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A comment on There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically). Parent comment

Re:There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically) by Zababa on Tuesday December 21, 2021 @06:01AM (#29636161)
I'm not sure that it's premature. We use categories all the time, the time when they fail us seem to be rare in proportion.
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Re:There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically) by dsr_ on Tuesday December 21, 2021 @07:49AM (#29636858)
Rare but often important.

We all work with computers all the time, and so we have a tendency to try to represent the universe in the simplest abstractions that capture the necessary detail for the project we are currently contemplating. When those abstractions fail to capture a necessary detail, it can be due to:

- a bad abstraction in the first place

- a new use for the representation that we hadn't thought about

- insufficient understanding of what we are trying to represent

I have seen all three of these situations repeatedly. They are all quite common.

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