.
There are two attributes here: black and white and smooth/spiky. If we add the "black spiky" not shown in this diagram, the whole structure looks like this
So far, we have talked about a world with two types of attributes, each with two different values (black and white, smooth and spiky). There are many more attributes in the world, and each attribute can take on a variety of values.
Let's observe how the number of attributes affects the simple case where one attribute has only two possible values. The lines in the figure connect elements that differ only in the value of one attribute. The limit of human intuition would be the case of three attributes that can be imagined on the edges of a three-dimensional cube.
It is not good to use the word "conflict" to imagine something like a "good vs. evil dichotomy" with one attribute. In reality, there are a myriad of attributes.
Looking at this figure, one would feel that Group 1 is closer to the target than Group 2. The feeling is born of a different cause than familial similarity. The difference between Group 1 and Group 2 is that Group 1 includes distance 1, 1110, and Group 2 includes distance 3, 0001.
When we think about conflict, we tend to imagine a one-attribute conflict. And we tend to think that pairs in conflict are distant. But the real world has many attributes. And in that situation, what is in conflict is in closer proximity than what is not even in conflict.
from Proposed additions to p. 150 - p. 168, Intellectual Production of Engineers #Engineer's Intellectual Production_Additions
So far, we have talked about two types of attributes (black and white, smooth and spiky). There are many more attributes to what happens in the world, and we have not even grasped how many attributes there are in total.
Let's observe what effect the number of attributes has in the simple case where one attribute has only two possible values. The lines in the figure connect elements that differ only in the value of one attribute. The limit of human intuition would be the case of three attributes that can be imagined on the edges of a three-dimensional cube.
It is not good to use the word "conflict" to imagine something like a "good vs. evil dichotomy" with one attribute. In reality, there are a myriad of attributes.
Discussion of similarity with 4 attributes: familial resemblance.
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