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A few good reasons not to jump to conclusions

We have all done it before. We continue to do it even though we know it is wrong. We have all tried to stop but just can't break the habit. We have probably been seriously embarrassed by it at least once.

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Why you can trust SCMP
Mike Rowse, in his office in Wan Chai.

We have all done it before. We continue to do it even though we know it is wrong. We have all tried to stop but just can't break the habit. We have probably been seriously embarrassed by it at least once.

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What am I talking about? The way we all form hasty judgments about people or events when we are not in possession of all the facts, known colloquially as jumping to conclusions.

Take a simple example from everyday life. We see a senior resident pushing a cart piled high with cardboard and paper, maybe with a bag of aluminium cans on top, and we assume things. That person is poor (just look at those shabby clothes), probably inadequately housed, not well educated and obviously neglected by his family, or he would not be driven to eke out a pitiable living in this way.

But what if we are wrong? Suppose this is a comfortably off semi-retiree who prefers to do something practical to contribute to the community. Is not recycling something we are all supposed to be doing? And would you wear your Sunday best when gathering up things others had thrown away?

A friend of mine is retiring soon from RTHK because he has reached the retirement age of 60. Because he is a civil servant, the fact of his retirement is not news.

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But another friend of mine is also leaving RTHK soon. He is 61 and his non-civil-service contract is not being renewed. For some reason, this departure has been front-page news and quoted as an example of an alleged clampdown on freedom of the press. Mm.

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