>Why is it bad logic to say all men/women are bad? >Hasty generalization Drawing a broad conclusion from limited or unrepresentative cases. >Composition fallacyAttributing traits of some members of a group to the group/category as a whole.>Stereotyping and confirmation biasWhere negative examples are noticed/remembered while counterexamples are ignored.>Ad hominemIf the claim is then used to dismiss any specific individual's argument or character based on their group membership, that's also a form of ad hominem (or guilt by association).>A few reasons it's a common trap:>Cognitive load and efficiencyCategorizing people into groups is mentally cheaper than evaluating each individual, so the brain defaults to shortcuts (heuristics) rather than nuanced judgment.>Emotional reasoningWhen someone's been hurt, anger or pain generalizes naturally. The brain links the pain to the category that was salient at the time (e.g., "a woman/man hurt me (or a few)" becomes "women/men hurt me"), especially if the experience was intense or repeated.>Confirmation biasOnce a belief like "men/women are bad" exists, examples that fit get noticed and remembered, while counterexamples get explained away or forgotten, reinforcing the belief over time.>Social reinforcementOnline communities, media, and personal social circles often echo and validate these generalizations, making them feel like shared truths rather than individual biases.>In-group/out-group psychologyIt's a deep evolutionary tendency to see one's own group as more varied and individual ("not all of us are like that") while seeing outsiders as more uniform. This is called the outgroup homogeneity effect.>Protective functionBroad negative beliefs about a group can feel like they offer protection or vigilance ("if I assume the worst, I won't be caught off guard again"), even though they distort reality.
>How to escape the fallacies:>Notice the leap. When you catch yourself thinking "all X are Y," pause and ask whether you actually mean "some," "many," or "the ones I've encountered."Language precision often dissolves the fallacy on its own.>Actively seek counterexamples. Deliberately bring to mind people who don't fit the generalization. This counteracts confirmation bias by forcing the brain to update its sample.>Separate the emotion from the claim. If the generalization stems from a painful experience, it can help to acknowledge the feeling ("I'm angry at what happened to me") without letting it dictate a factual claim about an entire group. The emotion is valid; the generalization isn't necessarily true.>Ask what's doing the explanatory work. Often it's not "maleness" or "femaleness" itself causing the behavior in question, but something else, culture, upbringing, individual character, situational pressure, that's unevenly distributed and gets mistakenly attached to the category.>Engage with disconfirming voices. Talking to or reading perspectives from people in the group who don't fit the stereotype can recalibrate the mental model over time.>Reframe to specificity. Instead of "men are controlling," try "the men I've dated have been controlling, and I want to figure out why I keep encountering that, or how to spot it earlier." This keeps the insight, which might be useful, while dropping the false universal.None of this means suppressing legitimate criticism of patterns, behaviors, or power structures associated with a group, that's a different kind of claim than a categorical statement about every individual in it.
>>84829538I never say all but it is so many it seems like practically all.
I think that you are right, but you should expand this thinking to all of humanity. The truth is that we are all evil. And yeah, men have more societal pressure to NOT be evil, but deep down we all are. It's kind of pointless to focus just on women just because they get away with it. It's a waste of your time and mental energy.
>>84829538Ah, so you're one of those "not all men" types? You do realize that's just how feminists talk, so they get a pass. When they say "men do X" it's your responsibility to realize they're not talking about you personally, or the exceptions, even though you're a man, and the exceptions are men.
good readthank you anon
