GENERALIZATION (Over-) 3)
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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.
Categories
- 1) General information
- 2) Methodology or model
- 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
- 4) Human sciences
- 5) Discipline oriented
Publisher
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).
To cite this page, please use the following information:
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]
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