Abstract thinking ability

 

https://x.com/financedystop/status/2018885597813948854?s=20

"Here's a fast way to test someone's ability to think abstractly.

Make a generalized statement about a group, something factual and based on stats such as Asian men are shorter on average.

Now what's the response?

If they say anything like not all Asian men are short or I know a tall Asian guy, you're not dealing with disagreement, you're dealing with reasoning failure. Not anecdotes.

And psychology calls this concrete thinking when someone cannot separate population level trends from individual exceptions. They default to personal stories.

This is not insight, it's a lack of abstract reasoning. Pointing out an exception does not invalidate a trend. It just proves you do not understand how statistics work.

This is called ignoring base rates, a well documented cognitive error.

And here's the important part: once someone collapses a statistical idea into an emotional or anecdotal rebuttal, explaining it doesn't help.

They are operating on a different level of thought. You're referring to patterns, they're talking about people they know. This is different conversations, right?

It's not being rude or offensive, it's whether someone can think beyond the literal.

Averages describe tendencies and not guarantees. Exceptions do not disprove the rules.

The moment someone can't grasp that, you've learned that is exactly how far the conversation will go."