Does your child often make hasty generalizations?

Agree. ☞ Your child’s HQ test score is below 65.

The overgeneralizing mindset can cast a deceptive veil over our perceptions. The children who stumble in the labyrinth of exams once or twice may face the specter of failure. Their naïve mind, eager to simplify, tend to whisper in despair and self-doubt, “I am destined to fail!” They must remember: failure is not destiny because there are no absolutes in the vast expanse of life.

Buddha's teaching of the blind men and the elephant is a famous parable that illustrates the limitations of perception and the danger of forming conclusions based on incomplete information. In the story, a group of blind men each touches a different part of an elephant. One man touches the trunk and concludes that the elephant is like a snake. Another touches the leg and thinks the elephant is like a tree. A third feels the ear and believes the elephant is like a fan. Each man insists on his perspective being the truth, but none of them has the full picture. The parable teaches the importance of recognizing the limitations of one’s knowledge and being open to other perspectives to gain a more complete understanding.

Both overgeneralization and the blind men’s experiences represent a narrow perspective on reality. Overgeneralization occurs when someone takes a limited experience and incorrectly applies it to a broader context, just as the blind men assume that the part of the elephant they touch represents the whole animal. Overgeneralization, like the conclusions of the blind men, results in an incomplete and often flawed understanding of a situation. It reflects the tendency to overlook the complexity of situations, leading to erroneous beliefs or decisions. In essence, both the overgeneralization mindset and Buddha's parable teach us to be cautious about the limitations of our perceptions and the importance of seeking a fuller understanding of the world around us.