# Let's name general categories- fun!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960 "2005-05-22T16:39:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/1 "2005-05-22T16:39:27Z")
For the sake of argument, let’s take what I see as ‘general’ as general and list as many categories as we can in this respect. I went throught the majors/minors list for a college, plus my own thoughts, to come up with:
Art
Computer Science
Current Events
Dance
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Food
Geography
Health/Fitness/Physical Education
History
Languages (English, any)
Law
Literature/Composition
Mathematics
Mechanics
Military Tactics
Movies
Music
Politics
Psychology
Quotes
Religion/Mythology/Folklore
Science
Sociology (maybe…)
Sports
Television
Theater/Dramatic Arts
To give you a sense of what I mean by ‘general’, I don’t include ‘Medicine’ b/c that’s under ‘Science,’ which is _ridiculously_ broad, I know. 😃
There are tons of physical skills to learn, like fighting techniques and such, but many fit under Health/… or Music or Dance, broadly speaking.
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/2 "2005-05-22T16:41:04Z")
Oh gosh, and of course by categories I mean categories of learning and knowledge. :smack:
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/3 "2005-05-22T18:20:40Z")
Moved to IMHO.
**samclem** GQ moderator
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/4 "2005-05-22T18:46:22Z")
I’ll add
Architecture
Biographies (not just historical blurbs)
Clothing/Fashion
Interior Design
Pop Culture (This covers everything _not_ covered by Movies or Music, like celeb gossip :rolleyes: and trends in entertainment world; also, video games, though I play them never)
Miscellaneous/Absurd (everything that stands out from Pop Culture and History and Biographies and Religions, though they may fit into them, from UFOs to Cults to Serial Killers, or anything else :eek: )
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/5 "2005-05-22T18:47:56Z")
And I change Military Tactics to just Military- this is a specific category, although it fits under History and Current Events and most esp. Politics. This includes all the world’s armies past and present, tactics, and weapons.
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/6 "2005-05-22T22:28:30Z")
Religion/Mythology/Folklore/ **Philosophy** - I changed it
**Media Studies** , I add b/c I keep it sep. from Movies and Music and def. Pop Culture; this is where you learn about the technology and business of film, radio, television, etc., but not like Electrical Engineering exactly
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/7 "2005-05-22T22:40:13Z")
**Antiques/Collectibles**
FYI, Media Studies also includes watching anything else besides Movies or Television, like educational videos or real-life videos that aren’t part of history (go Internet Archive 😉 )
Got one to add? Know where I can find a list like this?
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/8 "2005-05-23T00:52:33Z")
The list now stands as these **34 categories**
\*\*[ul]
[li]Antiques/Collectibles[/li][li]Architecture[/li][li]Art[/li][li]Biographies[/li][li]Clothing/Fashion[/li][li]Computer Programming/Science[/li][li]Current Events[/li][li]Dance[/li][li]Economics[/li][li]Electrical Engineering[/li][li]Food[/li][li]Geography[/li][li]Health/Fitness/Physical Education[/li][li]History[/li][li]Interior Design[/li][li]Languages [/li][li]Law[/li][li]Literature/Composition[/li][li]Mathematics[/li][li]Mechanics[/li][li]Media Studies[/li][li]Military[/li][li]Movies[/li][li]Music[/li][li]Politics[/li][li]Pop Culture[/li][li]Psychology[/li][li]Quotes[/li][li]Religion/Mythology/Folklore/Philosophy[/li][li]Science[/li][li]Sports[/li][li]Television[/li][li]Theater/Dramatic Arts[/li][li]Miscellaneous/Absurd[/li][/ul] \*\*
If you add a ‘general’ category to this list, then maybe we can reach 36, the number of literary plots there are according to Georges Polti ( [link here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001124.html)). Wouldn’t that be special?
PS this counts as my free bump, is that okay? The others were legitimate additions to my OP, not artificial bumps, honestly.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/9 "2005-05-23T02:40:24Z")
Let me guess, you are into the arts? You won’t let us expand on science, but look the number of topics you have listed that could fall under the general heading of arts. :dubious:
😃
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/10 "2005-05-23T03:10:49Z")
Yes, you have a good point. Why do I have Antiques/Collectibles, Clothing/Fashion, Dance, and Interior Design separate from Art, but I won’t split Science into things like
[ul]
[li]Physics[/li][li]Biology[/li][li]Chemistry[/li][li]Environmental/Natural[/li][li]Medical[/li][li]Astronomical[/li][/ul]?
No, I am not homosexual (not that I would be ashamed if I was 😉 ), and I am _absolutely_ interested in sciences. So let’s name classifications of sciences!
I’m also adding **Social Sciences** , which includes Psychology (already up there), but also Anthropology, a cool subject.
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/11 "2005-05-23T03:16:57Z")
I’ve broken them into groups now!
Art
Antiques/Collectibles
Clothing/Fashion
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Mechanics
Food
Health/Fitness/Physical Education
History
Biographies
Military
Current Events
Architecture
Interior Design
Law
Politics
Geography
Languages (English, any)
Literature/Composition
Theater/Dramatic Arts
Quotes
Media Studies
Movies
Television
Pop Culture
Music
Sports
Dance
Sociology
Psychology
Economics
[Science]
Mathematics
Religion/Mythology/Folklore/Philosophy
Miscellaneous/Absurd
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/12 "2005-05-23T11:15:00Z")
I don’t understand… how do you do this? There is no absolute level of detail, is there? I mean, any subject can be either split into sub-categories or merged into more general ones. At the broadest level, everything is just “stuff”.
Err, I guess what I’m asking is: How do you determine whether a category is general _enough_?
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/13 "2005-05-23T16:41:16Z")
> [@Reply](#):
>
> Err, I guess what I’m asking is: How do you determine whether a category is general enough?
Right, yeah, that’s the problem w/ making a list like this. How do I decide Biology but not Micro or Macro or tons of other stuff?
B/c I haven’t got that deep into Biology yet. 😃
And with Art, I split Antiques/Collectibles off b/c the Art I mean is the history and current paintings, sculptures, museum stuff, whereas Antique knowledge is it’s own significant category, with a moderate section of the reference shelves at the libraries.
I think I got it under control myself. This was a semi-pointless thread. I’m known for that. :smack:
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### Author:  [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/14 "2005-05-23T17:37:12Z")
I have four words for you, my friend: [the Dewey Decimal system](http://www.tnrdlib.bc.ca/dewey.html).
or, failing that, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which has already supplanted the Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom … 😛
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### Author:  [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/15 "2005-05-23T17:58:51Z")
Computer Science should have networking & programming, data communications, system architecture etc., not electrical engineering. There should be an Engineering category under which electrical, mechanical and the like belong alnog with architecture, and interior design also falling under the engineering category.
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### Author:  [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/16 "2005-05-26T22:30:45Z")
Criminology
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-general-categories-fun/304960/17 "2005-05-31T15:04:53Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#):
>
> or, failing that, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which has already supplanted the Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom
Yes, I’d love to see the classification scheme/schemata used by the HHGG. I wonder if it’s dropped through a wormhole and landed on a web page?