Focus and Boundary

[stoutfellow]

I've been aware for quite a while that, despite centuries of attention to precise definitions and clear line-drawing, people actually build concepts with clear centers and fuzzy boundaries. It's not "anything on this side of the line is X, and everything on that side is not-X", but rather "anything close enough to A is X, and everything too far away from A is not-X". I hadn't recognized certain implications of that fact until I read "Let's talk about category structure and oppression!". It's a definite eye-opener, and I'll have to add cognitive linguistics to my list of things-to-look-into.

H/t to TNH at Making Light.