Mnr AM de Lange wrote:
> Doc Holloway <learnshops@thresholds.com> writes in LO15735
>
> > Yes, Rol--I agree. Categorizing people dehumanizes all of us (those who
> > are categorized and those who do the cataloging). We had a similar
> > discussion on a thread sometime ago (I believe the topic was about
> > dysfunctions?).
>
> Doc, May be agreeing with you, but you wil have to make sure of it.
> English is not my mother tongue so that I frequently have to look up the
> meaning of words. The word categorise means to make an sure (unequivocal)
> connection.
>
> In my 25 years of teaching I have learnt how important it is to consider
> each learner as a unique individual. In other words, I had to make very
> sure of each observation of or connection with a learner. In other words,
> I had to act categorically!
>
> I have also learnt how devastating it can be to exactly the opposite.
> This happen when we place a person in a arbitrary class without any
> definite reason. The word which I have discovered in the dictionaries to
> describe this opposite of categorising is demarcating.
>
> Thus I would like to change your sentence to "Demarcating people
> dehumanizes all of us". Is this what you have meant, then I agree
> violently with you. What do you say?
I think we're speaking about a similar idea, At, though we may be using
different words. Categorical refers to an absolute or unequivocal
statement, idea or principle (a practice I find suspect). Categorizing is
simply a matter of classifying (which can be used in preparing catalogs).
The idea I was getting to was that classifying people creates superficial
and fictional limits (or boundaries). I think you are using the term
demarcating in that same sense (creating boundaries where none exist).
By the way, I think that you may be the first person who has ever agreed
with me in a violent way--I believe that that might be one of your
Afrikaaner oxymorons, and I really liked the image that it produced. Great
term!
regards,
Doc
-- "The way out is via the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?" -ConfuciusRichard C. "Doc" Holloway Your partner for workforce development Visit me at http://www.thresholds.com/community/learnshops/index.html Or e-mail me at <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com> Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2361 Phone: 01 360 786 0925 Olympia, WA 98507 USA Fax: 01 360 709 4361
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>