Categorisation- A double-edged-sword

Being a part of the ever growing population of an over populated country has led to a common habit in the masses- to categorise and put people in clusters, groups or sects, so that they can tackle the huge number of people with ease. This method of stratified sampling is indeed remarkable but only as an extent of management process. But the government gave it much significance and used it extensively, anon it developed as a habit in the public as well.

We categorise boys and girls as a separate class and everyone, we believe, possesses certain characteristic just because they are 'a boy' or 'a girl'. Instead of scrutinising people in the basis of their own merits or demerits, we simply form a bias beforehand and tend to work our way accordingly. The girls will keep on saying- guys are flirts, they lack emotions, they never consider a long term relationship, they prefer cricket over their girlfriends, blah blah blah. All I want to say is, your father is a guy too, have you ever considered that before making a generic statement?

The government, I believe, is to be blamed too. They still follow the age old method of reservation and only consider whether the person belongs to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Classes. I feel that they should look into every single application made under this 'privileged' category and then decide whether the concerned person actually deserves the 'special treatment' of being born in a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class family.

We have been brought up in a society obsessed with generalisation. We form a bias on the basis of religion, region, gender et cetera. A few examples from a particular class and the prosaic conclusion comes down to one, every class member is such. We create classes, then we pick out a few bad examples and then we form a bias against the whole class. The irony of all this is maddening.

"He's a politician, must be corrupt"

"The Indian cricket team lost, the match must have been fixed"

"The singer/actor died, it would definitely be a case of drug overdose"

"The young guy crashed his car, must be drunk"

All I'm trying to say is, why don't we look into each matter explicitly, instead of generalising. Each individual is very special and unique in his/her own way. Respect that and try to know the other person as they are!

"We are much too much inclined in these days to divide people into permanent categories, forgetting that a category only exists for its special purpose and must be forgotten as soon as that purpose is served." ~Dorothy L. Sayers