"You never can tell." I've heard this phrase many, many times in conjunction with being urged to try something new, whether it be a sport, a restaurant, a movie or a leisure destination. "You never can tell" is an urging to not dismiss prematurely, based on limited information and on existing biases. The phrase applies to people also, especially young people who seem to have drifted from the socially expected developmental progression. "He may amount to something yet. You never can tell."
The opposite of this wait-and-see approach is a quick categorizing of a person, place or thing as desirable or undesirable. "Yes, you can tell, and I can tell you this is a sure fire thing," or "I can tell you now that I'm going to hate this." This approach to life saves time, while potentially narrowing the scope of one's experiences. It's a trade-off.
An interesting frisson of dissonance arises when one attempts to implement both "You never can tell" and "Of course I can tell" at the same time. One way in which this happens is when the basic premise is "You never can tell...except in this case, where I definitely can tell." An example would be an aspiring entrepreneur, in search of angel investors, hosting an informational presentation and deciding which potential investors to invite. She may decide initially to invite everyone she knows, on the chance that any one of them will take an interest, but she then may start eliminating potential guests on the grounds that she "knows" (guesses) they wouldn't be interested in her proposal. The aspiring entrepreneur has failed to pick a lane.
Organizations that market themselves as inclusive and welcoming of all, but who have de facto or informal selection criteria, also may be perceived as failing to pick a lane. This may cloud or confuse the mission and confuse current or potential members. Can I belong to this organization or not? Will I be welcomed here or not? Within ostensible inclusive and welcoming organizations (schools, churches, business groups), there may be an "in" group or groups and an "out" group or groups, formed on the idea that yes, you can tell about some people. Those who have what it takes, those who lack drive, those who want to succeed, those who just don't care, those who are active leaders, those who are dead wood.
The credibility of organizations that present as "y'all come", but who sort members after admission is granted (particularly if there is a cost for membership), can come into doubt and affect recruitment, if the "out" group feels misled and is vocal regarding their dissatisfaction. Hypocrisy is an indictment that is hard to refute in the social perception. Far better to pick the lane of honest discrimination and to say "We welcome people with only these traits and characteristics," than to attempt to navigate down the center yellow line, straddling "You never can tell" and "You are exactly whom we are/are not seeking."
