41 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
41 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Category Mistake
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tags:
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- topic/ambiguity
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- type/encyclopedia-entry
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---
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# Category Mistake
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> [!quote] [Category mistake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_mistake)
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> An example is a person learning that the game of cricket involves team spirit,
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> and after being given a demonstration of each player's role,
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> asking which player performs the "team spirit".
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All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
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## Overgeneralization via Hyperspecification
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Or "inappropriate synecdoche[^1]"
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[^1]: **synecdoche:** Using the name of a part to refer to the whole, or vice versa.
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Much of my issue with terminology
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can be blamed on **overgeneralization via hyperspecification**,
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[Proprietary eponyms](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proprietary_eponym)
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(synonym: [genericized trademark](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/genericized_trademark))
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are usually[^2] an example of such,
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and are prominent in electrical construction.[^3]
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[^2]: I'm not a complete pedant, Cadweld is a perfectly unambiguous substitution.
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"Caddy", "Hilti", and "Vitalink" are my real complaints,
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where the word only gets me marginally closer
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to creating a concrete image in my head.
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The general acceptance of "band-aid"
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compared to the rejection of "coke"
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may be related.
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[^3]: See [Database of American Proprietary Eponyms](https://www.searstower.org/rkrause/brands.html)
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for examples.
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