this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, the fossil record and dna analysis is such a gradient, any lines we draw are arbitrary. To be fair, those lines were always for our own convenience, in much the same way it’s useful for print designers to specify Pantone 032, but if most people look at the full colour chart they couldn’t even tell you where ‘red’ becomes ‘orange’.

It’s definitely rabbits (or turtles) all the way down.

We’re prokaryotes, and vertebrates, and mammals, and from there some people get bent. Are we apes? Genus homo? Where must we draw the line to ensure we’re not actually animals like other living things and were divinely inspired special creations?

I like simplicity. Life is a beautiful prismatic projection and it doesn’t matter that much what our Pantone swatch turns out to be.

(Sorry, /mini rant)

[–] flora_explora@beehaw.org 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well, I actually completely agree with you and thought your initial comment to be quite interesting. I've never viewed this thought experiment as to be science vs religion.

My point in my previous comment was exactly that, all our lines and categories are arbitrary. They're really useful to us, but in the end still arbitrary. I enjoy categorizing stuff and so I like taxonomy a lot. But I always have to keep in mind that the categories I choose are ultimately human made and can never represent the full spectrum of nature.

Pantone 032 feels to aggressive to me, can I have another color? :P

[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] flora_explora@beehaw.org 2 points 5 months ago

Haha cool blue, very nice!