We are living in a world of ill-founded generalisations. Generalisations are our judgemental, aphoristic and summarised assessments of people or circumstances. They are mostly churned in haste, satisfying our inner cathartic or vengeful cries. They are also forged in the smithy of slothful minds who shirk viewing anything as relative. Being closed to possibilities leads one to generalise. Generalisations is also the arsenal of propagandist cultures.

"My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist" is a defiant thesis statement of a Shahrukh Khan movie, My Name is Khan, against the broad-brush propaganda painting all the Muslims, particularly with the generic name Khan, as terrorists.

The generalisations don't pop up out of nowhere. There are always contributions of the species being generalised. In one of Aesop's fables, the shepherd boy is labelled for crying wolf as "once a liar, always a liar". So, whosoever cries wolf is called a liar; all liars can be humans, but to label all humans as liars sounds misanthropic.

Generalisations are also based on fears –........

© The Express Tribune