Comparative differences can be more meaningful than absolute properties. For instance, most blacks are fairly law-abiding, nice people. Doesn't change that their population, for whatever reason, has much higher rates of violent crime than any other.
Likewise, obviously the overwhelming majority of Jews aren't financiers or neocons. They're regular folks. That doesn't change that they were wildly overrepresented in communist groups in the early 20th century, or are wildly overrepresented in high level government positions currently.
The outliers people complain about aren't generally the kind of outliers that don't follow stereotypes; they're the exemplars, the ones who are extreme examples of the stereotype.
Re: Jews, absolutely. Those dynamics have upsides and downs, but if the downsides can't be acknowledged by the wider society, they'll have a tendency to proliferate rather than be discouraged.
Absolutely. That's why the Spartans we're reluctant to fight: they knew that battle taught their enemies, and they wanted to keep their advantage on the field. Learn from everyone, especially those getting the best of you.
Outliers don't invalidate group-level properties. They are, however, what keeps the world from getting boring and predictable.
Comparative differences can be more meaningful than absolute properties. For instance, most blacks are fairly law-abiding, nice people. Doesn't change that their population, for whatever reason, has much higher rates of violent crime than any other.
Likewise, obviously the overwhelming majority of Jews aren't financiers or neocons. They're regular folks. That doesn't change that they were wildly overrepresented in communist groups in the early 20th century, or are wildly overrepresented in high level government positions currently.
The outliers people complain about aren't generally the kind of outliers that don't follow stereotypes; they're the exemplars, the ones who are extreme examples of the stereotype.
Re: Jews, absolutely. Those dynamics have upsides and downs, but if the downsides can't be acknowledged by the wider society, they'll have a tendency to proliferate rather than be discouraged.
Absolutely. That's why the Spartans we're reluctant to fight: they knew that battle taught their enemies, and they wanted to keep their advantage on the field. Learn from everyone, especially those getting the best of you.
Comments section is my favorite part of this little project. It's a weird, smart group that's gathering here. My kinda freaks.