Risk taxonomy: Difference between revisions

Any [[taxonomy]] is a [[narrative]]. Like any hierarchical organising system, a taxonomy commits you to one way of looking at the world, ''at the expense of all others''. Now this a necessary evil when it comes to concrete physical things, like books: the [[Dewey decimal system]] is a single hierarchy by necessity: a physical thing cannot be in two places at once. So all library users agree a common taxonomy (subject matter, not author, or title, or publisher) and, for better or worse, stick to it. This has a consequent effect on how everyone thinks about the world: if you want to find the book you're looking for, you need to buy in to the taxonomy (what good is using another taxonomy, however suitable, if it means never being able to find the book you are after? Since book storage has changed, the Dewey decimal system has more or less disappeared from use. Boolean search means you can search on any keyword you fancy.