Category talk:Round labyrinths
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This discussion of one or several categories is now closed. Please do not make any edits to this archive.
I don't see the difference between Category:Mazes and Category:Labyrinths. If we want a category for garden mazes, let's call it that? Themightyquill (talk) 08:55, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- A labyrinth has only one path: you start in one place, follow it around, and you end up back where you started. They are often used for meditation or for religious or ceremonial purposes. With a maze, you want to get from one point to a different one, and there are branches off of the path designed to confuse or mislead. They are often used for amusement. --Auntof6 (talk) 17:19, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- I accept that as one way to differentiate between the two, but en:Labyrinth describes that as "specialized usage" among many (but apparently not all) "contemporary scholars and enthusiasts." If there's consensus, I'd accept such a separation, but at very least it should be mentioned in a category description, and Labyrinths should be a sub-category of mazes, not vice-versa, no? Something like Category:Unicursal labyrinths might make more sense. - Themightyquill (talk) 19:18, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- I have no particular preference for how to categorize them. Maybe combine them into Category:Labyrinths and mazes? I do see that they're both categorized under Category:Puzzles, but I think only mazes can be considered puzzles. --Auntof6 (talk) 20:42, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- I accept that as one way to differentiate between the two, but en:Labyrinth describes that as "specialized usage" among many (but apparently not all) "contemporary scholars and enthusiasts." If there's consensus, I'd accept such a separation, but at very least it should be mentioned in a category description, and Labyrinths should be a sub-category of mazes, not vice-versa, no? Something like Category:Unicursal labyrinths might make more sense. - Themightyquill (talk) 19:18, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- You're right on that last point - so then maybe mazes are a puzzling type of labyrinth, rather than labyrinths being a meditative type of maze. =) Maybe someone else will come along with a good idea. - Themightyquill (talk) 20:50, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- I really don't see any reason to change things, based on what has been said so far. AnonMoos (talk) 14:34, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
- Well, you're right, AnonMoos, that the basic structure doesn't need changing but there are a few things that need fixing. Category:Labyrinth (mythology) is an inescapable maze, not a simple line you follow on the ground. Category: Houses of mirrors are, by the definition above, usually mazes not labyrinths. And Labyrinths aren't puzzles, only mazes are. Labyrinths might fit under Category:Designs if we had one.
- How's this for a category description: "For categorization at Wikimedia Commons, Labyrinths refers to any structure designed for someone to pass through with twists and turns. This includes unicursal (one path) structures where the participant cannot make choices or get lost. For multicursal puzzles with branching directions and dead-end paths, see the sub-category Category:Mazes." - Themightyquill (talk) 16:57, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
- That description could work. Not all labyrinths are structures, though: some are just markings on a floor (see Category:Church labyrinths). By the way, the mythological labyrinth wasn't inescapable: Theseus et al. did get out after he killed the Minotaur. --Auntof6 (talk) 18:00, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
- You're right, I should have said nearly inescapable. As for structures, I guess it depends on your definition of "structure". A quick google search says, "the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex" which works, even for a church labyrinth or graphic labyrinth. If we're not going to put Category:Labyrinths in Category:Puzzles or Category:Structures, I really wouldn't know where to put it. - Themightyquill (talk) 19:25, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
Stale discussion. @Themightyquill and Auntof6: both categories (Mazes and Labyrinths) are provided with explanatory hatnotes. Can we close this CFD?--Estopedist1 (talk) 19:26, 22 November 2021 (UTC)
- Yes. -- Auntof6 (talk) 07:35, 23 November 2021 (UTC)
Categories disambiguated with hatnotes. Mazes are a subset of labyrinths with branching directions and dead-end paths. -- Themightyquill (talk) 18:08, 24 November 2021 (UTC)