People Are Stupid, But The Individual Is Not: A Writing Prompt

The reality is that the individual is extremely complex, unlike the collective trends of stereotyping.

I have so much I want to say, but I am not sure how to frame my words. When I opened my backend to try, I saw this prompt. I believe it may be what the doctor ordered.

Sometimes the best way to jar a mental clog loose is simply by getting started.

It also opens up the door for me to express some things I have observed over my nearly 41 years of life. While I don’t think I am alone in what I am about to share, I don’t think people spend as much time contemplating the concepts behind it. Likely, I am a little odd in that respect.

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Groups are viewed as statistics.

When I think of groups, I think of statistical information. I think of stereotypes. I think of labels to describe a sum.

Essentially, it is the assumption of a category. It doesn’t describe the individual nearly as accurately as it describes the sum of individuals within that category. It is because they take individual data sets & turn them into summarized likelihoods.

Sometimes it is prejudicial toward an ethnicity. Sometimes it is used to describe a business’s target market. Either way, it is detailed using generalizations.

Think about all the boxes you check. I will use myself:

1. I am white.
2. Mayo is my favorite condiment.
3. I am almost 41 years old.
4. I stopped growing at 6’0″ (now 5’10”).
5. I am morbidly obese.
6. I have physical disabilities.
7. I use a wheelchair for distances or a walker/cane for short distances.
8. I have mental health disabilities.
9. I enjoy creating art & doing crafts.

Now, stop and think about all the labels that are placed on those checked traits.

If you take morbidly obese from this list, it is likely your mind tied it to physical and mental disabilities. This also links closely to the mobility aids I use.

It is entirely possible you took mental disabilities and connected them to arts & crafts.

If you stopped to consider my height and my shrinking, you may have also mentally connected this to my physical disabilities, as most people don’t see significant shrinkage. Especially if they are young. Mine started before 40.

Also, let’s just say that someone somewhere might have thought my race likely connects to my consumption of mayo. Just because I needed a laugh, and I really do like mayo.

All the thought processes put into these connections are based on stereotypes and statistical generalizations.

It is determined using the highest forms of probability known to the general populace.

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Individuals are unique.

Humans are like snowflakes. No two are the same, although I do wonder if this holds true for identical twins. Setting that thought aside, though, we’re all unique.

Do you believe every person in the world holds true to the highest probability for every stereotype they might apply?

If you do, then you’re ignoring the smaller percentages that counter those higher probabilities. They are why the numbers are never 100%.

That doesn’t mean an individual doesn’t fall into some of those likelihoods. They don’t check all the boxes, all the time, though.

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Example:

I was still 39 years old when I discovered my lumbar had jumped from moderate to advanced degenerative disc disease. When I tried to find statistics for the number of people under 40 who have an advanced diagnosis, I couldn’t find any information at all under the age of 50.

It is presumably uncommon, or it remains untracked.

I do wonder if it remains untracked because most people are 50+ when it is observed.

I am not guilt-free. While my weight is a contributing factor, I can also tell you that genetics plays a role here, too.

I’ve had medical professionals tell me that there are people my age & older, weighing more than I do, who show no degeneration at all.

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Genetics reminds me of D&D in this instance. The universe rolled the die on each trait, based on the genetics that formed my parents & their traits. Like everyone, I was blessed with some flies in my genetic soup.

These flies that tainted my soup also caused me to stand out. Suddenly, I have common factors that don’t apply to the majority. They turned me into a snowflake.

A unique specimen of a human who has features that don’t fall within every stereotype created to describe groups of people.

Does this help you understand my title now? The meaning behind my statement?

The individual is unique. They have traits that cause them to stand out. People fall into set patterns. They are predictable based on statistical information.

Both can be true because the information used is adjusted to meet those truths where they are.*

(*To deter potential hate, I am not saying prejudice is right. I am saying statistical information for groups of people can be true, even if it isn’t perfectly true for the individual.)

Did you know this already?