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Originally Posted by dgruss23
To use a different example consider flowers. They have common names and scientific latin names. Which is the real name? Well it depends upon your purpose. For the average person they see the "sunflower" while the scientist knows the same plant as Helianthus Annuus. Is the scientists name any more correct than the common name? That really depends upon the purpose. For scientific classification the answer is yes. For the average person the common name is the better name.
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Originally Posted by AGN Fuel
And a sunflower to you is a sunflower to me is a sunflower to Joe Anybody.
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But that's not entirely true. In fact, I'd say that's not true at all.
Helianthus annuus might be a "sunflower" to Joe Anybody, but it certainly is not to me, nor is it to most people I know. In fact, to me there is no such thing as a "sunflower" at all.
However, to me, as it is to everyone else in this world, there is a flower called
Helianthos annuus. It took me 15 seconds to look it up and see that it is actually the flower I know as "solros".
And that, my friends, is precisely the reason why I feel scientific names are so important, no matter if they are assigned to flowers or stars. In a small, closed community, home made names can certainly make sense. But we don't live in such a world any more. That's why it is so important to always use the proper, scientific name, for both flowers and stars.
May those commercial fake star registies go out of business, and true science win in the end.