3 ms·
Of what use is a classification system when the elements belonging to the same class have no general, discernible commonalities?
by Kenji 11y ago
Of what use is a classification system when the elements belonging to the same class have no general, discernible commonalities?
- dghf 11y agoThere are commonalities. IIRC, a diagnosis of autism requires significant impairment in all three of, and severe impairment in at least one of: - social skills - communication skills - rigidity (reliance on routine) That doesn't stop a wide variation in how those manifest in individuals, nor make the diagnosis meaningless.
- lasfter 11y agoThere may be general discernible commonalities, but autism is a spectrum and its symptoms do not prescribe a personality.
- theoh 11y agoPsychiatric classifications do tend to be problematic because personality is so complex. It's not like botany.
- Kenji 11y agoI agree. I wish the field of psychiatry would address these problems honestly and scientifically, rather than inventing and voting disorders into their manual.
- Silfen 11y agoThe DSM exists for billing purposes. It's not exactly a scientific taxonomy of psychiatric disorders.
- munificent 11y ago> It's not like botany. Hell, even botany is complex. Every Wikipedia article I read on a plant species seems to invariably have a long section talking about various places the plant has been on the taxonomic tree at different points in time and how scientists still aren't sure where to stick it.