Lesson 5: Hasty Generalization

Spot the Faulty Logic #

After meeting two unfriendly kids at a park in a new town, Noah concludes, “Wow, all the kids in this town are mean.”

Discussion: Talk with your teacher about this example. What seems wrong with Noah’s response?

How/Why It’s Often Used #

People use this fallacy as a mental shortcut because it is much easier to make a quick judgment than to take the time to learn the truth. It happens when someone takes a tiny amount of evidence, like one or two bad experiences, and assumes it applies to everyone or everything in that group. It is often used to create stereotypes or to justify being angry at a whole group of people based on the actions of just one person. It creates a simple (but usually wrong) conclusion so people don’t have to think too hard.

Hasty Generalization in Action #

Did you spot the faulty logic? #

Noah had a bad experience with two kids in a new town. However, there might be thousands of kids in that town. To assume that the whole town is full of mean kids based on one experience with such a small number of kids is quite a hasty generalization.

Second Example #

Sarah tries three different math problems and gets them all wrong. She says, “I’m terrible at math and will never understand it.”

The Flaw #

Sarah’s logic is faulty because she is judging her entire potential based on a tiny sample size of just three failed attempts. The biggest mistake she is making is treating “Math” like it is one single skill, when it is actually a huge umbrella covering many different areas. She might be great at fractions, but struggle with multi-digit multiplication. Or perhaps with practice or different teaching methods, Sarah might actually be quite good at math. Three failed problems is insufficient evidence to make such a grand statement about her math ability.