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The New Seven Wonders of the World
Fallingman
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
There is an article on the BBC website today that makes mention of an attempt to create a new list of what are considered the 7 Wonders of the World.
It seems to be a global survey, and I thought it would make for a pretty interesting discussion. I personally lean towards the older structures - I think this is mainly because (to my mind) the technology available at the time is a major factor in the decision. Are there any you think they are missing? Are there any that you dont think deserve to be on the list at all? *cough*Sydney Opera House*cough* (Dont get me wrong, its nice enough... but a "wonder"?)
How many have you seen personally? I've seen four.
So. The Obligatory Info:
[size=+2]New 7 Wonders Website[/size]
(where you can vote)
http://www.new7wonders.com/
[size=+2]The Contenders[/size]
The Acropolis
Hagia Sophia
St Basil's Cathedral
The Colosseum
Neuschwanstein Castle
The Eiffal Tower
Stonehenge
Alhambra
The Great Wall of China
Kiyomizu Temple
The Sydney Opera House
Angkor
The Taj Mahal
Timbuktu
Petra
The Pyramids of Giza
The Statue of Christ the Redeemer
The Easter Island Statues
Macchu Picchu
Chichen Itza
The Statue of Liberty
What Would Your Seven Be?
It seems to be a global survey, and I thought it would make for a pretty interesting discussion. I personally lean towards the older structures - I think this is mainly because (to my mind) the technology available at the time is a major factor in the decision. Are there any you think they are missing? Are there any that you dont think deserve to be on the list at all? *cough*Sydney Opera House*cough* (Dont get me wrong, its nice enough... but a "wonder"?)
How many have you seen personally? I've seen four.
So. The Obligatory Info:
[size=+2]New 7 Wonders Website[/size]
(where you can vote)
http://www.new7wonders.com/
[size=+2]The Contenders[/size]
The Acropolis
Hagia Sophia
St Basil's Cathedral
The Colosseum
Neuschwanstein Castle
The Eiffal Tower
Stonehenge
Alhambra
The Great Wall of China
Kiyomizu Temple
The Sydney Opera House
Angkor
The Taj Mahal
Timbuktu
Petra
The Pyramids of Giza
The Statue of Christ the Redeemer
The Easter Island Statues
Macchu Picchu
Chichen Itza
The Statue of Liberty
What Would Your Seven Be?
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Fallingman on
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Add in that ridiculous huge bridge in Germany. And the Chunnel. And, like, half of Dubai.
I didn't want to pick any modern buildings, because I don't consider them wonders. They are awesome, but no one is wondering "boy, how did they ever do that?" I picked a few structures that are really special and it surprises me they were able to make these buildings back in the days.
Cat, of the old original wonders only the pyramid of Giza still exists. There have been other lists, but nothing official and not as democratic as this list. A few historians with too much time on their hands should not decide on this sort of things.
wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_wonders
Man, I don't like that 'how the hell did they do that' sentiment. People in the past weren't retards. I mean, I understand that what they did was technically difficult, but so were the things I mentioned, and if we have a nuclear war and the backslidden survivors come across our shit, they're going to be terribly impressed. Well, except at our tendency to use so much glass :P
I'm having a hard time deciding what I would vote for, however. All I know is that I don't think Stonehenge deserves to be on the list. The rest of them look amazing, and I'd love to see more of them.
Out of what's there, I'd vote for Alhambra and Gigantor-Jeebus I think. There's something incongruous about the "2,200 years later..." in the lame flash intro and then the voting for 2000+ year old buildings.
If it was a list of the seven most awesome technological masterworks on the surface of this planet, I probably wouldn't have voted for old buildings. But the list is about wonders and I simply don't consider a space station or a skyscraper a wonder.
Although, I'm opposed to the very concept for two reasons:
A. Why just seven? Why do we have to limit the number?
B. I read a Yahoo! News article (I'll try to dig it up) where it was revealed that this whole contest thing is basically a marketing campaign for one company, I believe based in Sweden.
EDIT: according to the Wikipedia article on the project it's promoted by a Swiss (not Swedish) company that's for-profit and has paid voting.
These sites don't need a stupid list to be wondrous, they're kickass on their own, and ranking them will only diminish the public's perception of some perfectly deserving works of human ingenuity.
And I don't think we're ranking them as much as we're picking a few we consider world wonders and put them on the spotlight some more. If anything: it draws some attention to landmarks that would go unnoticed otherwise.
Perhaps, if most of the people voting are actually checking out the descriptions and voting for the non-famous sites, then yes.
Unfortunately I doubt that will happen, and we'll end up with the Pyramids, Great Wall, Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, Acropolis, Colosseum, Stonehenge, and the Sydney Opera House***.
***No offense to Australia! The opera house is fantastic, I'm just pointing out that it's already famous.
Not to mention batteries and computers, yo. Hero's Spiritalia seu Pneumatica was pretty rad as well.
One of these days somebody is going to dig up an ancient Sumerian iPhone.
I'm going with Macchu Picchu as well.
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Those huge freaking islands they're building? Yeah.
