• AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    55
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    11 months ago

    That’s like saying Huckleberry Finn doesn’t exist. Just because it’s made-up doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It exists as a concept which billions of people understand.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      11 months ago

      I think it is pretty clear in the context of the joke that they weren’t saying the concept doesn’t exist they were saying the attributes of the concept doesn’t exist.

    • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      The Sun’s position on the ecliptic at the vernal equinox is not a “concept”, it’s a physical reality, recognised by the International Astronomical Union.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        And the astrology signs exist as a concept as recognized by thousands of years of human history dating back to Babylonia 2 BCE. Yes we understand that they’re likely completely bogus, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

        • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          edit-2
          11 months ago

          This thread is so dumb. The signs, and the Sun’s progression through them, are as real as anything else in the sky.

      • Danitos@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        Disagree on the semantics. Physical realities are concepts as well. “Energy”, despite being an extremely useful physical measurement, is an abstract concept. “Physical realities” and “concepts” are not mutually exclusive nor antonymous words.

        In this case, the Aries/vernal point is a concept used to define coordinate systems using physical measures from Earth.