It is folly to ask where have all the good men or women gone and it is a singular impudence to say that they are nowhere to be found.

My witty and prolific colleague Michelle Zhang has been quite in the news lately since writing a popular and provocative article entitled "Where have all the good men gone?" which was published on September 23.

Her story was among the top-five most-read that day, according to our Website statistics.

One problem with the article is that she generalizes hastily. She wrote: "As a single young woman, I find it's more and more difficult to find a guy with whom I can have a good conversation. To me, they are either too young, or too old; too handsome, or too ugly; too tall, or too short; too rich, or too poor; too talkative, or too speechless ..."

I like her witty way of expressing herself but it also gives away her mind.

Handsome or ugly, tall or short, rich or poor — that is not what makes a man good or bad. A good man is kind, considerate, resolved and righteous.

I am responding to Michelle not for the sake of another headline or to sell our newspaper but to point out the danger of disdaining what we do not comprehend.

Quite a few women call themselves "decent girls."

But decency doesn't come only from having a decent job or a decent education. Decency, to be accurate, means having a decent mind.

Another colleague of mine, Tian Yi, was right to say, in her article entitled "A good man isn't really hard to find" which was published last Monday that "decent girls are too picky to see" the good men who are out there.

But she also over-generalizes. She wrote: "Let's say, when it comes to finding oneself a partner, a decent guy is looking for a decent wife, but a decent girl a new life."

As if a man is not looking for a new life. If the "decent wife" cannot give a man a new life, how decent is she?

The hidden logic is that men often have lower demands to make when it comes to finding the right woman than the other way round. This is not true.

Why should a man always expect less from a woman than the other way round?

Male supremacy may persist, but to say a man always compromises more is to insult many women's intelligence.

Have we forgotten the saying that behind every successful man, there is a great woman?

That "great woman" does not just wash the clothes and do the dishes to make you succeed.

In one way or another, she must be intellectually superior to you.

There is another ridiculous generalization that a single woman who has a successful career is difficult to find a good husband because she is too good.

The truth is that many single women with a successful career but poor relationships also have a bad temper.

In many cases, it is their bad temper rather than a man's quality that ruins their relationships.

If a woman with a good job is usually doomed to lead a single life, how do you explain the many happy families in which the wife has a better job than the husband?

People like to generalize. In the end, they become the biggest victims of their rash generalizations — they complain, complain and complain.

Unfounded generalizations can be contagious.

As the great French philosopher Michel de Montaigne says, children, the common people and sick people are most subject to being led about by the ears. If you want to find a good partner, know yourself and be fair with others.