Reply #45: I agree about sloppy generalizing. [View All]

[SmokingJacket]

I know why some progressives do it (and I'm not excusing it, either): they believe that making statements like that about a *powerful* and *dominant* group (men, white people, Christians) is harmless, because those people already have an advantage, but making them about an oppressed minority is wrong and will hurt them. Some progressives feel this strongly, but couldn't explain it to you. If they could explain it to you, they could be argued out of it. (If you know why you do something, it's easier to see the hypocrisy there, rather than just feeling that you must defend yourself.)

I'm with you, and I think any kind of generalizing of groups must be made only with extreme care. Generalizing about gender is somewhat more valid because there *are* obvious biological differences: women are weaker, etc.

The real harm is when one mistakes a "generality" for "blanket statement" -- "men are more violent than women" (true) vs. "all men are more violent than all women," (totally not true).

And then, generalizing about religious groups is extra-tricky because even the broadest generalization is likely to have less truth in it. "Muslims are ...." Are what? How can you possibly say something true about such a large and diverse group that isn't true about everyone else?

Interesting subject, thanks for posting.