For the record, when I went to my local planetarium -- yes, I've been to my local planetarium, as an adult, and screw you -- the planetariunist -- yes, that's what they're called, and screw you again -- made the case for dropping all of the minor/dwarf/planetoids from the "official" list of planets on the grounds that there were so many that kids would not be able to memorize them all.

To that I say, first of all, Survival of The Fittest. If your slope-headed kid can't remember all his planets, then guess what, he fails science class LIKE HE SHOULD. Second, I say Go Ask A Kid About Dinosaurs if you think they have serious deficiencies in remembering arbitrary lists of inconveniently-named scientific junk. And third, I say The Second You Can Explain To Me What Difference It Makes To Anybody Outside the Astronomy Textbook and Stick-On Glow-In-The_Dark Planet Decal Industries Whether A Particular Object Is Designated a Major Or Minor Planet, I'll Pretend I Care. But actually I won't, because I'll be slapping you with a board that says "Europe and Asia are separate continents" painted on one side. And you know what? The exact same number of objects will be orbiting the sun, except possibly for whatever teeth I knock loose with the back side of that board, where it has the official list of what's an Ocean and what's a Sea written on it. And when your dentist asks you what happened, you can say "I heard it at the planetarium."