Would that have been in Northern Ethiopia? Apparently they are supposed to be crazy cool. (Legend of the Art of the covenant and shit)
I cant seem to find much on them thats particularly official, but there are supposed to be some underwater formations off the coast of Japan that people think could be a man-made pyramid... If thats the case, the dating on them is said to throw into doubt a big chunk of assumed human history. Anyone know about these?
Linky.
Its pretty, but its not actually a very good opera house, in the functional sense. Small and cramped, apparently. I think if something is going to be a wonder, it has to actually work well.
Ermmmm....no. Out of the original 7, the only one which still exists is the Pyramids. For that matter, there's some dispute over whether some of them ever existed (such as the Hanging Garden).
Thankfully, they've decided to make the Pyramids an Honorary Candidate (whateverthehell that means), so I |guess that puts it on the final list. The world would suck if they didn't get on the list. They're the freaking pyramids, after all.
I do wonder if this will be televised; the presentation will be in Lisbon, and I can't get to Portugal just now. So I'm hoping that there will be an international broadcast.
The whole deal is a rather pointless process, sure, but it's also sort of cool. I mean, the original list was complied by a nobody called Antipader, and didn't mean much anyway.
That said, I think I'll go for: Taj Mahal, Acropolis, Chichen Itza, Easter Island, the Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, and Ankgor Wat. I'd drop the Statue for the Pyramids.
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Add in some more yes yes yes, by the way. Because YES there are far more awesome things in this world than the fucking statue of Liberty.
So obviously Petra deserves to be on it.
Seriously though, it's an amazing place, even though I've only seen photos. A bunch of buildings carved into soft stone, a meter-wide entrance way that opens into a city... it's really really awesome.
I'm gonna pick Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer, Liberty, St. Basil's, Angkor Wat, Machu Pichu and the Great Wall. But that list is a copout.
Just call it "The great wonders of the world".
Then make a list.
Why do we over complicate the simplest shit?
Hmmm.
Oh central asia, how no one cares about you.
And how in the fuck is the Red Fortress considered to be about 'Dialogue' and 'Dignity'. It was moorish power projection, it is about dialogue and dignity as much as say, Masada.
You can pretty much do anything with enough time and slaves.
Get a lot of logs and you are the winner after 10,000 man hours of labor.
And apparently, moving that shit around once it is there is not so hard.
Seriously, there is no reason to put that on the list.
It is too bad those Afghanis don't exactly have Razorphones and Blackberries.
Also, Al Azhar University. Continuously operated since 970 CE, muthafuckas.
Angel Falls
Great Barrier Reef
Or why locations? How about things like:
Great White Sharks
Redwood Trees
The Moon
Because those are natural accidents and happenstances, as compared to deliberate exertions of human will and determination. The former is pretty, but I find the latter more impressive. I mean, Angel Falls is the world's longest waterfall. Yeah, and? One of them had to be, right?
As to Stonehenge, if we're going to nix it for just being a matter of hefting big rocks into place, doesn't that disqualify the pyramids, as well?
Oh, and if anyone doesn't think that a third of the US is going to be voting for the Statue of Liberty because OMG FREEDOM, he's fucking crazy.
Me, I'd vote for Stonehenge, the Great Wall, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, Macchu Picchu, the Pyramids, and that Neuchawangistan Castle, or whatever it's called.
I still don't get it. Yeah, they are natural and all, but does that diminish the wonder upon seeing them? The Grand Canyon? Lake Titicaca? I dunno. Human beings are nice and all, but the Stonehenge and all are outdone easily by newer human endeavors nearly every day.
A formation of coral that took a half-million years? I think that's a bigger wonder.
Maybe if the list included individual works of wonder. The colusseum rocks and all, but I'm more impressed with the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Stonehenge < Piano Concerto No 21 in C by Mozart.
Pyramids have about 20x the amount of stones, and they were near perfectly created geometrically. They would be much more impressive if Muhammad Ali hadn't taken the goddamn smooth corner stones off to make his goddamn mosque.
Its just the rules of the game... I know they use the generic term "wonders" but the whole point is that they are man made. Its kind of the rules.
Its like a sprinter being called "the fastest man alive" then someone at the back of the room saying, I reckon I can go faster in my car!
Sure, its valid... but its just not the point of the exercise.
Ok. It's just an arbitrary distinction. Gotcha.
Thanks.
Neuschwanstein isn't all that impressive, actually. It's just a really big mansion for a king that wanted a less seige-proof castle than his father had. It's a beautiful building but hardly a wonderous achievment.
Most of these things are either ancient and shouldn't really be put on a modern list, imo, or they just plain suck. Where are the modern engineering marvels that we've built? The Chunnel, the Burj Dubai (even though it's not finished yet), fricken Apollo landers and one of the space stations? Eiffel isn't that impressive a feat unless you count getting the French to actually like it. I'll give you the Statue of Liberty since it's a parallel to the ancient colossus, but still.
Under those restrictions, why not art? Music? Science/technology?
Yes.
The pyramids/temples of Ancient Greece were created with such precision that one corner of one may only differ in height from an opposite corner by 0.5 cm.