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Generalization and stereotype are for those who are dumb and/or lazy.

Discuss among yourself.

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Tend to agree. I think these form the foundation, but if you get past ignorance and lack of motivaton, you still have to face experience.

If someone grows up on a farm and raises brown cows he may believe all cows are brown because all he has ever seen are brown cows. He makes a generalization.

He may believe this because he's never bothered to learn about cows. After all he knows all he needs to know about his brown cows. He is ignorant.

He is told by a neighbor that somebody has a brown and white cow. He won't believe it because all the cows he's ever seen are brown so of course all cows MUST be brown and rather than go see for himself he will wait till someone proves it to him. He is too lazy.

This same neighbor goes and sees for himself. At first the neighbor thinks its an anomaly but as he travels farther and talks to other farmers he experiences for himself, with his own eyes, that indeed, all cows are not brown.

I agree for the most part, but.....

If, for example, if I see some girl that is wearing clothing that is completely "labeled" & driving a *really* nice car (& she's still in college), I tend to think "stupid, spoiled Daddy's girl with no brain." Now, she may be a nice person. By stereotyping her, I have not wasted my time & energy in talking to her. If I know I don't like people like that, why bother?

That was an extreme and kind of mean example, but if you stereotype people, fine. The problem can lie in 1. whether or not you are willing to be flexible with your stereotype 2. Having such strong, negative, inflexible stereotypes that you waste your time & energy in actively hating them.

There must be some element of truth to most stereotypes or they would never have become stereotypes to begin with.

That a problem though. Many stereotype might have started out of pure ignorance or racism. I've read a historical book bout southeast asia where many of the European had this stereotype of Asian as lazy, stupid people. I doubt that many European will attest to that stereotype, but many stereotype have gone on even though it's false.