The making of a distinction is the beginning of order. It establishes the cleavage between the object distinguished and everything else in the field of perception.The act of distinction is a choice made by an observer to select this object rather than another or this dimension rather than that one. The making of a distinction precedes the sending of any message, the assignment or recognition of an identity/ and the determination of any criterion for judgment.
Distinctions are central to an account of beginnings, whether they are the beginnings of the world described in Genesis or in Hesiod's Theogeny, the beginnings of individual consciousness when an infant first becomes aware of the difference between self and other, or the agreement on a consensual domain at the beginning of a conversation.
The drawing of a distinction indicates a boundary and a context. Distinctions can be clear dichotomies with no overlap or gray area between them or they can be points on a continuous dimension. They may be absolute or conditional. They may indicate different objects or the same object in different spatial, temporal or social contexts.
Different standards apply depending on the nature and purpose of the act of making a distinction. When seeking a particular member of a set such as a number from one to a thousand, the most economical process of distinction is usually preferred: dividing the group by halves each time. When the choice is more complex, the preferred method may be to eliminate large groups of unfeasible or conditional choices and proceed to make a detailed examination of only a few. In those cases where social and political choices are at issue, there are risks of narrowing the field of choice too early to balance against the risk of exceeding the channel capacity of the decision-making body. If either of these occurs, the distinctions made may reflect private criteria rather than the nominated ones.
The act of making a distinction Itself may be a reflection of power or authority. Such distinctions include the primitive power of 'naming', the contemporary power to define 'an act of war' or 'unemployment',and sometimes the choice of a language itself. They may be made according to a hierarchy or cooperatively, on behalf of the entire community.
# SOURCE The mathematics of distinction is found in: Spencer-Brown, G. (1979). Laws of Form. New York: E.P. Dutton. For a discussion of social aspects, see: Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment fo Taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge: Keegan-Paul.
# EXAMPLES • the enclosure of a space in geometry • the naming of any set • the choice of a product from the shelf • the selection of a sample population for a study • a just noticeable difference • the recognition of change • the choice of a plan by a zoning board • the style of an artist
# NON-EXAMPLES • the mixing of apples and oranges • sampling at random after die choice of a population has been made • less than a just noticeable difference • details outside the range of perception or interest of the observer
# PROBABLE ERROR • not being aware what distinction is being drawn when a choice is made • assuming that two observers have made the same distinction when die scale or context has not been indicated. • assuming that two observers are in opposition when they have made a different complementary distinction
# SEE Complementarity; Recursion; Stability
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