"Adults don't take this seriously and neither should you"
I'm being downvoted for this but trust me, that is the message teenagers would takeaway from the name Boaty McBoatface.
I'm being downvoted for this but trust me, that is the message teenagers would takeaway from the name Boaty McBoatface.
Conversely, they really really hate when government bureaucrats show them that democracy can be a farce and people's choices are worthless.
Teenagers are on a complicated phase of life where adults ask them their opinions as if they were adults too, but then when they don't like the answers, use their power to override them. Which is exactly what transpires of this whole process.
Yes, let's ignore the people who bother to vote because they are not the right sort of people. Instead, we'll do what our idea of a 'rational' voter would want /s
And as I pointed out in an earlier thread, it's not like the Royal Navy ships never had playful names; some past examples include the HMS Speedy, HMS Child's Play, HMS Happy Entrance and HMS Arrogant (later renamed HMS Insolent).
Far fetched I agree, but that's the message being sent.
That being said, I'm happy with their choice. Sir David is a great thing to name something after.
Yap, it is a valuable lesson of how the real world works. The people can only choose as long as they choose what those in power let them choose.
"The scientists on this ship have a sense of humour and are fun people" meaning that while they take the science seriously, the are approachable and not too worried about what you call their ship.
Also, Sir David Attenborough is a national treasure and while I would have preferred the funny name, this is a very solid alternative.
Mind you the current outcome is more "adults don't take public opinion seriously".
Alternately:
"Your suspicions are correct. There is no room for fun or playfulness in Science."
My anecdotes and general 'intuition' (as unscientific as these things always are) are opposite to yours.
I think it'd be viewed positively and wouldn't have the opposite effect as you suggest.
However, my children, many of their friends and some of their teachers are now aware that the UK is commissioning a polar research vessel. They definitely weren't before.
I know of at least one junior school science teacher who has used this to seed a lesson. It's a point of interest, it's the start of a conversation. It gives science a different angle and a bit of colour. This is a good thing even if it was by accident. Sometimes we should just take the hand we were dealt and play it.
A rather impressive video [0] of RRS Sir Ernesto Shackleton being droned.