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Comment by michaelteter

2 years ago

This is a classic problem of trying to choose a single label for anything.

There are very few absolutes… maybe none.

I like this test applied to an apple. . With no bites taken, is it an apple? (Of course) Now take a bite. Still an apple? (Most would say yes). Keep taking bites until it is just a core, or an even just a seed. Then?

Maybe my favorite is just the boundary of one of us humans. Where is the boundary between me and not me? Obviously it’s on the outer edge of my skin. But zoom in a lot, and you have this blue/green binary fit problem.

Fundamentally, reality is a continuum of variation, and the categories and ontologies we define are just models that are useful for reconcile reality to our own cognitive capacities, rather than anything objectively true of the external world.