The Longest Night Ever

Concerning Specialness and Understanding

In #articles

I recently saw a claim that this past December 21 was the longest solstice night ever...in the history of the planet! When I first heard this, and when I have told others, the first reaction is puzzlement - "why is this particular Solstice special?", "how could it be that in the 4.5 billion years of the planet I would be here for this unique event?"

Of course, although unique, this is not an unusual event - the Earth is slowing down its spin, due to the interaction with the Moon. Thus, each year, every day is just a smidgen longer - about 20 millionths of a second each year. So next year's Solstice will be the longest in the history of the planet as well, as was every Solstice in the past (at the time).

What I find interesting is the habit of people to infer specialness so quickly when faced with a puzzle. It is also interesting that once one understands the process, that specialness is immediately eliminated, and replaced with a more cosmic picture. There is a direct parallel with all times in our history when we have (falsely) inferred the specialness of people - the heliocentric Universe, the distinction between humans and animals, Earthly vs Celestial material, organic vs inorganic life, etc... This should serve as a reminder to us all to be skeptical of claims of specialness before understanding.

On the positive side, those people who keep wanting more hours in the day need only wait and it will happen automatically!