quote:originally posted by Darknight613: As for the loaded argument, I can't help feeling that you're trying to justify your generalizations and that they're under attack, because you're being very over-defensive. All I'm saying is there are exceptions to every sterotype out there, and we should consider that fact before we rely on sterotypes to make our point.
First, you're accusing me of generalizing.
Well, to be perfectly honest, you have made generalizations in the past. Several times. Our first argument, a long time ago, was about you making generalizations which I had challenged because I was citing exceptions, and you dismissed them (as a matter of fact, it was the same thing that Schnitt was talking about when he said liberals don't want to serve in the army." You made that claim a while back, I told you about my dad, and you dismissed what I was saying entirely.) So yeah, I am accusing you of generalizing. You have done so in the past, and I therefore stand by my accusation. It's something we all do from time to time. Even I've done it.
And you're also accusing me of being "overly defensive" of my generalizations.
Actually, I said that you were being overly defensive because it seemed you thought I was targeting you, when I really wasn't. If you thought otherwise, you misunderstood.
And you accuse me of trying to justify my generalizations.
Because in the past, you have. You have made generalizations before, and you have defended them tooth and nail.
[B]The only part of this that's true is that there are exceptions to every stereotype. Which has nothing to do with what I said.
My point is that anyone can make statements of "all" of a group, and that's a stereotype. But even qualifying statements (such as "most" or "a majority"), can be shot down by the opposition as generalizing saying (without statistics) "But there are many who oppose it too." So my point is, for example, no matter what percentage of Muslims in other countries are Al Qaida terrorists, or openly endorse Al Qaida terrorists, or are sympathetic to terrorism in general, or who boycott American goods and businesses since September 11th, it can be spun to say "not all Muslims feel that way".
Which may technically be true, but belies the fact that a majority of Muslims are hostile to the United States.
And my point is, even if qualifiers like "a majority" or "many" can be shot down in an argument, it's still not right to leave them out, because then you're labelling people as something they're not, and you're creating "guilt by association." Stereotyping leaves you even more vulnerable to attack. If you believe enough in your stance, or if you can back it up, then why worry over somebody exploiting the weakness of qualifiers?
