Viruses are real, virus species are man-made, taxonomic constructions
Viruses are real, virus species are man-made, taxonomic constructions
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DOI：
10.1007/s00705-003-0246-y
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发表时间：
2003-12-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Van Regenmortel, MHV
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Van Regenmortel, MHV
科学家致力于研究真实、有形的物体，并且倾向于依赖事实而不是猜测。这种对现实世界的坚定承诺在一定程度上解释了一些科学家不愿参与对他们研究的对象进行分类的原因。分类往往被认为是纯粹的心灵概念性构建，有助于为令人眼花缭乱的各种自然现象带来某种表面上的秩序，但本质上是任意的，不值得从事自然研究的科学家认真关注。正如 Milne [22] 所说，许多人对分类学感到厌倦，因为他们认为这意味着要花一生的时间来研究某种甲虫的底部是否有五根毛或七根毛，然后将毛分开。对于许多病毒学家来说，当前关于病毒物种名称的正确书写方式的争论 [2 - 5, 31, 33] 可能看起来同样深奥和无聊，特别是如果他们从未考虑过病毒分类学中引入病毒物种的原因 [30]。
Scientists are committed to the study of real, tangible objects and tend to rely on facts rather than on speculation. This steadfast commitment to the real world partly explains the reluctance of some scientists to become involved in classifying the objects they study. Classifications tend to be perceived as purely conceptual constructions of the mind, useful for bringing some semblance of order into the bewildering variety of natural phenomena, but essentially arbitrary and unworthy of serious attention by scientists engaged in the study of nature. As stated by Milne [22] many are bored by taxonomy because they think it means spending a lifetime on whether a certain kind of beetle has five hairs on its bottom or seven - and then splitting the hairs. To many virologists, the current debate [2 - 5, 31, 33] on the appropriate way of writing the names of virus species may seem equally abstruse and boring, especially if they have never given a thought to the reason why virus species were introduced in viral taxonomy in the first place [30].