It's tempting to think this is unnecessary work, because we all remember very well what we've observed or done, and we assume we understand why experts behave as they do.
It may be because the president knows what a matriarchal world he himself lives in that he assumes we understand that the most trusted people in his life have been female — his wife, his daughters, his mother, his grandmother, his mother-in-law, his closest aide, Valerie.
"You should assume we understand that portfolio, and assume we have a strategy on it," he said at a Barclays investor conference (via AllThingsD).
(That's assuming we even understand their hierarchy).
Assuming we have understood correctly, we think the situation is as follows: the first paragraph discusses a case with a secondary binding site.
Isn't it rather arrogant to think we can read a piece of scripture and assume we completely understand its depth, especially to the same degree that the Master who said it in the first place does?
She won't waste our time on what, she assumes, we already understand.
Far too often in negotiation, we assume we fully understand the other side's interests and goals.
Therefore, the authors say, we shouldn't assume that we understand the health risks of energy drinks just because we understand the health risks of caffeine.
Our approach to community engagement assumes we do not understand, much less that we know how to negotiate, all the tricky layers of local power and patronage.
It was assumed that we understood the danger.
