Accidental Group
What is accidental group? How should it be defined?
This term has to denote all those groups that are somehow accidental (e.g. left handed Armenian smokers). The task is to understand what makes these groups accidental.
In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Nicholas Overgaard in 2016. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:
- A group that does not have a collective intentionality.
Contents
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | 19 May 2017 | The question became accepted with the publication of Overgaard's A Taxonomy for Social Agents of Scientific Change. | Yes |
All Theories
Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
---|---|---|
Accidental Group (Overgaard-2017) | A group that does not have a collective intentionality. | 2017 |
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Accepted Theories
Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | Accidental Group (Overgaard-2017) | 2 February 2018 |
Suggested Modifications
Modification | Community | Date Suggested | Summary | Date Assessed | Verdict | Verdict Rationale |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sciento-2017-0012 | Scientonomy | 19 May 2017 | Accept a new taxonomy for group and its two sub-types - accidental group, and community. | 2 February 2018 | Accepted | A consensus has emerged after a long discussion that the distinction and the respective definitions should be accepted. It was noted that "these formulations tend to be the starting point for so many of our discussions"c1 and that "despite all disagreements that this taxonomy causes, it is actually accepted by the community".c2 Yet, it was also indicated that whereas the definition of group as "two or more people that share a characteristic" is the best we have at the moment, it may be potentially necessary to pursue the idea of redefining it as "one or more people..." to allow for one-scientist communities.c3 Finally, while a question was raised whether there is any "value in defining accidental groups as something separate from groups",c4 it was eventually agreed that it is important to draw "a clear distinction between the two kinds of groups as accidental groups and communities".c5 |
Current View
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Accidental Group (Overgaard-2017).
Accidental Group (Overgaard-2017) states: "A group that does not have a collective intentionality."
This definition aims to discern between accidental groups, i.e. the ones that don't have a collective intentionality, and actual communities, i.e. groups that do have collective intentionality.
Related Topics
This topic is also related to the following topic(s):