Humans are Different

Throughout history, leading all the way up to our modern day world, people have made uneducated assumptions. Christopher Columbus and his alleged discovery to the racial problems the United States all were based upon uneducated assumptions. Some have benefited us and some have hurt us. Christopher Columbus assumed he would end up in India but instead he ended up in the modern day country of the United States: where would we be if he didn’t go the route he chose? Then again where would we be if we had not assumed that African American’s were uneducated or mindless and had treated them equally? Humans are Different, by Alan Bloch is a vague reflection on the different assumptions we’ve made over the course of history, but it also teaches the reader to make more intelligent decisions.
In Humans are Different, a clumsy robot accidentally murders the last human being in their solar system. This is a pretty unrealistic example but it has a hidden lesson to be learned. The robot assumed that the human was just like him and all other robots, and just tried to fix the human when he became ill. But he assumed before actually knowing, which in turn cost the human his life. That goes to show that you should not make assumptions but instead get the facts yourself and then discern the important information.
Throughout history people have made assumptions like the robot in our story, although sometimes it has turned out well and other times it has injured entire nations. A great example of an assumption turning out well would involve Christopher Columbus. In the year 1492 Columbus set on a journey to find a quicker shipping route from Spain to the Indies. He assumed that if he went strait through the Atlantic Ocean he would end up at his destination, but instead he ended up running into the modern day continent of North America. Lucky for us Columbus’s navigational assumption allowed us to live in the United States.
Then again assumptions have not always turned out in our favor. From around 1654 to 1865 most slavery had been legalized in the Southern United States. The South assumed that African American people were worthless, and that they could be sold for property to the richer Caucasian people to work in their fields. This assumption by the south was strongly disagreed upon by the Northern states, which became a disagreement that started a civil war splitting our country in two. To our luck people like Abraham Lincoln stepped forward to fight and end slavery in United States. The point is that assumptions are not always factual, and in this case one of them nearly ripped our country apart.
From Christopher Columbus to slavery and even to the robot in Humans are Different we have learned not to act on every assumption. It is best to not make assumptions, but instead to take the time to get the facts, then act on them.