[LogisticWolf]

I do think you hit it right... on the subject

Originally Posted by Drake Dun

Stereotyping is just pattern recognition applied to humans. The basic process is sound. The problem comes in when the stereotype picks up too much affect to be overriden despite contrary evidence or change in circumstance, gets tangled up with an ideology, becomes the basis for social engineering, etc. And in the broaders sense, even the perfectly logical application of accurate stereotypes can have negative effects from a social perspective, such as perpetuating the cycles that give rise to the stereotypes in the first place.

The currently in vogue brainwashing approach to the problem, in which we all demand of each other that we suppress and extirpate our own stereotype-based thinking is, however, not a solution. It's our era's equivalent of the early Christian mortifying the flesh, or if you prefer a modern example, the Catholic priest who isn't allowed to be with women and can't keep his hands off the little boys.

Drake