JOG wrote:
> Frank Hamersley wrote:
>
>>Bob Badour wrote:
>>
>>>Marshall Spight wrote:
>>>
>>>>Neo wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>>>The tomato is *not* a vegetable!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>:) why isn't it?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>It has seeds. The seeds make it a fruit. Actually I think it also
>>>>>>qualifies as a berry, which is especially weird.
>>>>>
>>>>>So could one classify the following as fruits since they all have
>>>>>seeds: zuchinni, yellow squash, butternut squash, pumpkins, chilis,
>>>>>peppers, bell peppers, egg plant, bitter melon, okra, chayote, green
>>>>>beans ... and how do I convince the average person, especially for
>>>>>bittermelon. Who is right, the average person or you :)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Neither; I advocate asking an expert for questions like these.
>>>>The botanist is right.
>>>
>>>In the end, taxonomy is rather arbitrary. Hierarchy just doesn't work
>>>for things as complex as biological systems.
>>
>>Why do we use them in that case?
>>
>>Cheers, Frank. [B.Sc (UWA) Zool]
>
> Often because they work well on paper, and we are still traditionally
> tied to these constraints.
The simpler answer is religion: taxonomy is rooted in whole hierarchy of
life dogma: God, angels, man, lion .....
Received on Thu Apr 27 2006 - 20:36:38 CDT
