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datenreisender/Implicit generalisations.md

Created November 29, 2018 07:56
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Implicit generalisations.md

When I hear a statement like “People like to improve”, I often cringe, because I hear an implicit generalisation. I assume the speaker means “All people like to improve”.

And you know how it is with generalisations: There usually are exceptions to the rule. And with a statement like this, the speaker seems to bluntly wipe out those exceptions.

But maybe I am wrong. Maybe the speaker really means “Most People like to improve”.

I want to worry less and presume more goodwill in others. By assuming, people usually do not mean “all”, but “most”.

Yes, there are cases, when the exceptions are really important and then it is valuable to question whether the speaker really has thought about them. Because the danger of forgetting exceptions lies in neglecting minorities.

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