taboo
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.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What taboos are.
Concept
Concept and functions.
Concept
Concept.
- What is a taboo, where does the term come from, and what functions do anthropologists attribute to taboos? provenance
- Is the presentation respectful and free of judgement? boundary
Kinds
Kinds of taboo.
Kinds
Kinds.
- 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? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific taboo? action
Culture Taboos across cultures.
Variation
Cultural variation.
Variation
Variation.
- How do taboos vary across cultures and religions, and what do they reveal about social structure? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific culture? action
Change
Change over time.
Change
Change.
- How do taboos weaken, shift or emerge, such as around menstruation or mental health? provenance
- Which findings are contested? boundary
Apply Taboos in practice.
Travel
Respecting taboos.
Travel
Respect.
- How can visitors and professionals respect local taboos, according to community guidance? provenance
- Which entry fits cultural etiquette? action
Media
Media and speech taboos.
Media
Media.
- How do media taboos and word avoidance operate, and what debates exist about them, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
Learn Theory and teaching.
Theory
Theories of taboo.
Theory
Theory.
- How have Freud, Douglas and other theorists explained taboo, with positions attributed? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can taboos be taught in anthropology and linguistics? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.STA
- Other names and narrower kinds
- 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
What it is Filled
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.
Why it exists Filled
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.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Customary enforcement
- Sacred or polluting
- Cultural variation
- Changing over time
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- 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.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing material about a living community's sacred or restricted practices requires human oversight.
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.
Moral aspects Filled
- 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.
Who is affected
- Communities that hold the taboo
- People harmed by silence around it
Owners Filled
Steward
The community that holds it; nobody owns it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q251777 - registry parent class
- Q367293 - registry parent class
- Q3769299 - registry parent class
related
- custom - category
- convention - category
- superstition - related belief-based practices
- morality - moral norms
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.taboo
- Wikidata: Q171180 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171180)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- 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 and actions required Filled
- explain taboos and functions
- describe kinds and change
- support respectful understanding
- relate to law and language
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Disrespecting cultural prohibitions
- Exoticising or judging other cultures
- Confusing taboo with law
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- No formal regulation; customary enforcement
- Media self-regulation codes in some countries
- Anthropological research ethics
Context of use required Filled
- 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 Filled
- Wikidata item Q171180: taboo - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Taboo - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each taboo type be a separate entry?
- How should anthropological sources be linked?
- How should media codes be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q171180/spec.json