Because the relationships between subjects are web-like rather than tree-like, even for people who agree on a web may pick a different tree representation. These are my (oft repeated) general comments on the dangers of hierarchical classification as a general solution.
The Order of Things
Guilty until proven innocent
A type system is essentially Napoleonic law. It arrests you because you can’t show that you’re worthy.
Gilad Bracha, Software Engineering Radio #140, 2009
Applied epistemology
BETA has this whole philosophical spiel about concepts and phenomena. The idea being that classes are patterns, really – describe concepts – and objects are the actual phenomena, the real things.
This distinction is one of the points where I’ve disagreed with them… The point is that concepts are phenomena too. Maybe I should take it out, because it’s a distraction for most people, but it is a point that Ole [Lehrmann Madsen] needs to hear.
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Core values
If you don’t actively fight for simplicity in software, complexity will win, and it will suck.
"There is no shelf."
I want to argue that even the ontological ideal is a mistake. Even using theoretical perfection as a measure of practical success leads to misapplication of resources.
Clay Shirky, Ontology is Overrated