//Stereotyping a normal and intelligent way to think.//

Yes of course it is, dear.

That in itself does not constitute ‘heckling’, LEGO.

<<You have yet to write a complete paragraph with more than four sentences.>>

But yes, I did boast of my ability to be concise. No obfuscation, just straight to the point.

<<You claim that stereotyping people is wrong, yet all you can say is that it is "harmful" to do so.>>

No, I’ve also pointed out some ways that it can be harmful.

"[Stereotyping in law enforcement] results in both over-policing and under-policing, mistrust of police amongst certain groups, and the penchant for stereotyping that many officers naturally develop can lead to instances of bullying of officers that belong to certain groups." (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=17896#318228)

So I don’t know what you mean by “some argument”.

<<Would you like to submit 100-150 words explaining how wrong it is for profilers to stereotype career criminals, rapists, child molesters, and serial killers in order to catch them?>>

I didn’t say it was wrong. I said it was inaccurate. It can be harmful, though, in the sense that it can lead police off in the wrong direction.

<<Another group that stereotypes people "wrongfully" are advertising executives.>>

Correct. Not only is marketing a notoriously inaccurate profession, but it can be harmful when advertising agencies play a little too heavily on a stereotype that is damaging to a demographic.

<<Insurance companies too adjust their premiums according to their knowledge of the different levels of responsibility within the different demographic groups in society.>>

Premiums and excesses are more expensive for under 25s because their frontal lobes haven’t yet developed fully and they’re more likely to make bad decisions because of that. That’s not much of an oversimplification in the context of risk management though.

<<People from the dependent and criminal class are very seriously over represented in irresponsible driving and serious car accidents, and people from those areas pay a higher premium.>>

Some postcodes are more expensive than others because more thefts occur in those areas, not because insurers are stereotyping their customers in those areas.

AJ "That in itself does not constitute ‘heckling’, LEGO."

LEGO Perhaps your stereotype of what "heckling" is, does not conform to what my stereotype of what "heckling" is?

AJ "So, I don’t know what you mean by “some argument”."

LEGO My stereotype of a "reasoned argument" is one which consists of much more than a single sentence, which is only a brief opinion anyway. Your one sentence attack on police stereotyping procedures is an example. It is hardly valid if the worldwide law enforcement community displays it's collective contempt of your brief opinion by ignoring your PC ideology altogether.

AJ "I didn’t say it was wrong. I said it was inaccurate. It can be harmful, though, in the sense that it can lead police off in the wrong direction."

LEGO If it is so inaccurate, police forces worldwide would not use it. Obviously, it is accurate.

AJ "[Stereotyping in law enforcement] results in both over-policing and under-policing, mistrust of police amongst certain groups, and the penchant for stereotyping that many officers naturally develop can lead to instances of bullying of officers that belong to certain groups."

LEGO It also solves crimes. The reason why you hate it, is because it rightfully assumes that certain ethnicities are prone to criminal behaviour.

AJ "Not only is marketing a notoriously inaccurate profession, but it can be harmful when advertising agencies play a little too heavily on a stereotype that is damaging to a demographic."

LEGO If you listen real hard, you can hear the cashed up professionals in Madison Avenue, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Mojo laughing their heads off at that one.

AJ "Premiums and excesses are more expensive for under 25s because their frontal lobes haven’t yet developed fully and they’re more likely to make bad decisions because of that. That’s not much of an oversimplification in the context of risk management though."

LEGO Advertising agencies stereotype target consumer demographics. Insurance companies adjust premiums using statistical data which makes judgements about different demographics. Everybody does it. Including yourself.

No, that’s not what stereotyping is, LEGO.

<<Perhaps your stereotype of what "heckling" is, does not conform to what my stereotype of what "heckling" is?>>

That’s a concept or a definition. One cannot, by definition, stereotype a singularity.

<<My stereotype of a "reasoned argument" is one which consists of much more than a single sentence…>>

That’s also not a stereotype. Either way, most of your arguments are wrong at such a basic and fundamental level that they only require one sentence to debunk. See above, for example.

<<Your one sentence attack on police stereotyping procedures is an example.>>

I could link you to evidence, but we both know you’ll either ignore it or fob it off somehow. Besides which, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that stereotyping will result in both over-policing and under-policing.

