Re:Animal cultures: how we've only seen the tip of the iceberg
by vanderZwan on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @04:46AM
(#19968506)
> humanity is such a gradient
In general I think there is a lot of scientific insight to be gained from gettting more comfortable with gradients, instead of insisting on distinct categories. I remember a conversation with a biologists who was complaining that with European bird subspecies the categories are more like a representation of national boundaries and their institutions, masking a gradient of change that happens across the continent.
Same with languages, especially before nation states were a thing.
In general I think there is a lot of scientific insight to be gained from gettting more comfortable with gradients, instead of insisting on distinct categories. I remember a conversation with a biologists who was complaining that with European bird subspecies the categories are more like a representation of national boundaries and their institutions, masking a gradient of change that happens across the continent.
Same with languages, especially before nation states were a thing.