Life is a very easy thing to generalize. All lawyers are liars, all Muslims are terrorists, all Jews are stingy, all of the Patriots are cheaters, all Indian food is digusting. Why do people have such an affinity with the claim of the type Vx(x -> y) (for all things x, if x then y). Furthermore, why do people like to use this childish thinking as a basis for voicing their narrow minded opinions.
Obviously, there is a theme going when we use claims of this type. We use these types of claims to generally talk about people. People of other religions, races, socio-economic backgrounds, hair colors, and anything else that falls into the plethora of characteristics by which we distinguish one class of people from another. It seems that it is so easy to say "all Mexicans are lazy". Notice a distinction here, I am talking about SPEAKING rather than THINKING. Am I saying that it is right to have these thoughts? Of course not. However, remember the axiom of our childhoods, "if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say it at all". I think for the young-adult, it should be "if you don't have anything meaningful to say, then don't say it at all".
I am almost positive that we never think about how this kind of claim reflects upon ourselves. There is no way that someone with any sort of self-awareness or human understanding can think that to make a claim of this type is to present themselves as eloquent and intelligent. The image I see in my head when I hear someone say something along these lines is of a kindergartner playing with blocks, and the only way he can understand where each block goes is by brutally smashing it against the orifices on a board until one fits. This may be OK for children barely leaving the stages of infancy but for people in college, it is incredibly disheartening that a lack of understanding serves as a basis for firing off false dichotomies and just plain idiotic remarks.
So be a citizen of the world and exercise rationality. Preconceived notions might be a scary thing to throw away but it takes some real intelligence to be cognizant of when what you always believed may not have been quite right. There's room for self-improvement in how we relate to others and the only way we can do this is by realizing our embarrassing lack of ability to differentiate. So the next time you think it's funny to say "oh it's just a Korean thing", remember that even donkeys can make sounds, but it takes some minute form of intelligence to make a sound worth hearing.
Cheers.
