We see a creature near us, and we describe it as a dog. Why that and not "mammal" or "animal"? And if that dog's a Springer Spaniel, and we know it's a Springer Spaniel, why do we nevertheless call it a "dog"?

In an apparent digression, I discuss the idea in cognitive science of a "basic level of categorization" (or abstraction). While we construct hierarchies and taxonomies, we tend to operate at one specific level: one that's not too abstract and not too concrete.

Sources

George Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind, 1987.
Gregory L. Murphy, The Big Book of Concepts, 2002.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2024.

Credits

The image of the dog and cat is via https://fondosymas.blogspot.com. It is licensed as Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 España.

E50: the preferred level of abstraction (a nugget)