Generalizations in Society

Generalizations in history occur as a result of the lack of being able to reproduce specific facts or details but that does not means that data could be dug up on some occasions. Call it a facet of human nature to understand trends in data and make a valued statement without specific data to back it up. One may say that the information could be obtained from news reports that are reputable enough for references to be made from them. Generalizations about study habits, dietary supplements, healthy lifestyles and ethnicities have been made not to mention generalized reports made on child development, savings programs and political party policies that have projected a certain image based on well known historical accounts and contexts.

People have exaggerated on many accounts but sociology is still full of references to studies that put different age groups in to different cognitive brackets, references of different account strategies under better or worse profit making categories and associations of different party slogans to different party ideologies. One may question these validity of these generalizations and come up with counter arguments to say that there are specific differences between different societies, peoples, cultures and so on which males the world appear yet more complex.

Ethnic generalizations do not cease to amaze people who are open-minded enough to know that within one ethnicity there is gambit of possible behavioral patterns. It is not only short sighted to generalize; it is also damaging to have a reference of race on an employment form that this author still sees in circulation. Clearly work strengths have nothing to do ones race yet there is part of humanity bent on making those distinctions which affects what is unpleasantly called as “racial profiling”. It is a pity to see a racial profile get in the way of what a person can do given the opportunity.

One can still have a beer among friends and hear that Jews are moneylenders, something that may have happened hundreds of years back when the choice of work opportunities was not there. Generalizations have been made calling them either leftist or revolutionary ( probably because of Trotsky ) or arrogantly rich ( Rothschild family ) there is much evidence that Jews like Montalcini, Pizarro, Primo Levy and Einstein have contributed to our knowledge of ourselves and the world around us.

One can also have a beer with friends and hear slander about blacks with the knowledge that segregation has been abolished but there are still racial slurs running around as other generalizations are made about their work ethic. Here too blacks like Martin Luther, Jesse Jackson and Mandela have proven their abilities to become leaders among men and are hardly the irresponsible care-free saps that certain right wing elements have projected in recent history.

Generalizations have also been made in the medical sciences between races because it has been well known that certain race categories are more predisposed than others to carrying certain genetic diseases. The generalization here then is not an evil.