Can you give me some examples of reification? A friend mentioned this concept offhand a few years ago. My understanding is that reification involves treating an abstract concept as if it were material. The example my friend gave at the time was inflation. But when I read the wikipedia article about reification, it seemed to indicate that it involves not just treating an abstact concept as if it were real, but also treating it as if it were human. Certainly all the examples give that impression. I'm looking for examples of reification that don't involve anthopomorphism so that I can hopefully identify some patterns. Would concepts like race, or the seasons qualify? Why is reification being so difficult?
posted by Jeff Howard on Sep 27, 2007 - 20 answers

Travelling across a time zone by air is ambiguous. It's hard to tell exactly when it happens. When travelling across time zones by air, when does the time change? Especially across multiple zones. I've noticed that I never see or hear a reference to the time while onboard. For instance, a movie might start at "fifteen minutes after takeoff," but not at 4:45pm. [more inside]
posted by Jeff Howard on Feb 26, 2006 - 20 answers