There’s something both convenient and terrifying about stereotypes. They’re convenient because they save time. Almost everyone enjoys life when it comes easy and stereotypes allow us to summarize people, even whole groups of people into just a word or two.

If you say, “She’s such a Princess,” people will think they know her. You can use a word like “Policeman” and everyone will have an idea of what to expect. When you say, “He’s a real redhead,” you automatically get the idea of a hot temper and a short fuse to go with the hair.

Stereotypes are convenient because we see how people fit into patterns—and we use those patterns as a guide to behavior, intentions and all sorts of expectations.

And there is the terrifying part about stereotypes: our expectations are often wrong.

Not that there isn’t some truth to a stereotype—but there’s seldom complete truth. Generally there’s more of a person that doesn’t fit a stereotype than that does. People get boxed into a stereotype and then are treated as a group rather than as individuals.

People don’t fit into such neat categories. We have even-tempered redheads. We have princesses that don’t behave like royalty. We have police that are honest and corrupt and everything in between. We’re all sizes and shapes and cannot be easily put into a neat box.

It may not be as convenient, but it’s always better to be open to a softer-edged picture of people. If someone is worth knowing—take the time to know him or her. Each of us is unique. Each of us has something a little different to offer the world.

If you think you can summarize someone in a word or two—you’re missing the point of the infinite diversity of life.

“We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other’s opposite and complement.”

—Herman Hesse