<<It is hardly valid if the worldwide law enforcement community displays it's collective contempt of your brief opinion by ignoring your PC ideology altogether.>>

It doesn’t. And I could equally point out the same about the collective contempt of criminologists of your brief assumptions regarding the use and effectiveness of stereotyping in law enforcement.

I’ll also point out that you’ve ‘moved the goalposts’ from ‘profiling’ to ‘entire police institutions’ by responding to what was a comment on profilers alone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts). That makes six fallacies. Further to that, this is also the Appeal to Common Practice fallacy.

By the way, stereotyping is not usually used as an official policy, but creeps in as a bad habit.

<<It also solves crimes.>>

At the cost of ignoring others (i.e. under-policing), and building resentment and losing their legitimacy amongst certain groups. Nice plan, Sherlock. You should be commissioner.

<<If you listen real hard, you can hear the cashed up professionals in Madison Avenue, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Mojo laughing their heads off at that one.>>

How witty. Now THAT is what ‘not presenting a reasoned argument’ is. Your hypocrisy is showing.

Why do you think marketers are moving away from stereotyping and towards data mining?

*Crickets chirping*

Look that one up.

AJ "That’s a concept or a definition. One cannot, by definition, stereotype a singularity."

LEGO. A flock of birds is sitting on a car.

AJ "I could link you to evidence, but we both know you’ll either ignore it or fob it off somehow. Besides which, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that stereotyping will result in both over-policing and under-policing."

LEGO Read your link and submit it in your own words. I don't debate against links. I don't tell you to go and read Psychology books.

AJ "It doesn’t."

LEGO So, when is the FBI going to close down the Serial Killer course at Quantico, Virginia?

AJ "And I could equally point out the same about the collective contempt of criminologists of your brief assumptions regarding the use and effectiveness of stereotyping in law enforcement."

LEGO Are they the drop kicks at the Australian Institute of Criminology who claimed that ethnic crime was a figment of the public's imagination? And the ones who attended the "Violence,Crime and the Media" conference in Canberra, who claimed that there was no link between media violence and real life violence? I will happily take their brickbats as a badge of honour.

AJ "By the way, stereotyping is not usually used as an official policy, but creeps in as a bad habit."

LEGO I would say it was simply normal thinking. I suppose you could call "thinking a "bad habit" if you were a wild eyed PC zealot like you.

AJ "At the cost of ignoring others (i.e. under-policing), and building resentment and losing their legitimacy amongst certain groups. Nice plan, Sherlock. You should be commissioner."

LEGO We had a PC commissioner like you in NSW. He was imported from Britain, and as Detective Sergeant Tim Priest pointed out in his book "To Protect and Serve", he managed to fudge the crime figures so well that Dover Heights supposedly had more crime than Cabramatta.

LEGO,

We can be here for the next two months or we can be here for the next two years. It's really up to you. But playing dumb is not going to get rid of me...

<<A flock of birds is sitting on a car.>>

A flock denotes multiples, not a singularity.

<<Read your link and submit it in your own words.>>

I already have. Both journal articles and textbooks.

<<I don't debate against links.>>

"Ignore them all you like, but being so audience-focused, you do so at your own peril." (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=17896#317542)

<<I don't tell you to go and read Psychology books.>>

I've never asked you to read an entire book. You don't even have to read a journal article I link to. But refusing to do so does not then give you the key to brush aside what I had said as mere opinion. Not unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of your "impartial readers", at least.

<<So, when is the FBI going to close down the Serial Killer course at Quantico, Virginia?>>

Uh, uh. You were talking about entire police institutions. Now you've switched back to profiling? Tsk, tsk. That's the Shifting of the Goalposts fallacy again.

<<Are they the drop kicks at the Australian Institute of Criminology who claimed that ethnic crime was a figment of the public's imagination?>>

No, the ones you continually refer to when you think they support your racial theories. You still haven't shown where they made such a claim, despite my requests. (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=17534#310247)

<<And the ones who attended the "Violence,Crime and the Media" conference in Canberra, who claimed that there was no link between media violence and real life violence?>>

Another claim you won't be able to support, I take it?

<<We had a PC commissioner like you in NSW.>>

Interesting. That doesn't negate my claim that you were responding to, though.