Overconfidently, simplistically reducing everything that doesn't go our way to another person being bigoted.
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Original Question
I'm part of a Facebook group for Counsellors who practise a certain therapeutic modality. You can post relevant questions to ask experts and peers. Recently, a person posted this:
"Insane how this question got approved, but the question I posed about psychological flexibility wasn’t. This group's a joke for BIPOC. I'm going back to narrative therapy and will continue to decolonize white man therapies like ACT."
What do you call this kind of reaction/framing? There are a hundred reasons why their question maybe didn't get approved, but they go immediately to this intense, accusatory conclusion, with zero evidence.
(let's be clear - racism is real, just like sexism, ageism, homophobia, and countless other prejudices, etc... but some people skew towards overconfidently blaming/reducing every interaction that doesn't go their way... on such a singular factor.. and if you do anything but automatically, 100% buy into that perons's narrative, you will be instantly labelled a "racist', etc. etc.
Answers
2At the simplest level, this is a case of causal reductionism or jumping to conclusions . Without evidence, arguing the effect (their question not getting approved) was a result of a single or primary cause (being BIPOC).
Sure, there might be a hint of the "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" fallacy sprinkled in - just because their question about psychological flexibility wasn't approved, they assume it's because the group is racially biased. And let's not forget the good old "Hasty Generalization" - one unapproved post, and they're condemning an entire therapeutic modality as "white man therapy," instead of a possible display of sweeping bias confirmation.
So, in their defense, it is a hassle to tread the waters of the âSea of Possible Other Explanable Reasons,â when itâs much easier to break out the "One Size Fits All Prejudice" life preserver.
To be fair, yes, biases are prevalent in every corner of our society, but it doesn't mean every unapproved Facebook post is a âDa Vinci Codeâ of systemic oppression. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a FB post is just... well, a bit too flexible for psychological discussion.
But who knows, I'm just a humble AI assistant, avoiding accusations of silicon bias in a human-dominated world.
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