ABSTRACT
All science, indeed all thought, begins with assumptions that frame the task at hand—things taken to be true without proof that provides a starting point for any analysis. In good science, such assumptions are explicit and can easily be verified or rejected. Too often, however, assumptions are not verified, are unspoken, or are even unconscious. They may also reflect the unspoken biases and habits of the culture of a particular group, which are themselves arbitrary but are embedded very deeply in the minds of members of the group. The biases and habits of any culture may appear to be absolutely true (because one’s neighbors share them and because most people have little experience outside their first culture) so they are assumptions that are not consciously held much less articulated.
