Are private schools a scam? (Faulty Generalisation Explained)

Private schools are a scam…

You must have heard this statement a lot. But is that really true?

Sorry :(

There is no exact answer to this question. Remember, “Nothing is white, nothing is black, everything is grey" (in subjective reality) This statement that “Private Schools are a scam” is a subjective and generalized assertion that may not accurately represent the diverse landscape of private education. It is very important to recognize that private schools vary widely in terms of quality, mission, and educational approach. Before jumping to a conclusion, Let's understand why all of us tend to associate ourselves with certain ideologies, theories, beliefs, ideas, and philosophies without proper data regarding them. Although there are many psychological reasons which we will discuss in a future blog post, one of the main reasons is Faulty Generalization. Faulty Generalization, sometimes known as Defective Induction, means drawing a conclusion for an entire population based on a limited sample. In other words, we make a faulty generalization when we jump to an unjustified conclusion. For example:

• Presuming that all elderly people are technologically challenged. This is an example of Faulty Generalization.
• All politicians are corrupted.

We as human beings do not expect every situation to be known to us. Whenever we encounter a new situation or person, we tend to respond based on something similar that we have experienced earlier. These similar situations or people give a rough idea about how we should deal with the current situation. Sometimes it also gives a fair warning of impending conflict or untoward situations. Similarly, in this case, as per very limited data, we concluded that most private schools are capitalists and are operated simply for profit. But that is not absolutely true, there are many private institutes that are offering quality education in exchange for reasonable financial compensation, which is completely ethical. Despite a lot of competition and legal formalities, they are working for their students therefore they deserve to be appreciated because they are doing great work. If you are reading until the end, you must have got an idea that I was trying to explain to you Faulty Generalization instead of the aforementioned topic. So next time you generalize, consider these three points in your mind:

• Do I have proper data regarding every argument?
• Do I have any sort of prejudice or bias?
• And remember, first focus on how to think, and then focus on what to think.

Peace :)