Hi Steemit! This is the second in a series of posts of the random philosophical questions. Please, debate them and convince one another to your heart's content.
Question #1: Compared to making generalizations about certain groups of people, is it better, worse, or equally bad to make generalizations about all people?
Image source: an interesting yet potentially offensive comic set known as Cyanide and Happiness
Any and all thoughts are welcome.
generalizations can not be avoided, they are part of the way we understand and communicate with each other. Being able to generalize is what makes able to understand language and communicate (language theory). I think it's better to make positive generalizations about all people in general. If we perceive the world around us in positive way we are going to behave towards the world in a positive way and this is what we should do. Let's make the world a better place by not generalizing negative ideas about all people or certain group of people.
While I agree that positive generalizations have positive social implications, we have evolved to avoid having positive generalizations about certain topics (such as dangerous animals or bad weather). There's not a question in here; just sharing my thoughts.
Not all generalizations are wrong. We use generalizations to allow us to communicate efficiently. If we were required to specify all exceptions to any condition we would become so bogged down in those exceptions we would never be able to make our points.
I agree, but should avoid acting upon our generalizations about humanity just as we have been socially conditioned to avoid acting upon our generalizations based on race, gender, or other "discriminating" criteria?