Playing basketball is a social construct. No two people play basketball exactly the same, and many people don’t even play by the exact socially accepted rules. Despite all these things, we can still use imprecise, incomplete words to usefully communicate groups of shared behaviors and preferences, and even offer nuance about those sets of behaviors and preferences, when the situation calls for it.
That’s my very point. Basketball is a social construct, and it’s also real. It’s subjective, open to change, means different things to different people, but it’s still very real.
I was going to say “just ask billionaires”, but then I’d have had to make it clear I was referring to the social construct of money. And I had a bus to catch, so I just removed it, except for a single word :)
Gender may in part be a social construct, but that doesn’t make it not real. Social constructs are very real.
Playing basketball is a social construct. No two people play basketball exactly the same, and many people don’t even play by the exact socially accepted rules. Despite all these things, we can still use imprecise, incomplete words to usefully communicate groups of shared behaviors and preferences, and even offer nuance about those sets of behaviors and preferences, when the situation calls for it.
That’s my very point. Basketball is a social construct, and it’s also real. It’s subjective, open to change, means different things to different people, but it’s still very real.
Just what?
I was going to say “just ask billionaires”, but then I’d have had to make it clear I was referring to the social construct of money. And I had a bus to catch, so I just removed it, except for a single word :)
Just
For anyone who wants this same point made in more detail, Philosophy Tube has a great video on it. https://youtu.be/koud7hgGyQ8?si=6yYv-uc9C9wh0_9E