Quote:
Originally Posted by RealJames
In a 50/50 case or 60/40, I don't feel it's wrong to say something like "Half (or over half / most) of Americans think ..." it's basically fact.
For example, about half of Americans preferred Bush as their president over Gore. Is this an inaccurate generalization? Is it an improper reflection of the state of America? I don't think so, and I doubt you think so either, am I wrong?
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If you keep things accurate and really say, "50 percent of Americans voted for Bush," then it's not really a generalization so much as it is a statistic. But when you take something like "50%" and begin replace it with hot button words like "more than half," or "most," then you are grossly generalizing. You can say 50% of Americans voted for Bush," but I can just as easily say that 50% did not vote for Bush. The difference is, your version is a wrench used to spite people, and mine is a rebuttal to prove there is an equal amount of non-supporters unlike the generalization you're imposing.