Footnotes
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For example, when we call a person a “woman” we abstract from everything that is individual and personal about her and focus on what she has in common with everyone else of her gender. A parallel point can be made about virtually every word. The point is that we cannot live a human life except with the tools of (linguistic) abstraction. They enable us to do virtually all uniquely human activities. So, being indispensable, abstractions can’t be all bad in and of themselves. |
The function of generalizations is quite simple. Without generalizations we could not explain anything. Things would occur around us for no reason that we could fathom. We would stand around in a stupor, unable to relate anything to anything else, for a generalization is simply a way to take some set of things (that we don’t understand) and compare them with something we do understand by means of some “abstract” words.
How does critical thinking help us with the forming of generalizations and abstractions? Again, the answer is quite simple. Critical thinking enables us to take command of the abstractions we create in our own minds, the generalizations we make about the world, and therefore, ultimately, the quality of our reasoning.
So why, then, do so many people mishandle abstractions and misuse generalizations? Once again, the answer is simple. Having very little understanding of them, most people are uncomfortable with abstractions. They don’t understand reasoning. The whole notion of things intellectual is really–if truth be told–pretty much of a puzzle to them. Without critical thinking skills, one doesn’t know how to form reasonable and useful abstractions and generalizations. One does not know how to bring them alive in the mind or apply them with discipline in the world.
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As an exercise you might re-read this paragraph noting as you go how many general ideas are in it, each with a range of generalizations behind them. You might also notice that in this section of the text, we are making generalizations about generalizations. |