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Comment on When people say two things "cannot be compared", they had to compare them to come to this conclusion. Are 'dissimilar' or 'unequal' better words?

BCsven@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

I see it as more like : these thinga are too dissimilar to be compared meaningfully. Like if some article says which is the best tool? And they give you a rake, a network router, and a nailgun. Then you meed context. You can make a matrix of differences and similarities but depends what you are trying to compare. Comparing could be: All are durable, All save time on tasks, All can break with misuse.
But can also be nailgun and router is bad for raking leaves.

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thedudeabides@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Yeah this, “cannot be compared” is meant to imply “Their comparison yields no meaningful conclusion”

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masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

these thinga are too dissimilar to be compared meaningfully. Like if some article says which is the best tool? And they give you a rake, a network router, and a nailgun. Then you meed context.

I think to OPs point though, is that all of those who things can be compared. The context of the article is what makes them incomparable. But if you asked me to compare a router to a nailgun I could talk durability, power draw, intended function, materials, relative ability to make it through TSA, etc etc.

Literally no two things are fundamentally incomparable. Things are only incomparable in specific contexts.

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- BCsven@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You repeat exactly what you quoted me on…you need context to compare
  
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  - masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    No, things always have inherent context by nature of being things. Context can be used to make things incomparable, but they’re always inherently comparable without explicit context.
    
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