{"id":14690,"date":"2024-01-01T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=14690"},"modified":"2024-03-04T20:38:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T20:38:08","slug":"natural-kind-concepts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/un\/natural-kind-concepts","title":{"rendered":"Natural Kind Concepts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3>\u201cTo say that a kind is natural is to say that it corresponds to a grouping that reflects the structure of the natural world rather than the interests and actions of human beings.\u201d (*) \u2018Rather than\u2019 already denotes the relative nature that pervades the whole domain.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Please read <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=14447\">The meaning of a word.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is the flip side of the same coin as social\/general <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=4322\">constructionism<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Natural kind concepts supposedly belong to the fundamental reality beneath the human constructs. Yet they are all relative \u2014 so, is there a <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=850\">fundamental reality in an ultimate sense<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Natural versus unnatural kind<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can shove characteristics together and posit the result as a concept. Then, we can say that these characteristics intentionally define this concept. That doesn\u2019t mean the concept exists outside of our shoving together. In that case, it\u2019s clearly not a natural kind concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we find a set of items that clearly belong together on the basis of a strong set of characteristics, then we can more readily talk of a natural kind concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The difference is made by the arbitrariness of the characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In an attempt to avoid arbitrariness, science is seen as unveiling natural kinds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even more, it\u2019s about finding the most basic ones, thereby reducing unnecessary complexity in a quest for truth even while \u2018final truths\u2019 may not be reachable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, the search for a genuine unification theory of the universe \u2014 the one thing or force that everything is made of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(Organic) nature\u2019s \u2018good enough\u2019 is good for natural things.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good enough to live and thrive \u2014 and procreate. Organic nature \u2013 of which we are a part \u2013 is into the concrete, not the abstract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, as far as we can see, universal nature is not necessarily devoid of the abstract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Concepts are abstract.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A concept can be defined in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Intentional: by enumerating the characteristics that belong to this concept.<\/li><li>Extensional: by enumerating the set of items that belong to this concept.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that the concept doesn\u2019t have these characteristics, nor is it the set itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Being abstract, concepts don\u2019t exist in the spatiotemporal world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, natural kind concepts also do not exist. They are irrevocably mental constructs. There is no chance they are \u2018real.\u2019 Whether they are \u2018realistic,\u2019 we cannot know. In view of our finding out ever more about the complexity of the universe, they probably don\u2019t. Their existence would be close to magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is especially important in super-A.I.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such as for the Lisa project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ideally, there should be one clear and distinct ontology (set of concepts and relationships) to be used unequivocally in reasoning and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human mental world is far from that, which is one reason why we live in many silos and, within each silo, in a far semblance of understanding each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(*) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy \u2015 Natural Kinds; <a href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/ENTRIES\/natural-kinds\/\">https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/ENTRIES\/natural-kinds\/<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-14690\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cTo say that a kind is natural is to say that it corresponds to a grouping that reflects the structure of the natural world rather than the interests and actions of human beings.\u201d (*) \u2018Rather than\u2019 already denotes the relative nature that pervades the whole domain. Please read The meaning of a word. This is <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/un\/natural-kind-concepts\">Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"14690\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-14690\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[30,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2355.jpg?fit=960%2C560&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fdiq-3OW","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14704,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\/revisions\/14704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}