Alright
here’s something that’s been bugging me. About 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water—oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, you name it. The remaining 29% is land, but even a lot of that is ice or desert. So why did we decide to name the whole planet “Earth”?
When you think about it
“earth” literally refers to soil, dirt, ground, etc. It makes sense if you’re, say, a farmer or someone living on solid land, but it doesn’t really capture the bigger picture, does it? The majority of the planet is water. Wouldn’t something like “Planet Ocean” or “Aqua” have been a better fit? Or maybe something poetic like “Blue Sphere”?
Maybe it’s because early humans didn’t really think about the oceans as much as the land. For ancient people, it was probably all about the land they were walking on, farming, and building on. The vast oceans? Just scary, uncharted territory filled with sea monsters. So I get why they’d focus on the land. But now, with everything we know about Earth’s composition, shouldn’t the name reflect reality a little better?
And while we’re on the topic, who even decided on “Earth” in the first place? Other planets have such cool names—Mars, Venus, Jupiter. But ours? Just “Earth.” It’s like naming a dog “Dog.” I mean, come on, we could’ve gotten a bit more creative with the name for our home planet, don’t you think?
Anyway, I know this probably isn’t the most pressing question in the universe, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Anyone else feel like “Planet Earth” doesn’t do justice to how awesome and water-dominated our world actually is? Or am I overthinking it?
