Complex categorical placement depends on personal biographical knowledge

Evidence

Between these two factors of nearness and distance, however, a peculiar tension arises, since the consciousness of having only the absolutely general in common has exactly the effect of putting a special emphasis on that which is not common. For a stranger to the country, the city, the race, and so on, what is stressed is again nothing individual, but alien origin, a quality which he has, or could have, in common with many other strangers. For this reason strangers are not really perceived as individuals, but as strangers of a certain type. Their remoteness is no less general than their nearness. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401 (#expands, via linked claim)

If you aim for a universal character you may end up with a vague or dull or windy one. If you set out to write a typical character you’re likely to produce a caricature, because people are typical only in the generalized qualities that lump them together. Typical is the most provincial adjective in a writer’s vocabulary, signaling that you’re writing only for those who share your assumptions. A “typical” schoolgirl in Dar es Salaam is a very different type from one in San Francisco. Furthermore, every person is typical of many things successively or simultaneously. She may be in turn a typical schoolgirl, bride, divorcée, and feminist. He may be at one and the same time a typical New Yorker, math professor, doting father, and adulterer. It is in the confrontation and convolution of types that much of our individuality is produced. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Occupational and status divisions structurally limit who city dwellers can know — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 77; Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 284; Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401 (+1 more)

Related

• Categorical knowledge of strangers frequently depends on personal information about them (similarity 0.82)
• Categorical knowledge of others often requires personal biographical knowledge (similarity 0.82)
• Clique-dominated society demands self-representation as a type rather than as an individual. (similarity 0.81)
• Every person is perceived as both unique individual and general type (similarity 0.80)
• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals (similarity 0.80)
• Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types (similarity 0.79)
• Everyone is composed of multiple social identities that position them differently (similarity 0.79)
• Behavior can track type even when encounter partners are anonymous (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Past-oriented familiarity reduces complexity by assuming established patterns repeat #qualifies (0.75)
• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401
• Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types #complicates (0.50) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284