Why Classify, when you can't Justify

We had a chapter in biology in high school: Biological Classification. It was the second chapter of our high school biology book. The chapter answered the following questions: Why do we classify? How we classify? What are the advantages of classification? What are the contributions of different ’people’ (scientists) in classification? What are the different bases of classification?

Just a brief review of these questions, we classify because it makes the study of organisms easier. We classify by sorting out the similarities among a group of organisms. The third question is of no relevance here. The basis of classification lies in phylogenetics and morphology.

But to my surprise, even the non-medical students (for that matter, almost everyone: from lawyers to accountants, children to adults, ‘poor’ to ‘rich’) have a good grasp on this concept; but sadly, they apply it on humans.

We now live in an era of classification. We just love to classify every other person. And the ‘bases’ of these classifications range widely: economic status, profession, caste, looks, behavior and many more criteria. Classification on the basis of gender is fine (since it is ‘natural’), but nowadays, we have created many further classifications. Classification on the basis of profession is fine up to a certain extent (according to the Bhagavad Gita, people were classified into four divisions on the grounds of work: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra), but further classification must be avoided.

Here is a ‘group discussion’ with my colleagues on the last day of my exams (sorry guys, if you feel I am leaking some of your ‘precious thoughts’; I am writing this because you have given me a very good example on this topic, and that too at the right moment. Thank you). No offence, anyone.

“The Background: Eight of us have come to meet our batch mate in the ward (he is not feeling well for the past few weeks, and so did not appear for the exams). We are all medical students of a reputed medical college. Few of us are known for our ‘mature’ thinking (which may not be evident by this conversation). After the initial greeting we are joking and chatting about various topics, until this topic arises:

Boy1: Hey. What exactly is “cute” according to you?

Girl1: Cute is a vague term. It has multiple meanings.

Boy2: Please continue, I am listening.

Girl1: It means anything from sweet and caring, to ‘retard’ and humorous.

Girl2: Yeah. It could also refer to a person who wears his spectacles in a weird way.

Boy1: Great! So now I understand that if a girl calls me cute, it is not necessarily a compliment. It might be an insult as well. (All of us laugh)

Boy2: So what exactly does a girl want in a guy?

Girl2: This is a good question. I will answer it. A ‘good-looking and picture perfect girl’ would want a similar guy. A ‘mature’ girl would like a guy with whom she could talk with. A ‘regular’ girl would like a humorous guy who understands her. A girl who is ‘too beautiful’, and is aware of this, may like an ugly guy. The ‘DU girls’ are ‘very shallow’ and choose a guy just on the basis of looks, and his institute. Also, the ‘guys proud of their good looks’ are not liked by girls.

Boy2: Yeah, true that. I have often heard that ‘DU girls’ are mad about ‘AIIMSonians’.

Boy3: No, I think it is just a rumor spread by we AIIMSonians ourselves. No one is mad about us.

(All of us laugh again).

Girl3 (sounding very experienced): Actually they are mad about IITians, and not AIIMSonians.

Girl2: So true. But believe me; ‘IIT guys’ are just useless. I have a friend who studies in IIT. He is very superficial. In fact, ‘all guys’ are very superficial. They are just concerned about how a girl looks, and they don’t go beyond that.

Boy1: Thank you so much for ‘enlightening’ me. (no sarcasm; he was satisfied with the discussion)

Boy3: Why are we discussing all this? Everybody knows these facts.

Boy4: Sure dude. You are a ‘know-it-all’ guy.

Boy3: Let us talk about cooking…

And the discussion continues, but I sit there silently (the topic they were discussing was so strange; maybe a month ago I would have liked to join in) listening and also thinking about this book”.

PS: No offence to any of the mentioned institutes and students. It is just a conversation, which you too have in leisure time.

Points to be noted:

· -All the students (especially the girls) have a very well defined (according to them) system of classification.

· -Everyone is keen to know what the opposite sex desires.

· -They are enjoying this discussion.

· -The classification system ‘sounds’ perfect and is very convincing.

· -Look at the different ‘bases’ on which classification has been done.

Point I noted:

· Boy1 and Boy2 were listening to the Girl2 with full attention. I had never seen them listening with so much concentration before.

Expected Outcome:

This is for you to guess, dear reader. (Hint: Think of what would be going on in the minds of Boy1 and Boy2).

Analysis:

The classification system is present almost everywhere around us. It has become a part of our lives to such an extent that we involuntarily classify each and every person. This habit of ours has not done any good to us. In fact, it has created boundaries between people. We have stopped trusting others. We are suspicious of people around us. Whenever someone is talking about a person, we gladly join the conversation, and just love to give our own points. These points eventually deviate from the person and we start talking about the ‘class’ (I am talking about the classification. No racism intended) he belongs to. At the end of the conversation, the ‘image’ of the person is finalized, and the next time we meet the ‘person’, our conversation, attitude and everything else is based on his ‘image in our mind’. Now, considering the above discussion, whenever Boy1 or Boy2 would meet a girl, they might start “classifying” her on the basis of what they have learnt from the ‘mature’ girl. They may not talk in their natural style. They may also start judging girls, and end up in a situation in which I ‘was’ (Yes, I too had some classifications in mind, not just for the girls. During my initial days in college, I called one of my seniors homosexual, just because he strapped his watch on the left hand), that is, not really sure about what to say and what not.

This was just symbolization; it is true for the girls’ attitude towards boys as well, and is not just restricted to relationships. It can be applied to any conversation in which we ‘generalize’ and talk. You need to get the main point here: Classification of humans is just an effort by us to make ourselves feel insecure.

So, continuing with the chapter, I would like to tell that these classifications are acquired by us as a part of growing ‘up’ (and not just growing ‘old’). We learn this ‘cruel art’ from our “friends”, neighbors, parents, elders and also the social media. I say social media, but the problem is with us. We are in a practice to imbibe everything as soon as possible, with or without using our minds. The movie depicts a character in a particular way, and we try to resemble it with a person around us. The list of these ‘resembled’ people grows rapidly, and their ‘images’ in our minds get clearer (which is a paradox, because the ‘clearer’ images are in turn worse than ‘no image’ of that person). Same is true with the memes on social networking websites. They appear to be humorous, but I have seen people getting influenced by them.

Unlike what was mentioned in the biology book, this system of “classification of humans” is not making anything easier. The fault is not in the book, because it never mentioned to apply the concept on humans. If you remember the questions that the chapter answered (I will repeat: what, why and how to classify?), think of the answers to these questions when you classify humans! (Please don’t get disappointed by the ‘you’). There is no plausible explanation to any of these questions. We do so just because we see people doing it. We do so because it gives us matter to ‘chat’ and ‘gossip’ about. Deep in our minds we think that this classification is helping us, and making our lives easier, safe and organized. But dear reader, it is not doing any of these things. It is just increasing insecurities, mistrust and hatred among people. Nothing else. So Why Classify, when you can’t Justify!

The keynote of this subchapter was to make you realize that this “classification system” is not at all justified. Each of us is unique, so We cannot be classified, and at the same time We must not classify.

PS: This is an excerpt from my upcoming book.