---
abstract: 'A speculative hypothesis about how to eliminate the "we/they" distinction by rearing children (during early critical years) in "aggregates in flux" instead of in kinship-based families: A category cannot be formed from positive examples only: one must be able to sample both what is and what is not in a category in order to recognise the category at all. The basis for the distinction is the features shared by the members (invariants), and absent from the non-members. In "aggregates in flux," the individual members would be constantly varying (and unrelated, genetically). The only invariant would be that they are all human.'
altloc:
  - http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?SerieId=CS
  - http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/10702/01/we-they.htm
  - http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/10702/02/we-they.pdf
  - http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/10702/03/we-they.doc
chapter: ~
commentary: ~
commref: ~
confdates: ~
conference: ~
confloc: ~
contact_email: ~
creators_id:
  - 63
creators_name:
  - family: Harnad
    given: Stevan
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2007
date_type: published
datestamp: 2007-02-24
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/54/12
edit_lock_since: ~
edit_lock_until: ~
edit_lock_user: ~
editors_id: []
editors_name:
  - family: Villaroya
    given: Oscar
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
  - family: Forn
    given: Francesc
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 5412
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/5412/1/we%2Dthey.htm|/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/5412/2/we%2Dthey.pdf|/style/images/fileicons/other.png;/5412/3/we%2Dthey.doc
full_text_status: public
importid: ~
institution: ~
isbn: ~
ispublished: inpress
issn: ~
item_issues_comment: []
item_issues_count: 0
item_issues_description: []
item_issues_id: []
item_issues_reported_by: []
item_issues_resolved_by: []
item_issues_status: []
item_issues_timestamp: []
item_issues_type: []
keywords: 'category learning, uncomplemented categories, early experience, socialization, critical period, ethnocentrism, we/they distinction'
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:56:46
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: "Also available on the publisher's website: http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?SerieId=CS"
number: ~
pagerange: ~
pubdom: FALSE
publication: Social Brain Matters. Stances on the Neurobiology of Social Cognition
publisher: 'Éditions Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York'
refereed: FALSE
referencetext: |-
  Harnad, S. (1987, unpublished) Uncomplemented Categories, or, What is it Like to be a Bachelor? 1987 Presidential Address: Society for Philosophy and Psychology.
  
  http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/21/34/index.html
  
   
  
  Harnad, S. (2003) Categorical Perception. Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. Nature Publishing Group. Macmillan. http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/catperc.html
  
   
  
  Harnad, S. (2003) Symbol-Grounding Problem. Encylopedia of Cognitive Science. Nature Publishing Group. Macmillan. http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/symgro.htm
  
   
  
  Harnad, S. (2003) Cognition is Categorization. UQaM Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences on Categorization.
  
  http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/catconf.html
relation_type: []
relation_uri: []
reportno: ~
rev_number: 16
series: ~
source: ~
status_changed: 2007-09-12 17:09:40
subjects:
  - cog-psy
succeeds: 4151
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
sword_slug: ~
thesistype: ~
title: 'Spare Me the Complements: An Immoderate Proposal for Eliminating the "We/They" Category Boundary'
type: bookchapter
userid: 63
volume: ~
<script src='https://archive-bar.soton.ac.uk/archive-bar.js'></script>
<script src='https://archive-bar.soton.ac.uk/google-analytics.js'></script>