It's hard not generalize, I think. We are more less taught to think that way at an early age - deductive reasoning to a degree is based on generalization.

eg.

If people with red hair have freckles. And my brother has red hair and has freckles. Then his daughter who has red hair will have freckles.

(Not necessarily - to date, I haven't seen a freckle.)

Or

if vampires are evil without a soul. And Angel was evil without a soul, because Angel is a vampire. Then of course Spike, who is a vampire, is irredeemably evil if he does not have a soul. He must have a soul to be good. And once he does he is good. Just as once Angel has one he is automatically good.

But, what if...

Angel is sometimes evil with a soul. What if Spike is sometimes heroic and good without a soul. What if the soul is unimportant? Meaningless in regards to good or evil? What if there are people like Warren or Willow who have souls who do really horrible things?

Or what if my neice who happens to have red hair never freckles?

Truth is, and this is hard for people to wrap their brains around - sometimes two plus two equals five not four. In math - two plus two always equals four. But in life, maybe not.

I caught myself generalizing the other day = I said the people in one of the departments at work were always lax about getting work to me in a timely manner. This is not true. One or two of the people in a department of fifty, maybe. But certainly not all of them. I'm doing the people who do get work in to me on time, a disservice.

As an aside: I find the personal pronoun "you" frustrating at times. Every time I respond to people, I have to remember to put a qualifier after "you", stating no - I don't mean you personally, I mean you in the general sense or not specifically you. Then throw up my hands in frustration and say...people or
one. LOL!