On Categorization

Seminal expressions have never been comprehended fully in the contemporary analyses. Even derivative expressions are never fully comprehended due to the fallacy of categorization. Amplification of the same by the common agencies of transmission particularly the mass media including the print medium have denied ideas their deserved spectrum of meaning. Forgive my using as crass a word as categorization but I cant think of a better word to describe the way every commentator tends to compare a work to an earlier cannon.

A movie like Gulaal escapes the attention in the contemporary discourse just because it does not fit into an established category nor does it gel with the zeitgeist. This is similar to the case of a movie like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron which at its time of release was never as much of a cult classic as it is now. This is in contrast to a mediocre novel like the Reluctant Fundamentalist or a construct polemic like Snow which become popular just due their relevance to the contemporary agenda.

It is not just the arts which are prone to vagaries of fashion and what is in vogue. If you look at even the physical sciences, accepted truths today, like Galileo’s proposition and that of the uncertainty principle were rejected due to firstly the prevailing ecclesiastic order and secondly, the force of a dominant personality, Einstein.

In inexact disciplines like the Social Sciences this is taken to an extreme. The cognitive biases in accepted economic theory are being accepted only belatedly as can be noted by the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Danny Kahnemann after several years of ostracism.

The problem of categorization stems from several things just as its transmission does. I shall discuss the major source from where the problem of categorization stems. It is to use an analogy; that of Jungs Archetypes. A long forgotten lesson from my Brand Management classes on Archetypes was that the cognition of Human beings centres around forming pigeon holes in which to categorise knowledge and personalities and develop perceptions.

The aspect of transmission of the same or interpretations of expressions into categories clearly stems due to media reporting not being a lucrative profession in crass terms , in slightly better terms we can call it a sub optimal allocation of resources to a particular job role.

The question that arises now is not if one can avoid ones work being a subject of trends or categorization. That is inevitable. The real question that arises is how can one keep one’s eyes open to possibilities in pursuing an independent point of view.

There are two contrasting and opposite views towards the same
The first process of shutting out:
The first step towards the same is shutting oneself to any kind of broadcast media. (I do not include the internet in broadcast media for reasons discussed soon). The TV is called the idiot box for a very valid reason. As various studies have shown broadcast media numbs our ability to think and we are in a far more receptive mood when we are viewing/listening as there is no time to pause and think.
The second step is to rely on textual media only as a source of information and keeping an open eye for any putative analysis and reject it outright. I include the internet to be a textual media as you have time to pause and think which freedom is not there in broadcast media. Blogs are a great source of heterodox opinion and perhaps the greatest gift of the internet. The only problem is that the linking back of blogs too is based on personal liking which again is a product of internal categorizations. Sadly there are no good search tools for blogs as yet. The most heterodox blog is out there lonely somewhere with no comments on its page!

The second process of letting in:

This can be done in two ways. The first way is to read only propaganda on any issue. Choose propaganda from both sides of the table and read only that. And then make up your mind. Do not make the mistake of reading ‘neutral’ ‘analyses’ on media. That is sure to have a slant.

The second way is tougher and perhaps the best way and not that practical. That is to learn analytical frameworks( Which are the foster parents of categories) in as diverse fields as possible while keeping an open mind for the possibility of there being areas where newer frameworks are possible. The objective is simple- expand your awareness of categories to be aware when a commentator is falling into the category trap. But there is no true erudition just as there are no polymaths anymore resulting in the battle against categorization being a step ahead of you always! The distance being the time between such encounters
Right now on TV they are proudly announcing an upcoming movie as having 4 stars. It is clearly a promo but not so for the gullible. For them believable and ensuring ‘a one time watch’. So I guess now you know where I am coming from! And I have not watched TV for 3 years!