Everything is a generalization

2024-11-17

I hate politics, mostly because politicians say a lot of things and, from what I have seen, aren’t held accountable for things they say. This is true in all careers, CEOs lie, HR people lie, celebrities lie, but politicians are elected on their word and their track record and they still lie. At least celebrities are funny, good at acting, or attractive.

But aside from my rant about politics, part of why politicians aren’t held accountable to their words is because words are very dynamic, they can be interpreted in many different ways, there is a lot of context to understand.

I think a good example of something that is mostly true is: ‘I dont lie to my kids.’

I try pretty hard to tell them the truth and to not sugar coat things. I tell them the rules, like they have to eat their vegetables before they get fruit or they go to school monday through friday, etc. But there are some exceptions, I don’t talk to them about a lot of things, is that a lie of omission? We don’t talk about drugs or drinking, we don’t talk about how fighting is sometimes necessary, etc. Is that a lie?

I also lie to my kids in other ways. My wife and I agreed to tell our son about Santa, and that is something I lie about every year. Some Nordic elf comes to our house in the winter and brings presents and cheer. I definitely think that is a lie.

So the more accurate statement is, ‘I mostly dont lie to my kids but sometimes I do’. And this type of statement is very long and not all that informative. A politician would never say something like this, it seems waffley and weak. And I dont talk like this. I speak in generalization, a phrase that is mostly accurate but has some exceptions.

One more example, ‘I work hard at work’.

And again this is mostly true. I put in my 40 hours, at least, every week. I try not to abuse sick time or vacation, I often think about work at night or on the weekends. But again there are some days when I am sick and not working 100%. And some days I am just not that productive, I get distracted and tired just like every other person. So a more accurate statement is ‘I think I work pretty hard most of the time’

I used to think that accuracy was one of the most important thing when communicating but I see now that it is hard to be super accurate. So when I speak I try to be clear but also understand that in every statement is a bit of generalization and ambiguity. I try to keep this to a minimum but it would be infuriating if you mentioned every exception and caveat for all of your sentences.

One more bonus thought, when you code (communicate to computers), there is no ambiguity. They are going to do exactly as you tell them to, and that is a double edged sword for sure.