Response to Amy (Categorizing)

In her blog, Amy asked if categorizing is important to society.  My first instinct was to say no, it is not.  In fact, it is extremely counterproductive and damaging to our society.  I believe that there are things in this world that can't be categorized.  But, as humans, we try to make sense of every little thing.  Everything has to have a category, a label.  This is our way of gaining control over the things that mystify us.  But things are not so black and white that they are always going to fit into these ridiculous categories we have constructed.  Why does it matter if the song I'm listening to is classified as country or rap?  These categorizations give people a reason to start generalizing and stereotyping.  It shouldn't matter how my music is categorized.  It should only matter that I like it.  

However, I guess categorizing is important to society.  It gives us a sense -although maybe false sense- of stability and understanding.  It makes us feel as if we have some sort of grasp on this confusing world.  While I oppose the categorization of music, art, people, and many other things, I will admit that it does serve a purpose.  Where would we be if we didn't categorize things?