On degrees of uniquity
One of the most common “grammatical” arguments you will hear is “either something is unique or it isn’t! Something can’t be ‘very unique’!” To an extent, this is true. But – as will be apparent to anyone who has studied calculus and therefore dealt with degrees of infinity – there are also degrees of uniquity, which is a word I may have just made up to describe something’s quality of being unique.
Consider the following number sets:
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5,6}
- {1,2,3,4,5,7,8}
Clearly 1, 2, and 3 are not unique among these number sets: each is duplicated exactly by another set.
Clearly 4 and 5 are unique among these number sets: each contains at least one number that is contained in no other set in the group. (A putative 6th set that lacked one number – say, {1,3,4,5} – would also be unique, because it didn’t duplicate another set exactly.)
However, 5 can be characterized as more unique than 4; that is, it has more characteristics that set it apart from the rest of the sets.
This opens the door.
Assume a group of sets with increasing variance from the baseline:
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5}
- {1,2,3,4,5,6}
- {1,2,3,4,5,7,8}
- {1,2,3,4,5,9,10,11}
- {1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15}
- etc.
Each of the sets 4-7 is still unique, because no other set duplicates it. In addition, the more degrees of difference a set has from the baseline, the more unique it is. Therefore, by the standard established by 7 (the most unique of the listed sets, with four degrees of uniqueness), set 4 is only relatively unique (with only one degree of uniqueness). Set 6 is rather unique; and so on.
(Thank goodness I have this blog to absorb my random thoughts.)
You made me laugh! Thanks!
Hey Chris, I followed you here from your comment on the big bright bulb post about Chris Brogan’s SXSW suggestion for networking. I loved that you said you would like to talk with people about what’s on their minds to see if there is another (really like that you didn’t say “better”) way of thinking about it that helps them. Awesome.
AND you are interested in technology in developing countries. That rocks! I worked with a team of folks at Georgia Tech that have done a lot of work in Liberia. One guy made a Flash game for Liberians!
And finally, it is good to see a blog with high-quality random thoughts:)
@Lisa, then my purpose has been served. :)
@Stephanie, thanks so much for stopping in. :) I’m all about finding new and interesting ways to do things. In a sense it hamstrings me, because I have a real reluctance to use the Tried-And-True method when I could be Doing It Myself, but I’m slowly learning to overcome that – sometimes there just are methods and techniques that work really, really well, and there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel.