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How We Sort the World
“Every category is a simplification to some degree; it throws away information about the thing.”
In the interview that follows, Murphy discusses his lifelong interest in studying concepts and categories — “the glue that holds our mental world together,” as he’s described them — the impact of his research on his worldview, and the complex relationship between language and categorization across cultures. As I became a “senior figure” (ahem) in the field, I began to think that to some degree we’ve lost the forest for the trees, so I wanted to write about some of the important things we have learned about categories over the past 50 years, many of which are interesting or useful (and some both). The second part of your book is organized around specific case studies exploring categories ranging from critical (medicine, race, mortality) to trivial (peanut butter, almond milk, parking regulations).
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