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Full Idea
People favor historical paths over outward properties when determining what something is. ...An object looking like a knife is less likely to be called 'a knife' if it is described as having been created by accident.
Gist of Idea
Peope favor historical paths over outward properties when determining what something is
Source
Susan A. Gelman (The Essential Child [2003], 06 'Essentialism')
Book Ref
Gelman,Susan A.: 'The Essential Child' [OUP 2005], p.151
A Reaction
I like this because it talks, suggestively, of 'historical paths' rather than of 'origin'. Thus we might judge a person's identity by their traumatic experience rather than by their birth. This doesn't challenge necessity of origin, but affects labels.