Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Categorization and labeling - Sociologist's reading

 
From a early age children learn the necessity of using labels in order to categorize people , actions ,ideas ,concepts and events. 
   The most widely used labeling system is the dichotomous one which operates with two very well know values : good or bad / right or wrong 
  We can rarely talk about a system that uses a third value : neutral . 
   Labeling contributes greatly to our understanding of the environment in which we live , it is the filter that makes possible the arranging of information in to categories .
   The process of labeling is possible only because every known object has a certain number of characteristics which makes it identifiable and those capable of receiving a label. The notions of identity and label have a unbreakable connection, every entity that is in existence (human , animal , object , event ,idea) has a identity - > the sum of all of  its characteristics which receives a positive or negative association .
   Every existing entity has a set of features that automatically gives it a identity , this two notion can't be separated one from other , in order for a entity to exist it must possess at least one distinct characteristic that it dosen't share with no other entity . In order to erase any other possible logic errors when talking about the characteristics of a entity we must understand the concept of noncontradition and the concept of identity
  The concept of noncontradiction tells us that a entity can't possess two contradictory  characteristics in the same time and in the same context.
   To make things easier we will list the following examples: A person cant be fat and skinny  ; rich and poor ; young and old ; dead and alive ; handsome and ugly .After understanding the features that gives validity to a entity  (human , object , even , concept , idea) we will try get a motivation for the use of the binary labeling system .  
    The concept of identity tells us that a thing is what it is , the U.S. can't be Canada or France. More exactly , it tells us that every existing thing has a word associated with it and that word can not be associated with a other object  . The word "chair" it refers to a specific type of furniture peace , it cant be associated with any other object. We won't say "chair" when we want to refer to the computer.
   The use of this system is quite easy to understand , its is based on the idea that a third , neutral value , would make a information impossible to process those inhibiting any kind of reaction . Let's take the following example: Judy broken mother's favorite tea pot . If we use the binary labeling system we can chose from two values , each relating to a possible outcome. Imagine if the third ,neutral value , was picked , no possible outcome can unfold from here.  
   Using the binary system makes categorization a easy task , even though the binary system is rather used when labeling something as good or bad , when it comes to categorization  we can talk about labels. Labels can have good or bad values associated with them but when putting information in to categories we already use the labels with the values associated with them.
  Ex. Old information , useless information ,  math related information , computer related information. When it comes to making categories we might associate positive or negative emotions to some as a result of past experiences.
Ex: Math test (information)  = > || label  filter || = > good (result of labeling) - goes to the category = > Beneficial upcoming events (good - emotional charge)
* You will never find a information labeled as good archived in a category that has a negative emotional charge.
* A processed labeled information can fit all the positive charged categories but cant fit in any negative charged ones.
 The binary good/bad labeling system can be validated by the exclusion of the third possibility which tells us that a entity can have or not have a characteristic , the third option being impossible

No comments: