What is a counter-argument for stereotypying is wrong?
One of the basic ways that people learn is by classifying. Babies learn “dog” and learn to identify all mammals of that type as “dog”. Sometimes they see a cat and say “dog” because their classification system is not yet perfect. As they mature, they come to expect “dog” will bark, run, jump, fetch. Those things they classify as “cat” will not do those dogly things. Voila! We have learned something. Stereotyping is just a method of classification. Police carry guns. Trees lose their leaves in fall. The red berries are always safe to eat. We learn what behavior to expect, what results to get from certain inputs. It only falls apart when we start classifying people on the basis of their perceived race. People are not dogs or trees, they are unique and complex individuals. Stereotyping is just a means of classification. Classification is one of the ways our minds store information for future recall. There is nothing wrong with stereotyping. Stereotyping is a very useful tool. People are a
