but don't you see where the perpetuation of the stereotypes is harmful in and of itself?
my point is why do we HAVE to generalize?
No. I don't see stereotypes as harmful. They are observations, it is what people do with those observations that is harmful, and I disagree with the attempt to disabuse people of observations that they think are manifest.
Finally, perpetuation of stereotypes is inevitable because their are patterns of behavior by various groups. You are asking people to ignore those patterns' existence. I would say that is impossible.
We generalize in our lives to make sense of all sorts of things in the world. I would say it is hard wired in us, and impossible to survive without generalizing. Again, it is impossible to stop doing it.
I think that confusing the observation with the action is the most harmful. It obscures the truth, and becomes and argument over facts, instead of an argument over ethics. Fix the ethics, and you fix the problem.
Anyway.... we are never going to agree on the specifics here. Agree to disagree.
Happy Holidays all
😀
One final point: I think there are certain things that people call "stereotypes" but are based on no observations, but just bias. I agree those things need to be challenged. Saying women are stupid, not fit to vote etc. That was based on bias, and was challenged and is no longer a stereotype. So I have no problem when people question whether a stereotype is in fact an accurate observation or just a bias. And also, how things are presented matters as well. To say urban blacks are dumb is a bias, to observe that urban blacks do not do as well on average on standardized tests is a pattern. A thoughtful person will examine why the pattern exists (schools, funding, etc), a biased person will use it as an insult. A racist judges all blacks as biased regardless of the conclusion here.
Perhaps I am focused too much on the general concept, and you are focused to much on the specific biases.
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