Sometimes other people are going to care about different regularities from what you care about.
If I am in a botany laboratory, and a botanist instructs me to âput the fruit samples in Refrigerator 1 and the vegetable samples in Refrigerator 2â, I will...well, Iâll ask for clarification first, but if I canât do that I will put tomatoes in with the fruit samples. This is because botanists care about the regularities for which tomatoes are similar to other fruits (like being made of flesh and full of seeds).
If I am in a kitchen, and a cook instructs me to âput the vegetables in the salad bowl and the fruits in the fruit salad bowlâ, I will put the tomatoes in with the vegetables. This is because cooks care about the regularities for which tomatoes are similar to other vegetables (like being tasty in a salad and not in a dessert).
Both of these definitions of âfruitâ are valid, depending on context.
If you show up in a kitchen and demand that the cooks stop putting tomatoes in salads, soups and savory sauces (like you do with vegetables) and instead put tomatoes in the fruit salad, make a tomato crumble, and a tomato ice cream sundae (like you do with fruits), because according to botany tomatoes are fruits, then you are a lunatic.
If you show up in a kitchen and demand that the cooks say âput the vegetables plus the tomatoes in the salad bowl, and the fruits except for the tomatoes in the fruit salad bowlâ, youâre at least not screwing up dinner, but youâre being annoying by denying cooks access to a useful regularity that they care about.
I know the tomato is the traditional example for this, but in my own thinking I like to use the word âberry.â Botanically, âberryâ includes bananas, grapes, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, and citrus fruits, but excludes raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. I think itâs a much more stark difference.
Sometimes other people are going to care about different regularities from what you care about.
If I am in a botany laboratory, and a botanist instructs me to âput the fruit samples in Refrigerator 1 and the vegetable samples in Refrigerator 2â, I will...well, Iâll ask for clarification first, but if I canât do that I will put tomatoes in with the fruit samples. This is because botanists care about the regularities for which tomatoes are similar to other fruits (like being made of flesh and full of seeds).
If I am in a kitchen, and a cook instructs me to âput the vegetables in the salad bowl and the fruits in the fruit salad bowlâ, I will put the tomatoes in with the vegetables. This is because cooks care about the regularities for which tomatoes are similar to other vegetables (like being tasty in a salad and not in a dessert).
Both of these definitions of âfruitâ are valid, depending on context.
If you show up in a kitchen and demand that the cooks stop putting tomatoes in salads, soups and savory sauces (like you do with vegetables) and instead put tomatoes in the fruit salad, make a tomato crumble, and a tomato ice cream sundae (like you do with fruits), because according to botany tomatoes are fruits, then you are a lunatic.
If you show up in a kitchen and demand that the cooks say âput the vegetables plus the tomatoes in the salad bowl, and the fruits except for the tomatoes in the fruit salad bowlâ, youâre at least not screwing up dinner, but youâre being annoying by denying cooks access to a useful regularity that they care about.
(I actually agree with this. Sorry if itâs confusing that the rhetorical emphasis of this post is addressing a different error.)
Would it be fair to say that the error this post is addressing is analogous to if the cook told the botanists, âNo, tomatoes arenât fruits.â?
I know the tomato is the traditional example for this, but in my own thinking I like to use the word âberry.â Botanically, âberryâ includes bananas, grapes, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, and citrus fruits, but excludes raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. I think itâs a much more stark difference.