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I just tried to come up with a definition and I feel like I'm almost there but not quite. A chair is something you can sit on (but you can also sit on a rock)
by politelemon 7y ago
I just tried to come up with a definition and I feel like I'm almost there but not quite.
A chair is something you can sit on (but you can also sit on a rock)
&& it has a backrest (but the foot of a tree serves as a backrest)
&& it elevates you off the floor (but not all chairs take you above floor level very much)
&& it is manmade.
- namanyayg 7y agoAlso applies to a Sofa
- hhjinks 7y agoWhat is a sofa if not shared chair?
- ASalazarMX 7y agoNow I'm doubting if car seats are chairs too...
- angel_rs 7y agoNow you have to find an accurate and all-capturing definition to all the terms you used (manmade, floor, backrest, ...) It's a game you cannot win.
- com2kid 7y agoPlenty of ergonomic chairs don't have a backrest. There are also ergo chairs that you "kneel" on instead!
- setr 7y agoI believe the correct approach is by looking at purpose, and more importantly primary purpose, rather than try to describe the chair itself. Eg, a chair is any object whose primary purpose is to sit a single individual If it's meant to seat multiple people, it's a bench, a sofa, etc, but not a chair If it's meant to be extra comfortable, it might be a single-seat sofa, but this itself a chair If it's a rock, but positioned such that it's primary purpose is to sit an individual, such as next to a table, then it's a chair. And most notably, primary purpose is subjective -- it might be understood as a chair, or as a doorstop, depending on your viewpoint, and what you use it for.
- notJim 7y agoWhat about stools? I don't consider a stool to be a chair, I consider them two subtypes of seating. If someone told me to grab a chair and gestured to a stool I'd find it very slightly odd.
- setr 7y agoFine To sit an individual at close to, or at, a right angle in regards to their legs A small rock versus a big rock; Approximating a squat, or standing, is out of bounds But a stool may consistute a chair when sitting a child Regardless, I'm mainly talking about the approach to defining it, and that definition by purpose rather than structure is more likely to find a correct definition, not that my example definition is sufficient
- umvi 7y ago> a chair is any object whose primary purpose is to sit a single individual So is a zabuton[1] a chair? [1] https://www.dharmacrafts.com/01_zb/zabuton-mat https://www.dharmacrafts.com/01_zb/zabuton-mat
- ken 7y agoThis would classify a Honda Goldwing as a chair, but exclude the Balans kneeling chair.