Once again, some DUers think science is a democratic proposition.

[Skinner]

1. How Pluto is classified is as much a cultural exercise as a scientific one.

The only reason Pluto is or isn't called a planet is because a group of scientists decided on a particular definition of the word planet. Pluto itself does not change, regardless of its status as a planet or not.

So this is one case where culture can in fact influence science. If scientists had chosen a different definition for the word planet, then Pluto could have just as easily kept its status as a planet.

This isn't a case like whether evolution is true or whether gravity is true. Clearly, nobody can just decide that either of those things are true, through a popular vote or anything. Similarly, nobody can simply will Pluto into or out of existence, through a popular vote or a vote of interested scientists. But the relevant experts could very well decide to change their accepted definition of what a planet is, and that could be done through a process that looks a whole lot like democracy (ie: they vote on it).

Indeed, they have already voted to set the definition of "planet" at least one time in the past, so there is no reason they could not do so in the future.