Posted by zeugma on January 5, 2006, at 23:12:38
In reply to Re: 10th planet discoverer speaks » zeugma, posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2006, at 21:26:23
yes, it's an amusing example of 'linguistic ascent'- stop talking about spheroids and say the problem is the word-
i suspect the problem is one of induction. how many planets have we observed closely? not nearly enough to know what one is. we've got to do a lot more observation and have a better data set before we get a grasp of the predicate 'is a planet'.
how would an alien translate our term 'planet' (I am wondering how the principle of charity operates here. I would say that charitably, we don't know 1 percent about anything (I fervently hope we do know enough not to keep putting schoolchildren through the misery of making 'models' of the 'solar system' with tennis balls- i would hope an alien would observe this phenomenon and uncharitably laugh)
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:592960
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060102/msgs/595665.html