Thanks to the efforts of the internet and modern modes of communication, our society is saturated with information. Any question can be answered with the touch of a button, and our thirst for knowledge is easily quenched by a quick trip to Google. You would think that with so much information made available to us, that we would be a more informed public- one that is careful to consider all sources before making any type of judgment or decision.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. The logical fallacy of hasty generalization (or overgeneralizing) is alive and well in our modern world. A person only has to look at the recent election and the current polarization of our society to see that many people continue to pass judgment based on the statements and actions of a few instead of taking the time to investigate and consider a wide variety of information. For example, I'm sure we all envision a certain type of person when we think of a "Biden supporter" or a "Trump supporter." We are also probably guilty of assuming that people who are in favor of wearing masks are "sheep" when that may be far from the case.
Maybe we fall into this trap because as humans we tend to "categorize" and we like to have a world that is predictable and orderly. In reality though, that is far from what our world is like- we are each individuals with the ability to think and feel how we choose. I would certainly not someone to push me into a particular "peg" (category), and I would hope to not fall victim to being "quick to judge" as by doing so I am every bit as guilty as the person (or persons) I am so quick to condemn.
I thought your post was very well written and your examples of hasty generalization were really easy to understand. Another example may be if a healthy person only eats burgers and fries that people start to believe burgers and fries are actually healthy for you.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy that with a touch of a few buttons we can know anything and everything our minds come up with. However, I don't think this is always a great thing. Like you said, we are quick to judge; when we see something intriguing online, we quickly judge and let our opinions take over before we actually know the truth behind it. Sometimes we are unaware of the true meaning behind things on the internet, which is why it is a tricky thing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you gave examples from the recent election to go along with your topic of hasty generalization. I think that by bringing in current issues you made it easier to understand your topic. I think that it was smart to use a basic example from recent times in your post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, it's crazy how much information we can find out about people. You also did a good job of showing examples.
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