[scotty79]

Are they really useful or are they just easy to copy and to rember?

Staying power of memes in culture has little to do with their usefulness.

Whole lot of popular narratives distract us from the nature of reality rather than helps us interact with it.

I would gladly see introduction to particle physics that doesn't show a single sharp rigid sphere.

[Erlich_Bachman]

Being able to refer to my car, or ship, or other vessel, as an identified single object, regardless of what parts have been changed - yes, I would say it is very useful thing for living with it and operating it.

> easy to copy and to rember

That's a very important, useful and valueable property of an abstraction, yes. Though certainly not the only important property.

Or do you want one that takes you hours to understand and that you have to remind yourself of it and re-learn every week?

[Blikkentrekker]

This is also an argument that is worth considering.

Many such distinctions that cannot be made rigorous that stick in various cultures but never existed in others simply exist because a man copies his fellow man, not because they are useful in achieving any goals.

Though, as I said, they exist to simplify reality. I assume he human brain works so it does, simply to conserve energy and admit an inaccurate though usually useful enough solution. The problem is when such fuzzy logic is mixed with actual rigorous logic and attempts are made to analyse the former with the latter — that I find a futile waste of time.

There is a very good reason that no clear answer has been found to the quæstion raised in The Ship of Theseus even after millennia of contemplation — there is none, and the quæstion is bereft of sense.

[scotty79]

Fun thing to do is comparing different cultures and seeing how very popular concepts that supposedly usefully describe common reality in one culture are completely missing from some others with no ill effect.

Like 'dietary fiber' or 'hydration'.