There Are Two Kinds Of People

"There are two kinds of people. Those who divide people into two kinds, and those who don't."

Surely there are 10 kinds of people, those who count in binary and those who don't.
No, there are three kinds of people - those who can count, and those who can't.

The reason people keep finding ways of categorizing people is because they are useful. Consider a binary categorization like introvert/extrovert. Like all the others, it is an approximation. Some people are extremely introverted or extroverted, while others are somewhere in the middle. People who are naturally one can be trained (or train themselves) to act like the other. Nevertheless, learning about this distinction can help you understand yourself and others better.

So, when someone produces a categorization like HedgehogAndFox, the question is not whether it is absolute truth. It isn't. ItDepends. The question is whether or not one can make it useful. This is a valuable mental model. You can use it to understand other people. You can figure out why there are arguments. It can give you some clues about how you can be more effective. In understanding your and others' strengths and weaknesses you can become more successful.

All models are false, but some are useful.

-- RalphJohnson

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