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Thanks, Anne -- so "special" comes about in the dynamic of looking, not from the appearance of what is seen. I agree.  Anything/everything is thus potentially special.  A better way to say this is that everything is different.  So it's funny that from the engagement with the world via "specere" we get to its exhaustion/emptying via overly formal categories, kinds, or species.  This reminds me of Paul's listing of teachings from Warren Hampe, including this one: "Pay attention to the verbs, not the nouns" (/sci_cult/lesswrong/descartes/hampe.html).  [Btw, right now my computer isn't showing any pictures, so I can't see the picture by Purcell or the little icons that would let me create a live link to that text.  When I sort this out I'll w/b.]