endrant

[Hexpiral]

I was about to point out the same thing, tpj. I believe it was thought because only 10% (or 5%) of the brain responded to tactile stimulus by making the body twitch.

[Kombucha2000]

I had the impression that the 10% brain usage was referring to the limitations of the conscious mind. I mean, our conscious mind isn't responsible for breathing, heart beating, body temp regulation, digestion (after we swallow food), tissue/muscle/cell repair, and all other unconscious control. But if that's the case, our conscious mind probably uses much less than 10% of what the rest of our brain does.

I could be wrong though.

[Po.]

I had the impression that the 10% brain usage was referring to the limitations of the conscious mind. I mean, our conscious mind isn't responsible for breathing, heart beating, body temp regulation, digestion (after we swallow food), tissue/muscle/cell repair, and all other unconscious control. But if that's the case, our conscious mind probably uses much less than 10% of what the rest of our brain does.

I could be wrong though.

I thought that too, oh well... :roll:

Although some people I know make me wonder if they use their brains at all...

[thepoeticjustice]

I was about to point out the same thing, tpj. I believe it was thought because only 10% (or 5%) of the brain responded to tactile stimulus by making the body twitch.

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

http://www.earthsky.com/scienceqs/browsefaq.php?f=125

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cf...D4683414B7F0000

As I understand, it was a short step from self-help dudes saying we only reach ten percent of our potential to it being morphed into ten percent of our brain...

[Kakumei]

That made me laugh. Really hard.

I aim to please. :D

When she says she doesn't have a boyfriend, she says it in the oddest way, like she's hiding that she actually /does/ have a boyfriend.

It's either that or she says it in a way that seems very offended.

Yeah, I always think she sounds pissed when he asks her. It's as if she's thinking, "why would I, a geeky-looking woman, have a boyfriend?