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sophie b.'s picture

why do we classify?

One of the things that interested me the most this week was the purpose of categorization.  One generally considers categorization to be a utilitarian tool, (it helps us know which aisle to find paper towels, etc), however in the science world categorization is an incredibly complicated discipline that you have to be personally trained in to really comprehend. It seems interesting to me that categorization,  a tool that is meant to make our world less complicated and easier to understand, is so complex in the field of science- when it is even more important that we are able to understand it, as categorization helps us to make new discoveries in medicine, etc. 

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