RagingHungryPanda ,

Ok, look, there are two kinds of people...

AFC1886VCC ,

Dang Lemmy users and their silly questions. They're all the same!

intensely_human ,

No, it’s never okay to generalize. Unless you’re saying my previous sentence in which case it’s okay.

CrabAndBroom ,

I disagree. It's fine to generalize about all people all the time. Every single one of them loves it.

Akasazh ,
@Akasazh@feddit.nl avatar

I over all, I think that people as a whole should generalize less.

Generally, that is.

tobogganablaze ,

It's not just ok, it's basically an requirment for civilisation to work at all.

dan1101 ,
@dan1101@lemm.ee avatar

Yes it's ok to generalize. That is how humans quickly cope with an overwhelming amount of information. But you always need to be flexible and willing to recognize that not everyone fits the generalization.

jsomae ,

and some will protest it.

AndrasKrigare ,

It is also important to stop and ask yourself what you're generalizing and why.

dan1101 ,
@dan1101@lemm.ee avatar

If you see a guy walking down a neighborhood street dressed like a letter carrier you can probably assume he is a letter carrier.

But maybe he is a stripper on his way to a party.

TankieTanuki ,
@TankieTanuki@hexbear.net avatar

People going to the beach generally use sunscreen. People hunting game generally wear camouflage. People in bed are generally resting.

leaky_shower_thought ,

yes. but to so as not cause miscommunication problems, maybe keep it to close people who are in the know of what you mean.

spittingimage ,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

You do it every day whether you choose to or not, because that's how the human brain works. So yes. Just be willing to change your ideas when a generalisation is no longer useful.

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

Not if it causes anyone to treat people as anything besides the individuals they are.

xmunk ,

Ever?

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

There are many defenses for generalizations but they're all based on ethical laziness. For example, there is a growing number of people who dislike people from Russia due to them being in the news, something I probably don't help. It would be one thing to speculate to oneself, to wonder if Russia is the Florida of the Asian world for a reason, or that maybe their ethnicity lost the lottery when it comes to mentality, but to put this into practice on a general level and exhibit scorn to people "just because" they're Russian is wrong. It is unfair to anyone affected by a general opinion that they're treated based on association if they go against the grain, and being a good person just stops being incentivized. It's the mindset that gives us Hatfields and McCoys, or, in Russia's case, chronic crime families because Russia itself often punishes whole families for the crimes of a few family members, which I'm sure has no bearing on the sudden power of the Russian mafia, wink wink. Nations, spiritual groups, genetic groups, fandoms, you name it, people always think it's good to generalize them and it helps nobody. It's simply a form of assumption.

xmunk ,

If I walk into a train station and there's a person in a red ball cap openly carrying a firearm I'm going to be extremely comfortable with my decision (as a man wearing a skirt) to sit far fucking away from them. They might be an absolute darling of a human being but generalizations are quite useful for assessing risks since we can't know everyone.

We should be extremely careful in the generalizations we make but generalizations are a useful tool for our safety.

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

I wouldn't discourage you, though perhaps this is because that's not exactly the same thing. Like I said, generalizations aren't bad to keep in mind. The seat you choose on a train is your discretion, and a stranger with features indicative of someone who might give you a hard time is a fair thing to gamble against. But you wouldn't be generalizing them themselves. I too am LGBTQ+ (via asexuality) and would jump at the opportunity to avoid many seeming incels or radical feminists (to use two examples, and not judging radical feminists themselves, many just clash with the sphere of asexuality) if I were choosing something like workmates, but I wouldn't do anything to verbally single them out based on things about those individuals I have not confirmed, such as making inclusion harder for them. In fact, if I had to choose either "innocence" or "guilt" as an emergency default, I'd choose innocence.

Fizz ,
@Fizz@lemmy.nz avatar

Its fine if you are talking to people capable of understanding that you are generalizing.

0_0j , (edited )
@0_0j@lemmy.world avatar

Uum.. here is what I heard: "Is it ever okay to judge people?"

NO. a wise lemmer once said, a sociopath is but a man in the process of changing.

People go through stuff almost everytime (sometimes due to their bad choices, sometimes unlucky). Bad days exist. Cut them some slack!

Hestia ,
@Hestia@hexbear.net avatar

All in sayin' is that a skinhead's a skinhead.

sunbunman ,

I raise you SHARP

TraschcanOfIdeology , (edited )

There's RASH and SHARPs, too, though.

Edit: the wiki article title for RASH is a slur that I missed. RASH stands for red and anarchist skinheads, tho.

Hestia ,
@Hestia@hexbear.net avatar

Ohhhh, interesting. Didn't realize people voluntarily identify as skinheads when they're not racist. Thought it was an explicitly derogatory term for them.

TraschcanOfIdeology ,

Within the community (I used to hang out with non-racist skinheads when I was a teenager), they're referred to as "boneheads", as opposed to the "original" kind of skinhead, who claim to be descendants of the multi-racial (mostly black and white, many of these people were still shit towards south Asian immigrants) working-class communities in the UK who gave birth to skinheads back in the 60s.

Hestia ,
@Hestia@hexbear.net avatar

Neat. I have a little more respect for skinheads, apologies for generalizing cri

TraschcanOfIdeology ,

No worries, that's what the whole thread is about, anyway!

Emperor ,
@Emperor@feddit.uk avatar

It's okay to generalise about people who generalise about people.

davel ,
@davel@lemmy.ml avatar

This question can probably be interpreted a dozen different ways, so you’ll likely get answers to questions you hadn’t intended meow-popcorn

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