Stereotypes as epistemic heuristics

Stereotypes are widely held statistical generalizations about groups that can function as imperfect but useful heuristics for making judgments about observable traits. Blanket moral condemnation or censorship of stereotyping risks discarding useful information and substituting political signaling for fact‑checking. — If public culture treats all group generalizations as automatically illegitimate, policy debates and everyday decision‑making (casting, hiring, policing, education) may be driven more by identity signaling than by evidence.