Is taxonomy intrinsic or a human invention

[mr200backstrok]

is taxonomy an intrinsic property of life, or a human way to look at it?

I think, especially with asexual species, that it is really a human invention, not an actual property of life. However, certain things fit well. what do you think?

 

[jim mcnamara]

Originally, taxonomy was created cladistically. Meaning the "relationships"
were derived from abitrary human observations.

With DNA sequencing it is now possible to have phylogenetic (actual family tree) categorization of species. For example, the Lotus (water lily) plant family was moved away from a place in the tree that had it next to roses.
It's closest living relative turns out to be the plane trees (sycamore). This line of descent thing is an actual property of living things.

The fuzz you are referring to is the fact that our definition of species is not and likely will never be perfect.

 

[mr200backstrok]

so the idea of trying to force all of life into distinct categories is ... human?

I understand all the phylogenetic tree stuff...

 

[jim mcnamara]

Sure. Have you ever seen a face in the clouds? One of our human survival abilities is to use mental templates to identify things. Some templates, like face identification appear to be hard-wired. We can't not do it, in other words. It's a good survival thing to see a tiger face staring at you so you can run away, instead of becoming tiger chow.

Categorization is something humans have an innate desire/ability to do.
And we can create them when in reality there is no category. Only a perceived one.

 

[mr200backstrok]

alright, that's what i thought. thanks!