All generalizations are false
Summary
- All generalizations are false to a degree, and often hurtful
Details
- The use of stereotypes to categorize a vast swath of people is 'essentialism' - teh belief that groups have an essential nature that cannot be changed (note that there is also essentialism the belief that you only need a few basic items)
References
Quotes
ESSENTIALISM. People belong to groups, and there’s a natural human tendency to make generalizations about them: Germans are orderly, Californians are laid-back. These generalizations occasionally have some basis in reality. But they are all false to some degree, and they are all hurtful to some degree. Essentialists don’t recognize this. Essentialists are quick to use stereotypes to categorize vast swaths of people. Essentialism is the belief that certain groups actually have an “essential” and immutable nature. Essentialists imagine that people in one group are more alike than they really are. They imagine that people in other groups are more different from “us” than they really are. Essentialists are guilty of “stacking.” This is the practice of learning one thing about a person, then making a whole series of further assumptions about that person. If this person supported Donald Trump, then this person must also be like this, this, this, and this.