balmofgilead

(the one here, about assuming people to be sane or assuming people to be not-necessarily-sane)

My stock assumption is that people are sane. For everyone. I realized this--and recognized it as a potential problem--when I was thinking about the Virginia Tech shootings. (That was a private post before 'cause it's incomplete and rough around the edges.)

Virginia Tech is an extreme example, but I think the judgment call of whether or not someone's basically sane applies in more minor situations as well. I think assuming that everyone's sane (to the point that it takes a whole lot before you believe that someone isn't entirely sane) can cause problems. There are some people out there whose judgment is not as good as mine. My default is that other people have better judgment. This isn't always a good default, and it's an especially bad default with the people who are unbalanced.