magikrooster wrote:I don't know if this belongs in pseudoscience, but I'll post it here as I'm interested to know of the claim is verifiable. I've come across the claim that on 21st Dec 2012 our planet will be at the closest proximity to the heart of our galaxy. And, that it will at this point be unobstructed or eclipsed by any other planets.
What I'm interested in is, is this in fact true? (never mind the associated ideas that go along with this concept in various circles)
Hi magickrooster. This is a type of claim related to puddle thinking. I don't know if you know Douglas Adams' famous line...
... imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!'
You'll note that throughout human history, the famous stories all place humans at some kind of special place, or for some special purpose, or just with a special vantage point. This narrative forms a monomyth shared by all people, throughout all time. You can see it in the idea you shared above. The way to evade puddle thinking is to put stuff into context:
Closest proximity compared to all the other hundreds of billions of stars that are far closer? So why is that important?
Closest proximity relative to our normal proximity? That is a trivial amount comparative to the distances involved. Even were it true, what relevance does it have? Is there some dangerous force emanating all the way from the galactic centre that we're normally just beyond? What is this special force, why is it dangerous, and who precisely is saying that there is such a force?
The notion that the centre of the galaxy is somehow a special thing from which to be obstructed or not, or which can be eclipsed by other planets of lesser significance (although obviously more proximal). Some galactic symmetry hinges on our special planet, and when it arrives at a position then something of galactic consequence will occur?
Let's assume the coherent parts of the claim are true. That on 21st Dec 2012 our planet moves into the closest proximity to the centre of the universe that it's ever been. What happens? Absolutely nothing at all. There are billions of grains of dust and gas clouds between us and the centre of the universe - why would a poxy little planet or sun be of significance in eclipsing the centre of the galaxy - presumably a fucking great big black hole - from us in particular? What possible relevance does it have? If it's true, and I doubt it as most of it's incoherent with respect to elementary facts about our galaxy, then all it means is what it says - that we'll be at our closest proximity to the centre of the galaxy in X time. Perhaps a fun fact for astronomers, but public significance - zero.