the uncertainty and unpredictability of life hit us all pretty hard when "they" declared that pluto was not a planet. if pluto is not a planet, what other stuff did you learn as a kid that really wasn't true? maybe george washington really didn't cut down the cherry tree and it was the first presidential cover-up? maybe my whole life is nothing but a stack of lies?
it made me feel better to learn this morning that the speed of light was fixed in 1983 and that it can never be changed--finally something stable to hold onto that will be true even when most of your generation has alzheimer's. so just memorize this once and you can be the elevator genius forever: speed of light = 299,792,458 meters per second.
and it's not just a fact to show off your vast knowledge --though certainly it could be used that way!-- you never know when seeming trivia could get you out of a tough scrape. imagine a hostage situation and the bad guy says: "i'll let anyone who knows the speed of light go free" or maybe if you inadvertently get embroiled in a CIA plot while on vacation in an exotic resort and the password for all the true agents is the speed of light...really this information could be life saving.
if you're just memorizing it to impress others no one would blame you, but consider taking it even a step further and question aloud whether it is true that all photons must move at the speed of light (per Einstein's theory of relativity)....read details and see cool pictures at http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/03/magic-rays-may.html#more
