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Thanks for the phrase "incessant overgeneralization" -- I didn't even realize I was looking for that. It seems that this is something the social sciences are inherently at risk of, given how closely the topics are to our everday lives.



I’d say it’s true of most knowledge, regardless of domain. AI seems like a great candidate in computer science, for example.


In the hard sciences, for example, the problems that people work on are often less complex and more removed from everyday human life. I think this causes for much less over-generalization to occur.


Oh god yes! I see it often in our perceptions of "the other" as well. Other cities, other societies, other places....


Over-generalization is common beyond the social sciences as well. It is often found in the basis given for false dichotomies, which are not uncommon in discussions of how to write software. It is also apparent in many of the claims made by clickbait titles.




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