Artificial construct

Question

I wish I could locate the sentence or passage where this phrase is in, but I can't at the moment. But I wonder if this is a fixed phrase (rather than a random and general term), and it entails a specfic idea? Thanks, any comments would help and in the meantime I'm searching for that sentence/paragraph so I can provide more context for it.

Raen

RayH · Accepted Answer

I guess it is a kind of fixed phrase but it's used in so many different contexts that any further comments will require an actual paragraph or sentence.

Clive · Answer

Hi Raen,

I wish I could locate the sentence or passage where this phrase is in, but I can't at the moment.

Google gives thousands of hits if you search for this phrase. Are you looking for one in particular?

Clive

Raen · Answer

Oh thanks, clive, I didn't get to read your reply till just now and had decided to give up locating that particular passage from my reading assignments after hours of searching.

Thanks for the advice, I'll google for it and come back with some examples.

Raen

Edit: and thanks to Ray for your input, I had wanted to find that sentence before I replied to you. But as you know, I couldn't find it.

Raen · Answer

This is what I found and copied so far.

"The term 'race' is an artificial construct used to classify people on the basis of supposed physical and cultural similarities deriving from their ancestry. Although there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of human races, people tend to assume that there are racial categories."

"Yet, not being an organism, the ingenious artificial construct would all the while be as impassive as Soic's ideal of the perfect philosopher." (what I gather from briefly reading small part of the article, the statement is referring to "computer" being personified as a cry of a child when encountering an internet traffic jam)

Judging by the way it is used, it seems it doesn't apply to a definitive and specific idea like I first assumed it to be and that it is used in a certain way in academic community. Using the examples above, the phrase seems to mean that ideas are constructed and constured by men, therefore artificialy. But my question is: aren't all ideas construted by men, how else are they formed? So this phrase is used as opposed to what? "natural construct"? What would be a natural construct, if there's such a term for whatever, then?

I must not be getting it right. Any input or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Raen

RayH · Answer

RaenBut my question is: aren't all ideas construted by men, how else are they formed? So this phrase is used as opposed to what? "natural construct"? What would be a natural construct, if there's such a term for whatever, then?

I think you will agree that there are objective facts in the world. Facts that are not created by men but that simply must be accepted. Gravity is a pretty objective force in the world. If you attempt to defy it (by stepping off the roof of a thirty story building, for example), you lose.

Raen"The term 'race' is an artificial construct used to classify people on the basis of supposed physical and cultural similarities deriving from their ancestry. Although there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of human races, people tend to assume that there are racial categories."

This is just saying that there are no objective criteria for separating people into racial groups, therefore "race" is an artificial construct built by those who have ulterior motives for doing so.

RaenYet, not being an organism, the ingenious artificial construct would all the while be as impassive as a Stoic's ideal of the perfect philosopher.

You didn't quote enough of the passage to capture the context. I couldn't figure out how to copy from Google Books so I'll just make my comments and direct others to the http://books.google.com/books?id=HXF3HMi1zQ4C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=%22ingenious+artificial+construct+would+all+the+while+be+as+impassive%22&source=bl&ots=uiJaraXaEJ&sig=B97TQta_KTJYwUiLzozw-I_yIuk&hl=en&ei=S4LBSYeWEZ3gsAO68KH6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result. The author is saying that computers do not exist in the natural world, they are artifacts created by humans (i. e. artificial constructs).

Raen · Answer

Thank you very much, Ray. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Anonymous · Answer

Can't give you specifics, but read The brief and wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and you will get examples.

Anonymous · Answer

I am looking for a definition for this phrase myself. The only place I ever heard it was, quite honestly, was a Jimmy Neutron episode. The children’s cartoon mixed entertainment with science knowledge. I can find a definition for constructs in science but have had no success with artificial constructs. Artificial may have been simply used as an adjective. Or as a humorous redundancy in that all constructs are artificial because by definition a construct is not a concrete tangible and therefore created, artificial, not occurring in the natural world.

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