I'm never really sure when to have faith in the patterns people report seeing in society. There's a spectrum - on one end stuff i buy like "i've learned men are really interested in casual sex" and on the other end stuff i don't buy like "all the Hispanics i know are so dirty"...
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Why do I buy one end and not another? Why am I okay with people reporting the men they know are more interested in casual sex but not that hispanics are dirty? Is it just sheer volume of people reporting it - everybody says the first one but only a few people the second?
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The hispanic example can be explained away by selective reporting, seeing what you want to see, reinterpreting patterns to fit your worldview - but why don't I use that to explain away men being interested in causal sex? You could say it's data, which supports one but not another
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And in this case it's really easy to find the obvious data - but data isn't so obvious for other examples.
What are some examples of pattern reports that you find to be in the middle of the spectrum - with conflicting data and a good chance that it's true but also maybe not?
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Even better - what's an example of a widely accepted pattern that you think is just selective reporting/bad data/forcing the pattern to fit? And what's an example of a pattern that you think is true but most people refuse to buy into?
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It might not be what you are looking for, but the reported suicide rate in china is much lower than one might expect. I'd love to know how much of it is just data reporting shenaningans or whether there are some cultural effects really lowering suicide numbers
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The place I go to is the whole “power” thing. Because white men are in a traditional role of power, it justifies general criticisms.