• @Carrolade
    link
    English
    698 months ago

    You know, this post made me realize something. Some people are viewing it in terms of “rank”, instead of an arbitrary scientific classification designed to efficiently communicate ideas in a clear and concise way.

    It’s like … mythology or something, and the planet(oid) being anthropomorphized.

    Do people also view kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species as “ranks” of some sort, with some intrinsically greater value being given to some over others?

    • @SquorlpleOP
      link
      English
      168 months ago

      It’s like … mythology or something, and the planet(oid) being anthropomorphized.

      I mean, the planet(oid)s are named after gods.

      The personification of its classification is probably related to the exclusivity of the title and “bigger is better” mentality. Since every life form has a taxonomy for domain to species, there’s not really an exclusivity to each echelon. I don’t imagine anybody really thinks like this meme below, for example:

      • @Carrolade
        link
        English
        78 months ago

        This makes me want to devise a tiered, inclusive classification scheme for space objects.

        We could start with orbital objects, any object that normally experiences regular, periodic orbits with minimal deviation. So, everything in the galaxy would be one except potentially Sag A, and the galaxy itself. Perhaps the next branching subsets could be things undergoing continuous fusion somewhere in their body or not?

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      98 months ago

      Do people also view kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species as “ranks” of some sort, with some intrinsically greater value being given to some over others?

      Well, for humans we most certainly do

      • @Carrolade
        link
        English
        48 months ago

        So, “homo” is better than “sapiens”? And “animal” is better than homo sapiens?

        Or do I have it backwards, and “lower” ranks are better? So, “pinus ponderosa” would be better than “plant”?

    • @shneancy
      link
      English
      48 months ago

      I think it’ll matter a bit more once (if) we get to explore our solar system for real. I feel like right now the concept of “planet” is still rather distant in our minds and a lot of people just base it on vibes

    • @Khanzarate
      link
      English
      38 months ago

      Thing is everyone has one of those.

      Compare it to non-sentience, sentience, and sapience, to properly anthropomorphize it.

      • @Carrolade
        link
        English
        18 months ago

        Every celestial body fits into a specific classification too.

        • @Khanzarate
          link
          English
          78 months ago

          Yeah but no one just has a kingdom or phylum.

          Every living creature gets an entry from domain to species.

          Celestial bodies aren’t a hierarchy, a planet isn’t also a dwarf planet or an asteroid.

    • JJROKCZ
      link
      English
      38 months ago

      Hard not to anthropomorphize things when they’re named after our gods

    • @warmaster
      link
      English
      08 months ago

      Planet Y

      In case it’s a dwarf