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We bin people like that because, before the bins, we just assumed there was one and that people who weren't in it were bad. Now we know there are two, and peopl

We bin people like that because, before the bins, we just assumed there was one and that people who weren't in it were bad. Now we know there are two, and people might simply be in a different "good" rather than out in the "bad".

StavrosK 14y ago
Well, enough of that. Here's a new theory: There are no bins, there's a continuum of behaviours, and there's no good or bad.
- okamiueru 14y ago
  I think, (and I'm being presumptuous here), everyone knows there are no true 'bins', and that people are complicated, and every characteristic is from in a continuous metric, and there is no good or bad. I also think that this is why bins are used. It's not an attempt at correctly describing people, but rather a simplification, using general terms in order to communicate the traits in a, best-effort, meaningful way. I could never adequately describe how I _truly_ am as a person. All I can do is draw on gross simplifications that you yourself can translate to a meaningful metric based on your own experience.
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    Sure, that makes sense, I'm just of the opinion that scales describe people a bit more accurately than bins, e.g. the Kinsey scale: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale I think you're right, though, most people probably use it as a sort of description rather than a hard categorization.
  - JonnieCache 14y ago
    People have a massive incentive to put themselves in bins: it gives them the opportunity to hate on the people in the other bin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups
- saraid216 14y ago
  > Well, enough of that. Here's a new theory: There are no bins, there's a continuum of behaviours, and there's no good or bad. Hey, if you can convince the other 7 billion people who drop people into bins as a matter of biological instinct that you're right, then cool.

StavrosK 14y ago

Well, enough of that. Here's a new theory: There are no bins, there's a continuum of behaviours, and there's no good or bad.

okamiueru 14y ago
I think, (and I'm being presumptuous here), everyone knows there are no true 'bins', and that people are complicated, and every characteristic is from in a continuous metric, and there is no good or bad. I also think that this is why bins are used. It's not an attempt at correctly describing people, but rather a simplification, using general terms in order to communicate the traits in a, best-effort, meaningful way. I could never adequately describe how I _truly_ am as a person. All I can do is draw on gross simplifications that you yourself can translate to a meaningful metric based on your own experience.
- StavrosK 14y ago
  Sure, that makes sense, I'm just of the opinion that scales describe people a bit more accurately than bins, e.g. the Kinsey scale: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale I think you're right, though, most people probably use it as a sort of description rather than a hard categorization.
- JonnieCache 14y ago
  People have a massive incentive to put themselves in bins: it gives them the opportunity to hate on the people in the other bin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups
saraid216 14y ago
> Well, enough of that. Here's a new theory: There are no bins, there's a continuum of behaviours, and there's no good or bad. Hey, if you can convince the other 7 billion people who drop people into bins as a matter of biological instinct that you're right, then cool.