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Today i would like to talk about a subject that I call specifics versus generalities
it actually came to my mind while talking to my buddy mike
So thanks to you for the inspiration
if you ever had an argument or a discussion you are very likely to have experienced that someone hits you with a sentence like this
you’re always doing this
this guy has always been super rude to me
all girls are dumb
I’m just making these up now..
But I’m sure you’ve got your own examples in your mind right now
those are generalities
and when brought up against you or against someone
they have this one thing in common
they are actually really hard to defend against
but why?
because they lacks specifics
I think political party XYZ is really bad, i dont like them
there is no actual accusation
why? what specifically dont you like about them?
if the answer is “i just dont like them”
then you know this is not gonna go anywhere
on the other hand the answer could be
“Oh, last year they voted NO on this and this”
Now we have something to talk about
specifics enable actual exchange of ideas
but it seems like these days most people
and I am not even excluding myself
most people read or hear headlines and news summaries and that’s the foundation of their opinion
thats what they will through around the room in a social gathering
but hey
see what i just did there?
i said ‘most people’
pretty general if you ask me
it’s much easier to assume things and present them as facts than actually digging into a subject
so in my opinion the smartest move you can make if someone throws around a “most people” claim is to ask for specifics
why? what exactly? when was that?
So let me apply that to myself aswell
when i said most people i actually thought of 2 people
without mentioning names one was a friend of a friend
and the other one was me
because i actually observed myself doing this here and there
so yes, i do have other memories of this
but the claim i made earlier of ‘most people read or hear headlines and news summaries’
is actually based mostly on a general feeling i have
a rough summary of general feelings and experiences but not very specific
so my message is this. let’s not get impressed by general statements too much – get specifics. then you got something to verify or falsify
thank you for listening
ADDITION:
it’s actually something you can do to not be attacked in an argument
because there is nothing there to attacked
you’re basically making 0 points
so no one can catch you and pick you apart
i guess that’s why most people do it