anna foucault posting

how does the idea of classification relate to continuity?What is the relationship, if any, between the two?
Classifcation relates to continuity in a kind of backwards relationship. some ideas of continunity discussed in the reading talked about the idea that evolution and all life forms are of a "continuos fabric" in which there are no sharp delineations between one species and the next. This is seen as maybe a problem or a glitch in the understanding of natural history and our understanding of science. it is a problem because it is impossible to guarantee that the distnctions we make between or among species are not going to change over time or even be radically different in an unstudied population. the process of classification stands in opposition to the idea of continuity. if nature on the whole is a macrocosm of something like one species, like us, for example, then it is easy to picture the LACk of distinction between individuals. i keep thinking of the construction and structure of race and how we try to define certain individuals as being a member of a certain race. in actuality, though, it is impossible to distinguish one skin tone from another if lined up next to eachother according to skin color. As Bonnet is quoted in the reading, "everything is graduated, shaded" and Buffon, "genera, orders, and classes exist only in our imagination". So, continuity is a problem for classification, but im sure it also helps in the designs of classification and in our order of understanding species' differences.