Of course, this works with any group of "others," and does not apply purely to math. "Mexicans are lazy," or "Jews are money-grubbing," or "Muslims are terrorists" or even, let's say, "Christians are dumb," fits into this same error of categorization. I know that some will read this and pull out bullshit Bell Curve-like studies that purport to use bogus statistics and, you know, those number-thingies to prove their points, to which I only have to say two words: confirmation bias.
(Placed under "politics" because it's such a common political trope that it deserves inclusion there.)
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A friend of mine, rather liberal in outlook, back in the good-ol' days when I was still a benighted fundie bigot, made a rather trenchant point to a group of us who, being his friends but leaning more conservative than he - it WAS at a Southern Baptist University, after all - perhaps stood in need of having such things rubbed in our faces. We were sitting back exchanging jokes and he used the opportunity for educational effect.
"How does every racial joke begin?" he asked.
We didn't know. How?
He rather pointedly assumed a furtive air, and with restrained exaggeration, looked left and right in a subtle but obvious parody of making sure we weren't being overheard.
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