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Is Pluto still a planet? Who decides - astronomers or politicians? Is Illinois on our planet?
The questions could go on and on. Who really decides what a word means, the speaker or the listeners? Perhaps English speakers decide what "planet" means not astronomers? What does the Constitution say? What does the Bible (any version) say? What would the ancient Greeks say? I'm looking for any erudite answer regarding Illinois declaring Pluto a planet while it's over Illinois.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/96/SR/PDF/09600SR0046lv.pdf
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/96/SR/PDF/09600SR0046lv.pdf
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This is the kind of thing they do in the Illinois Senate? Really? No wonder Obama voted "present" all those times - a meaningless vote on a meaningless question.
As noted in the source, Pluto is "officially" a dwarf planet, and no, not everybody is happy about it. As for definitions, well, you personally can call it whatever you want and nobody will stop you. Call it Iskandar if you are so inclined, or Gamelan. But at some point, in order for language to work, you need to have some mutual understanding and agreement about what words mean. If I were to try and convince you that there are 6 snarfblatts and 3 dinglehoppers revolving around the Sun, you'd have no blessed idea what I was talking about unless I could find some common ground of terminology that we could use to explain the different between a snarfblatt and a dinglehopper.
"But!" you say, "We all agreed for almost 70 years that Pluto was a planet!" Not necessarily true. It was always iffy. The problem is that over the years, more and more stuff with Pluto's same characteristics was also discovered - most notably the discovery of Eris in 2003, which is apparently bigger than Pluto. So the question is really whether all those other things are also planets, because if they are not, then why does Pluto get to get grandfathered in? Do we really want the definition of the word to be "this that and the other thing, and oh yeah by the way Pluto."
As noted in the source, Pluto is "officially" a dwarf planet, and no, not everybody is happy about it. As for definitions, well, you personally can call it whatever you want and nobody will stop you. Call it Iskandar if you are so inclined, or Gamelan. But at some point, in order for language to work, you need to have some mutual understanding and agreement about what words mean. If I were to try and convince you that there are 6 snarfblatts and 3 dinglehoppers revolving around the Sun, you'd have no blessed idea what I was talking about unless I could find some common ground of terminology that we could use to explain the different between a snarfblatt and a dinglehopper.
"But!" you say, "We all agreed for almost 70 years that Pluto was a planet!" Not necessarily true. It was always iffy. The problem is that over the years, more and more stuff with Pluto's same characteristics was also discovered - most notably the discovery of Eris in 2003, which is apparently bigger than Pluto. So the question is really whether all those other things are also planets, because if they are not, then why does Pluto get to get grandfathered in? Do we really want the definition of the word to be "this that and the other thing, and oh yeah by the way Pluto."
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Luckily, my preschooler is studying the universe right now (ie creating paper mache planet models and painting starry night sky pictures). She tells me that Pluto is a planet so I'm going with her.
I'll give her 'scientist' status as apposed to 'politician' - so let the scientists decide!
In response to your (bigger) question about who decides what a word means...well, she asks about that all the time too, great question.
Here's an interesting link to an article about the meaning of the word 'is', many of you will recall this story pertaining to an ex-president: http://www.slate.com/id/1000162/
I'll give her 'scientist' status as apposed to 'politician' - so let the scientists decide!
In response to your (bigger) question about who decides what a word means...well, she asks about that all the time too, great question.
Here's an interesting link to an article about the meaning of the word 'is', many of you will recall this story pertaining to an ex-president: http://www.slate.com/id/1000162/
The distinction between "is" and "was" is quite useful even for non-politicians. How would it apply in this case? Was Pluto a planet for 70 years? It hasn't changed composition, size, or orbit. Now in Illinois, where it is in the sky half the time, is it a planet half the time and was it a planet the other half? If Pluto were called to the stand and asked if it is a planet, should it say "no" like Clinton? Does it matter if it's a state court or a federal court?
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So from now on, we are supposed to call it Asteroid Number 134340, but since it used to be called Pluto, most of us with go with the "former planet formerly known as Pluto." :)
Bonus geek points, though, for recognizing Iskandar and Gamelan? Anybody?