This blogsite contains so many posts which generalise or make points based on generalisations.

I always thought many newspapers did it to provoke a response, and obviously I wonder if "hit" conscious bloggers do it for that reason too.

But why does it happen?

Is it done out of modesty/anonymity?: e.g. using "People think..." instead of "I think..."

Is it done to be persuasive: e.g. "People I know...." rather than "Some people I know..."

Is it done to protect prejudices? It certainly seems to protect them.
In my experience when I reconstruct a line of thought by debugging it of generalisations, then I often evolve a view that is more tolerant.

But then this takes time, so is it done out of laziness? :-/

Or is it done just out of unconscious mimicry? Are we often generalisation-blind, because its so endemic in communication? (Particularly in our stressed culture).

(BTW Just in case...err.. jokey title was deliberate, even if not comedy award winning material).