# What is the purpose of lumping and splitting? # What is the purpose of lumping and splitting In good cases, lumping can illustrate patterns that would not be visible otherwise and create abstract knowledge that is applicable in more situations. In good cases, splitting can draw important distinctions between things that were previously lumped. However, both lumping and splitting can be (and often are) done unnecessarily. Unnecessary lumping can lead to meaninglessness. Unnecessary splitting can lead to confusing or not-useful distinctions. Intuitively, lumping seems more dangerous than splitting because lumping leads to information loss which splitting can increase noise but never actually destroys information. * Good Lumping * When there are several important properties shared by all the members of a group but not prevalent outside that group * Good Splitting * * Bad Lumping * When * Bad Splitting * Maybe it’s just all information theory? It's important to remember that [[The Categories Were Made for Man, Not Man for the Categories]] - that is, in most cases there is no *external* ontology. The point of lumping and splitting is to improve our thinking and understanding of the world. Surely some philosopher has thought about this? This is basically the philosophies of ontologies. ### Related * [[Lumpers and Splitters]] * [[Ontology]] - [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+is+the+purpose+of+lumping+and+splitting) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+is+the+purpose+of+lumping+and+splitting)