Jun 20 2008
Put a Bib on That Black Hole
Cars aren’t stupid (you stupid car!); hurricanes aren’t vengeful (you bad, bad, storm!“), and black holes certainly don’t get so hungry they could eat a galaxy.
It seems that the human propensity to engage in animism and anthropomorphism runs deep. Certainly, as an extremely social species that spent much of its early years evading predator and chasing prey, we can understand why we might over-extend the tendency to infer agency behind phenomena of all sorts. This over-extension of inferring agency probably plays a huge role in the perception of “supernatural” events.
[For more on inferring agency, see the chapter, "Bumpkins in the Night," at my "An Almighty Alpha" website.]
As a word nerd, however, the sloppy use of language concerns me. So when I found this headline on ScienceDaily, “Black Holes Have Simple Feeding Habits,” I couldn’t help but grunt in disapproval.
Both the article writer, and the researcher herself, used the same anthropomorphic language to talk about cosmic phenomena.
This confirms that the feeding patterns for black holes of different sizes can be very similar,” said Sera Markoff of the Astronomical Institute, University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, who led the study. “We thought this was the case, but up until now we haven’t been able to nail it.
What’s the harm? Words are tools that carry both denotations and connotations. The unspoken, perhaps “poetic,” elements of words may seem to be a trivial matter, but sometimes it is the connotations that most influence human thinking and feelings. Any politician knows this. That is why they and their spokespeople chose their words very wisely, if by wisely one can mean “employing suggestive hyperbole.”
Words are tools. I think scientists and critical thinkers alike should be as precise with them as they are with their data-gathering and measuring instruments.
I love science. Because I love it so much, I hate to see it cheapened with sloppy language. So talk about a black hole engulfing, expanding, absorbing, annihilating . . . whatever. Use a thesaurus, for crying out loud. To say that a black hole “feeds” is to imbue it with qualities it doesn’t have.
Unless, of course, while I was napping yesterday scientists discovered that black holes experience hunger, actively pursue food, and digest it. If that’s the case, go right ahead and put a bib on that black hole.
