{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.taboo","code":"thing-q171180","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q171180/","name":"taboo","alternateNames":["kotobagari","sex taboo","reporting taboo of mass media in Japan","Chrysanthemum taboo","fady","culture and menstruation","incest taboo","Mongolian customs and taboos","food or drink taboo","menstrual taboo","Scottish pork taboo","Taboo on the dead"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.STA"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A social or cultural prohibition on an action, object, word or topic considered sacred, dangerous or offensive, enforced by custom and sometimes also through formal law and often surrounded by silence, such as food taboos, taboos around death, sex and menstruation, word avoidance such as Japanese kotobagari, speech restrictions such as the reporting reticence of Japanese media on the imperial family, and the Malagasy fady; taboos are studied in anthropology, sociology and linguistics and vary widely across cultures and periods.","purpose":"Let an agent explain taboos and their functions across cultures with attribution, describe kinds of taboo and their change over time, support respectful understanding of cultural prohibitions, and relate taboos to law and language.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Customary enforcement","Sacred or polluting","Cultural variation","Changing over time"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What taboos are.","layers":[{"id":"concept","name":"Concept","description":"Concept and functions.","findings":[{"id":"concept-finding","name":"Concept","description":"Concept.","questions":[{"text":"What is a taboo, where does the term come from, and what functions do anthropologists attribute to taboos?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful and free of judgement?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"kinds","name":"Kinds","description":"Kinds of taboo.","findings":[{"id":"kinds-finding","name":"Kinds","description":"Kinds.","questions":[{"text":"What are food, death, sex, menstruation, word and reporting taboos, with examples such as kotobagari, imperial reporting reticence and fady, described in the terms of their cultures?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific taboo?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Taboos across cultures.","layers":[{"id":"variation","name":"Variation","description":"Cultural variation.","findings":[{"id":"variation-finding","name":"Variation","description":"Variation.","questions":[{"text":"How do taboos vary across cultures and religions, and what do they reveal about social structure?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific culture?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"change","name":"Change","description":"Change over time.","findings":[{"id":"change-finding","name":"Change","description":"Change.","questions":[{"text":"How do taboos weaken, shift or emerge, such as around menstruation or mental health?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which findings are contested?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"apply","name":"Apply","description":"Taboos in practice.","layers":[{"id":"travel","name":"Travel","description":"Respecting taboos.","findings":[{"id":"travel-finding","name":"Travel","description":"Respect.","questions":[{"text":"How can visitors and professionals respect local taboos, according to community guidance?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits cultural etiquette?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"media","name":"Media","description":"Media and speech taboos.","findings":[{"id":"media-finding","name":"Media","description":"Media.","questions":[{"text":"How do media taboos and word avoidance operate, and what debates exist about them, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Theory and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"theory","name":"Theory","description":"Theories of taboo.","findings":[{"id":"theory-finding","name":"Theory","description":"Theory.","questions":[{"text":"How have Freud, Douglas and other theorists explained taboo, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can taboos be taught in anthropology and linguistics?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain a taboo, the community that holds it and its meaning, with sources.","Respect word and topic avoidance in content made for a community that observes it."],"mustNot":["Mock, exoticise or judge a culture for its taboos.","Deliberately break a community's taboo in content addressed to that community.","Assume a taboo is law without evidence of legal enforcement, or describe a legally enforced prohibition as merely customary.","Disclose sacred or restricted knowledge that a community keeps from outsiders."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing material about a living community's sacred or restricted practices requires human oversight."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Taboos protect what communities hold sacred; disrespect causes real hurt.","Some taboos, such as around menstruation or mental illness, also cause harm and silence that people seek to end."],"affectedParties":["Communities that hold the taboo","People harmed by silence around it"]},"owners":{"steward":"The community that holds it; nobody owns it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q251777","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q367293","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q3769299","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"custom","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"convention","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"superstition","type":"related","note":"related belief-based practices"},{"target":"morality","type":"related","note":"moral norms"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.taboo","Wikidata: Q171180 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171180)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Prohibition enforced by custom","Sacred, dangerous or offensive","A law is enforced by the state; etiquette governs politeness","Not physical; social rules and avoidances."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain taboos and functions","describe kinds and change","support respectful understanding","relate to law and language"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Disrespecting cultural prohibitions","Exoticising or judging other cultures","Confusing taboo with law"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No formal regulation; customary enforcement","Media self-regulation codes in some countries","Anthropological research ethics"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Cultural prohibitions enforced by custom.","food taboos","taboos around death, sex and the body","word and speech taboos","media and political reporting taboos","region-specific taboos such as fady"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q171180: taboo","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171180","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Taboo","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each taboo type be a separate entry?","How should anthropological sources be linked?","How should media codes be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q171180/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q171180/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T01:42:35Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:26+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}