Classification! Do you stereotype?

Ms Briggs introduced this lecture topic which was classification. First of all, she explained that this topic not only comes up in biology but in other subjects too. Then she proceed and defined this term:  "arrange in classes with shared characteristics". Afterwards, several  pictures were displayed and we were asked to classify them: first, in one main category in which all the items would fit with their characteristics, secondly, in three or four categories with a minimum of two items in each and finally one single category for each item. For our group it was easy to create the main category: objects that are tangible. Then for the three or four categories, we had similar categories than another group. Furthermore, we were asked to reflect why we classify. Peers opinions were heard saying that it help us remember, or that it help us organise objects by their appearance. 

The history of classification was also explained. Carl Linneus designed it but his classification only depended on the appearance of objects. Therefore, nowadays, there has been a reclassification according to the organisms' DNA in order to be more precise. In addition, I wonder when was the first time that classification was useful for humans? This must have been a really long long time ago, was it when humans started looking for food? Anyways we will never know the answer for this.

We discussed how classification is interpretative: our brain makes the association to group our experiences; and how classification can be influenced by the culture of the person, by how the person perceives the object, and by the need or relevance in the society the person lives in. However, there is a risk with classification. It can become racism, or even sexism. For example, through history there has been various situations where black and white people were classified as completely opposite people, hence, could not do the same things. Therefore, we have to be careful when we classify because it can be an essential way of knowing as long as we are using it adequately.

In addition, we were shown a web page in which we could test ourselves to know if we stereotype people more than we think and we were told that we could be really impresses with the results. Consequently,  I'm eager to try this test, to partially understand how I make decisions based in classification, to know a little better how my brain works.