GENERALIZATION (Over-)
Charles François (2004). GENERALIZATION (Over-), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1416.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1416 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
Over-generalization is in many cases the result of excessive enthousiasm with generalization, when its power is recently discovered. M. BODEN observes for example that young children learning the rules of verbs tenses start treating irregular verbs in the same way than regular ones, only to correct this unwarranted generalization later on (1990, p.125).
However, this kind of self-adjusting mechanism does not always function correctly and pathological situations may arise, as shown for example by A. KORZYBSKI (1950).
Unfortunately, over-generalization seems to breed conceptual short-sightedness, semantic muddles, wrong appreciation of situations and even twisted or intolerant behavior.