Jumping to conclusions is seldom, if ever, a good idea.

Case in point.

On an extended trip to India, a foreign visitor was taken to a small college to see a stage performance. The visitor enjoyed the performance, but was left with a lingering question — the answer to which, he was certain, might well give him great insight into the Indian culture.

"Why," he asked his host, "were all the characters played by females?"

"Because," replied the host, "this is an all-girls school."

Simple enough.

Another case in point.

A first-time visitor to Hawaii — soaking in as much of the culture as he could and doing his best to teach himself at least a bit of the Hawaiian language — was pleased when he'd determined that "mahalo" means "garbage" or "trash." He'd reached that conclusion because he saw "mahalo" written on many of the trash bins at parks, malls and other public places.

He, as you might expect, was more than a little chagrined when he realized that "mahalo" actually means "thank you."

And, finally:

A visitor to Salt Lake City, who knew little about the tenets of LDS doctrine, was just a little surprised when his LDS host told him that the host's daughter was to be married soon — and that the wedding would be on a Monday.

"That seems an odd day," the guest remarked. "Is there some religious reason for that?"

"Not at all," the host explained. "Our daughter and her fiance are both university students and that Monday is the first day of spring break."

So much for putting two and two together — and concluding it equals three. It's not that we're bad at math. It's just that we sometimes don't know the real values of the components before we start to work the equation. Once we accurately determine the actual value, we generally arrive at an accurate — and often quite different — answer.

One of the true beauties of this earth is the culture of those who people it. Virtually every race, ethnicity, citizenship and society has unique ideas, traditions and practices that bring those groups to life, as only they can do. Sometimes, however, those of one culture don't understand another and, rather than learning so one can understand, they jump to conclusions.

It's that conclusion jumping — as evidenced above — that leads to fuzzy math.

In October 1992, the Church issued a statement that says, in part:

"It is morally wrong for any person or group to deny anyone his or her inalienable dignity on the tragic and abhorrent theory of racial or cultural superiority. We call upon all people everywhere to recommit to the time-honored ideals of tolerance and mutual respect." (Church News, Oct. 24, 1992.)

Stories of intolerance due to ignorance are legion. And while such stories on a grand scale appall all of us, too many such stories probably play out on a smaller scale in our own lives — often with little or no recognition on our part.

Being a good neighbor — truly understanding others and striving to not taint them with our own prejudice — often requires a great deal of work. Sometimes being nice isn't natural. But if overcoming the natural man is one of the great purposes of this life, then sensitivity and understanding are requisite in all our dealings.

This does not, of course, mean that we should embrace — or even condone — unrighteous behavior. We don't. We can't.

But, as Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve points out, there is a proper balance.

"While we strive for the virtue of tolerance, other commendable qualities need not be lost. Tolerance does not require the surrender of noble purpose. . . . The Lord drew boundary lines to define acceptable limits of tolerance." (Conference Report, April 1994.)

Properly navigating this life requires our best — and constant — efforts. Good things just don't happen. They are a result of active efforts by those who want to make things better.