Update: Well, as you probably know, despite all of the whining and dining and arguing in Paris last week, Pluto has lost out. Not only has it been demoted from the planetary status enjoyed by the eight "classical" planets, but its longtime companion Charon, a planetary hopeful, retains its own lowly rank as just another moon. Under the new definition of "planet" that the space geeks hammered out in Prague this week, a planet has to "clear the neighborhood" around its orbit. Pluto, alas, is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune’s. So it is now considered a "dwarf planet," along with Xena (geek name 2003 UB313) and the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted. I’m thinking maybe Ceres and Pluto ought to file a class-action suit against the folks who made this decision. I’m sure they can get Xena and Charon to join in, just on principle. I bet an enterprising attorney would take it on, since this has the potential to be big-bucks litigation. Damages alone would be astronomical.Lawsuit or not, I really do wish these people would make up their minds. Now that Pluto is no longer considered a planet, the astrology world is truly going to be shaken. That is, the classic Western astrology world is gonna be all shook up. However, there’s still Vedic astrology, and my offer still stands for the Vedic astrology upgrade mentioned in my August 18 post. But you must act now.
What I think is stupid is that the scientific community thinks its so important how they classify things. I mean, its not like how they classify Pluto effects the way Pluto actually is, or how it effects the other celestial bodies around it, or how it effects us for that matter. It's like, HOW ARROGANT just get over yourselves already.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Phoenix. I'm a big believer in science and the scientific method and all that, but it's painfully obvious at times that scientists are merely human, after all. And like the rest of us, they seem quite prone to letting their egos get the best of them at times.
ReplyDeleteEver since Adam (note: for me that's just a figure of speech :-)), humans have had an obsession with naming and classifying everything...and then re-naming and re-classifying...and on and on. That's been the case with the planets, of course, and it's also the case in taxonomy and numerous other disciplines.
We're seeing the same thing in medicine as well, with new diseases, disorders, or syndromes being "discovered" almost every week. Oddly enough, these new "discoveries" often coincide with the development of new drugs that might treat the disorders...
But at least the scientists are keeping the rest of us amused. :-) Thanks for writing, Phoenix!
If we don't make things more complex than necessary, how will we ever convince ourselves that we are clever?
ReplyDeleteIn the final analysis, I'm relatively certain that even if Pluto were a sentient being, he/she wouldn't particularly care about our classification change. He/she would just continue exhibiting the same Pluto-ness we've all grown to love. :-)
You're right, Rev. Pluto doesn't give a rat's patootie what we think of it.
ReplyDeleteI still think there's some interesting lawsuit potential here. I think the guys who were rooting for Pluto should sue the guys who opted for its de-planetization. It would certainly make science more interesting to a jaded public.
Anyhoo, thanks for stopping in. And when are you going to blog again, dude?