The dangers of categorical thinking

Abstract

Human beings are categorization machines, taking in voluminous amounts of messy data and then simplifying and structuring it. That’s how we make sense of the world and communicate our ideas to others. But according to the authors, categorization comes so naturally to us that we often see categories where none exist. That warps our view of the world and harms our ability to make sound decisions—a phenomenon that should be of special concern to any business that relies on data collection and analysis for decision making. Categorical thinking, the authors argue, creates four dangerous consequences. When we categorize, we compress category members, treating them as more alike than they are; we amplify differences between members of different categories; we discriminate, favoring certain categories over others; and we fossilize, treating the categorical structure we’ve imposed as static. In the years ahead, companies will have to focus attention on how best to mitigate those consequences