Pleasant surprise

Interesting article on the recent deplaneting of Pluto.

In 2006 a group of official assholes decided for no obvious reason to change the definition. Since then, science writers have automatically forgotten Pluto, rubbing it in by headlining new discoveries of a ninth planet. GODDAMN IT, WE ALREADY HAVE A NINTH PLANET, AND IT’S CALLED PLUTO. WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?????

(Admittedly my anger was partly tribal since Tombaugh was a Kansan.)

Pleasant surprise: Now many astronomers are agitating to reinstate Pluto’s planetude. Their reason goes beyond the layman’s annoyance at arrogant assholes. The 2006 definition of planet was based on orbiting our sun, which would also exclude the infinite number of planets that orbit other suns. The definition also required a planet to clear other stuff out of its orbit, which isn’t part of any normal distinction. It seemed to be a sneaky way of excluding Pluto, like the weirdly written restrictions in “laws” designed to subsidize a favored company without actually naming the company.

This fits into my recent lament that most sciences are prescriptive, not descriptive. If you want people to trust what you say, you need to DESCRIBE REALITY AS IT’S NORMALLY PERCEIVED, not force people to perceive it your way.