Via Tom Maguire comes the opportunity to vote for which of these 21 wonders of the world should be considered the Seven Wonders of the World.
Another question: how many of these have you personally seen? For me, the answer is only eight, which seems pretty poor.
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Eight seems pretty good to a poor boy like me, who has seen only two.
But I’d disagree that anything that was built with modern construction equipment (the Sydney Opera House) ought to qualify.
Dana (a90377) — 2/26/2006 @ 5:18 amI agree with Dana on the modern construction thing. However, you have to agree, they were all “modern” construction at the time.
But hey, eight is pretty good. I’ve only been to six of the countries; one was to the border towns and another was a gas-n-go at the Naval Air Station. I count one personally, but I did see the Eiffel tower through a targeting pod, does that count?
Jim Barnes (7f9027) — 2/26/2006 @ 6:39 amI have seen nine of them, eight “up close”, with the exception being the Statue of Liberty. I have not been to Ellis Island. The Alhambra is awsome! Not listed is IMHO one of the amazing construction feats, the Roman Aqueduct in Segovia, Spain. Humonguous, still in tact, still operable and you drive right through it.
Still, I would not quibble with any on the list.
rls (0516f0) — 2/26/2006 @ 7:05 amI think their choices are ridiculous. There’s not one of them on there that I’d list among the top seven wonders of the world.
How could anyone argue that the Hagia Sophia is a greater engineering achievement than the Chunnel? Which is more awe-inspiring, the Great Pyramid or Hoover Dam? And the frickin’ Colosseum at Rome?? There are dozens if not hundreds of stadia more worthy of the honor.
Some of these things might have been impressive when Antipater wrote his original list of seven wonders. But it’s not 200 BC anymore. The whole point of history is that humankind advances, and the modern is better than the antique.
Voice of Reason (d427f3) — 2/26/2006 @ 9:33 amVoice of Reason – I would argue that, for its time, the Hagia Sophia was an incredible engineering achievement; it was the largest domed roof in the world for more than a thousand years.
aphrael (e7c761) — 2/26/2006 @ 10:12 amThe Voice of Reason wins twenty points for Gryffindor for knowing the correct plural of stadium.
Dana (a90377) — 2/26/2006 @ 11:37 amJust two, for me — and I haven’t even seen the one in my own country.
Spoons (68d828) — 2/26/2006 @ 1:44 pmEight is nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve only seen five myself.
Xrlq (2b6e32) — 2/26/2006 @ 5:11 pmI could maybe find 4 on that list (Great Wall, Pyramids, Stonehenge & Easter Island) — if I wanted to stretch it to consider degree of difficulty. BUt the list seems created by, well, morons.
Besides the Chunnel being missing, or Manhattan, I’d sure want to put Tranquility Base on the list. You might say that’s off-world, but that’s kinda the point.
Looks more like a phone charge scam to me….
Kevin Murphy (6a7945) — 2/26/2006 @ 6:22 pmI’ve seen 2 and I’m ashamed I haven’t seen the one in my own country. š Guess I’ll have to plan a trip now.
sharon (fecb65) — 2/26/2006 @ 7:24 pmDana: Way back when Gary Locke was elected Governor of Washington he did a public television call-in thingy, where I called in and opined that the state had better things to spend its money on than “a pair of expensive new stadia.” The moderator complimented me on using the obscure plural, too. Needless to say, we went ahead and built the expensive new stadia anyway.
aphrael: That’s kind of my point. The Hagia Sophia was quite an accomplishment for its time. As time goes on, things become less wonderful. The first IBM PC was great for its time. Today one would hardly call it “wonderful.” We routinely can (and do) build things far more wonderful than the Great Pyramid without breaking a sweat.
Voice of Reason (d427f3) — 2/26/2006 @ 9:50 pmVoR: Are you saying that your plural was persuasive but your argument was not?
Dana (3e4784) — 2/27/2006 @ 5:45 amAin’t seen none of those places. But once my Pappy took me to see the Simon Rodia Towers, does that count?
clark smith (53645d) — 2/27/2006 @ 6:38 amEight is good, I’ve only seen four.
I agree with VoR in that we have many more modern structures that I would place above something like the Statue of Liberty or even the Eifel Tower… what about the Empire State building? The tunnel under the English Channel?
WWWGeek (a10842) — 2/27/2006 @ 7:25 amI’ve only seen two. And those don’t even make-up my top 7 list. Time for a vacation…
Mpro (e2270e) — 2/27/2006 @ 8:45 am