Pluto

[fajrdrako]

Weird week, for many reasons. I am feeling impatient with certain rampant egos that seem to be out of control on the periphery of my life just now. (No, no one here.) Absurd irrationality in several quarters.

Then I am surprised by the reaction of various people regarding the decision to call Pluto a dwarf planet rather than a planet. First I read a piece of fanfic protesting it. Then in the space of a day I've encounted half a dozen people - no, more - who are in various ways incensed by the resolution. (Sometimes with a good dollop of humour, admittedly.) Sandi said that she was 'disgusted' by the decision and I was afraid to ask why - she obviously thought the reason was self-evident. I hadn't even known that there have been petitions regarding the matter over the past year or so, political movements, a whole slew of people dedicated to keeping Pluto a planet rather than having it designated something else. It's as if the ex-planet Pluto had a whole fan club I never even knew about.

I think I must be missing a point. Why does it matter what we call it? A dwarf planet, a planetoid, 'that funny chunck of rock with a weird orbit' - what's the difference? Or talk Esperanto and call it a planedeto. Personally, I think 'dwarf planet' is a fine name but even if it was something ugly, I can't think of any reason I might care, or why it makes any difference. Do planets get more funding than 'dwarf planets'?