Quick!

Who was more likely to read a printed book last year – a Millennial or an older American?

In a recent Pew survey, more young adults report having read a book in the past year compared to older Americans, by a nearly 10 percentage-point margin.

62% of under 30’s believe there is “a lot of useful, important information that is not on the Internet.”

Perhaps surprisingly only 52% of older adults said the same thing.

When we make assumptions – in this case that young people are obsessed with their mobile devices and would never read a printed book – we are making a bad assumption that hurts us.

The same thing about race or gender.

Assume that all Asians like this and all gays are that by our own doing we withdraw from reality.

The rule of thumb should be:

Everyone is equal.

We’re all the same and we’re all different.

And an assumption is a terrible thing to make.