Why do we need to define folksonomy? Why do we need the word folksonomy? Why do we keep trying to mystify what doesn't need to be mystified?
Because we prefer mystification. We prefer being a part of the club. We prefer knowing more than that guy over there. And so long as this is true, we'll need to find out what that guy over there is talking about when he says that "folksonomies tap people power," and Wikipedia does a pretty darn good job: Folksonomy - Wikipedia.
Tags: folksonomy, folksonomies, tag, wikipedia, define, definition, comment
April 29, 2005
April 19, 2005
define:conformation
I'm often annoyed by conformation, even though I secretly love to watch the dog shows (not a secret anymore, of course) because of all the too-gorgeous dogs you can find there.
Too many aspects of dog conformation seem based on nothing but made-up illusions about body-shape, movement, etc., and have nothing to do with a dog being a good dog. So I worry about breeding the dog out of the dog. I worry that we don't know as much about genetics as we think we do. And I worry because conformation seems to deny the "usefulness" of dogs as companions or helpers or anything but baubles (okay, I'm being a little aggressive about this when I really didn't mean to... some days I'm more annoyed by it than others).
I don't deny that there are "breeds" that I find more "attractive" than others, but I do deny that there is any "ideal conformation" for any of those breed except that the dog be healthy, be untroubled by the demons of abuse, and be in a home or work environment that allows the dog to be a dog rather than decor. It's possible for these to occur whether the dog fits an AKC conformation or not. Even the AKC would admit that (at least I think they would). And I would also say that I would rather not have dogs breed based on their attractiveness.
I'm mostly annoyed, it seems, with my own preference for an attractive dog. My human weakness makes me want my dog to look a certain way, and that feels wrong--even dangerous.
I'm not against breeds, as such, and I wouldn't really deny anyone the right to breed to AKC standards or purchase a dog bred by those standards. But I worry. I fret. I wonder if it doesn't too often create more problems than it fixes. I worry about what doing so does to me, a human being, when I begin to feel as if I can change the way a species changes. Am I not asking for trouble?
Feel free to comment if you like. And review the definition of conformation via google, below.
Define: conformation.
Too many aspects of dog conformation seem based on nothing but made-up illusions about body-shape, movement, etc., and have nothing to do with a dog being a good dog. So I worry about breeding the dog out of the dog. I worry that we don't know as much about genetics as we think we do. And I worry because conformation seems to deny the "usefulness" of dogs as companions or helpers or anything but baubles (okay, I'm being a little aggressive about this when I really didn't mean to... some days I'm more annoyed by it than others).
I don't deny that there are "breeds" that I find more "attractive" than others, but I do deny that there is any "ideal conformation" for any of those breed except that the dog be healthy, be untroubled by the demons of abuse, and be in a home or work environment that allows the dog to be a dog rather than decor. It's possible for these to occur whether the dog fits an AKC conformation or not. Even the AKC would admit that (at least I think they would). And I would also say that I would rather not have dogs breed based on their attractiveness.
I'm mostly annoyed, it seems, with my own preference for an attractive dog. My human weakness makes me want my dog to look a certain way, and that feels wrong--even dangerous.
I'm not against breeds, as such, and I wouldn't really deny anyone the right to breed to AKC standards or purchase a dog bred by those standards. But I worry. I fret. I wonder if it doesn't too often create more problems than it fixes. I worry about what doing so does to me, a human being, when I begin to feel as if I can change the way a species changes. Am I not asking for trouble?
Feel free to comment if you like. And review the definition of conformation via google, below.
Define: conformation.
April 13, 2005
Quotation Rotation / Hannah Arendt / Equality...
Equality is the result of human organization. We are not born equal. // Hannah Arendt
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