Microcosmic example. Take 3 people - a newborn (A), a professor of biology (B) and a professor in philosophy ©.
You’re easily able to argue that both professors are more intelligent than the newborn (A<B and A<C). However, you’re unable to establish (in any meaningful way) whether B<C, or C<B; even B=C is out. This is because both professors have knowledge the other does not, so trying to meaningfully equate or order them in relation to one another is an act of futility.
This is a fun example of a partial order that most of us see every day (in a less extreme form).
ytg@sopuli.xyz 10 months ago
Why doesn’t a spectrum imply total ordering? Seems like an ordinary one-dimensional line (of course in reality, sexuality is not just a spectrum either, it’s some high-dimensional space, but I digress…).
Or do I just not know the word spectrum properly?