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Everything is arbitrary at the end of the day. Where does "Asian culture" end and "European culture" begin? Does that mean there is no asian culture or culture

Everything is arbitrary at the end of the day. Where does "Asian culture" end and "European culture" begin? Does that mean there is no asian culture or culture at all? Clearly something is going on when you compare someone from a Kenyan village to someone from Tokyo. The difference is maybe as stark as the difference in their continents. Saying something is fuzzy is not the same thing as saying it's arbitrary. Everything in life is fuzzy except made up abstractions we define to not be so. That doesn't mean concepts and categories themselves don't have meaning or "exist".

klodolph 4y ago
> Everything is arbitrary at the end of the day. It’s a question of degree. Race is just too fuzzy / too arbitrary. If you want to do science and ask questions about ancestry, you ask questions about ancestry. Race is too much of a social / political construct, and the actual “definitions” of race are too arbitrary and mired in history to be useful to most scientists (with obvious exceptions, like sociologists studying race). “Asian culture” is pretty damn broad anyway. Asia accounts for nearly 60% of the world’s population, so any inferences you make about Asian culture, generally speaking, are going to be nigh worthless.
- eldritch_4ier 4y ago
  That's my point: asian cultures very broad, but you still know exactly what I mean when I say asian culture. It exists in some sense. Science isn't the only determinant of what is real. Asian culture is real in its own sense, even if it resists scientific understanding. Likewise for race: when I say a white person, you know pretty much exactly what I mean, so it's real (even if it's fuzzy).
melagonster 4y ago
if something is filled with error, the better way is discard it and restart the research.
Brian_K_White 4y ago
Properties exist, but their use to create classifications is arbitrary, and using those arbitrary classifications to justify anything else is invalid. "Something is going on when you compare a gyro and a falafel." Congratulations on spotting that. Sure, their bread wrapping is different and their fillings are different, and yet they are also both just food with the same essential fillings-in-bread form, and there is no justifiable reason to use the differences to decide who gets treated well and who doesn't.
- eldritch_4ier 4y ago
  Obviously I'm not saying racism is justified or whatever. I'm just saying race is obviously real in some sense, even if it's fuzzy.

klodolph 4y ago

> Everything is arbitrary at the end of the day. It’s a question of degree. Race is just too fuzzy / too arbitrary. If you want to do science and ask questions about ancestry, you ask questions about ancestry. Race is too much of a social / political construct, and the actual “definitions” of race are too arbitrary and mired in history to be useful to most scientists (with obvious exceptions, like sociologists studying race). “Asian culture” is pretty damn broad anyway. Asia accounts for nearly 60% of the world’s population, so any inferences you make about Asian culture, generally speaking, are going to be nigh worthless.

eldritch_4ier 4y ago
That's my point: asian cultures very broad, but you still know exactly what I mean when I say asian culture. It exists in some sense. Science isn't the only determinant of what is real. Asian culture is real in its own sense, even if it resists scientific understanding. Likewise for race: when I say a white person, you know pretty much exactly what I mean, so it's real (even if it's fuzzy).

melagonster 4y ago

if something is filled with error, the better way is discard it and restart the research.

Brian_K_White 4y ago

Properties exist, but their use to create classifications is arbitrary, and using those arbitrary classifications to justify anything else is invalid. "Something is going on when you compare a gyro and a falafel." Congratulations on spotting that. Sure, their bread wrapping is different and their fillings are different, and yet they are also both just food with the same essential fillings-in-bread form, and there is no justifiable reason to use the differences to decide who gets treated well and who doesn't.

eldritch_4ier 4y ago
Obviously I'm not saying racism is justified or whatever. I'm just saying race is obviously real in some sense, even if it's fuzzy.