Wonderful

Scott Hardie | July 7, 2007
Nothing stirs discussion (or the hearts of TV producers) like a controversial list, so get ready for the new Seven Wonders of the World, voted on as if they were American Idol finalists. Who needs qualified academia to tell us what are the great cultural landmarks of human civilization? USA! USA! USA!

"Winners" get announced tomorrow night. If I were betting, I'd bet it all on the Statue of Liberty, which seems named solely to provide an American presence on the list, and if it wins, it will be only because it's American. The Pyramids and the Great Wall are shoo-ins – most people probably already thought the Great Wall was a traditional Wonder anyway.

For the complete list of the candidates, I'd rather send you to Wikipedia than the animation-heavy official site.

Amy Austin | July 7, 2007
Heh... reviewing the candidates and their respective "attributes" at the Wiki-link gave me the distinct feeling of watching a Miss Universe pageant.

Scott Hardie | July 8, 2007
Yep. It seems to have a lot to do with the country at the expense of the monument itself. I wonder if there's a limit of one monument per nation to prevent a split vote, which would explain the absence of Notre Dame, the Forbidden City, and the Vatican.

The winners have been announced (same link as above), and thankfully the Statue of Liberty isn't one of them. I'm skeptical of the value or importance of the Christ the Redeemer statue, but the other six sound like world wonders to me – Great Wall, Machu Picchu, Colosseum, Petra, Taj Mahal, Chichen Itza, plus the honorary Pyramids. I wonder if this will have any effect on the designers of Civilzation V?

Tony Peters | July 8, 2007
I have a buddy who spent a week at Petra and could do nothing but rave about the place...had loads of photos too. I've spent a day at the Colosseum and know that it wasn't enough time to really appreciate it but was humbled none the less. Christ the Redeemer really does have about the same amount of impact as the Colossus of Rhodes. The rest are equal in the impact they have on visitors though I with the east had some representation in the final 7 both Angkor Wat (which I have always wanted to visit) and Kiyomizu Temple (which I have visited ) are as impresive as Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu but since they are in Asia look to have been shunned

Lori Lancaster | July 8, 2007
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Steve Dunn | July 9, 2007
Scott, have you re-evaluated the notion that caused you to make the "USA! USA!" cracks, or have you rationalized this result as an exception to the rule?

Scott Hardie | July 10, 2007
I'm glad to have been wrong in my prediction, although part of me suspects it was because I underestimated how many international voters there were and not because I was wrong about infallible American pride. Come on, how many people would say what I said if Lady Liberty had actually won? So, to answer your question, a little of both.

Steve Dunn | July 10, 2007
Your post initially struck me because, while I'm generally a rah-rah pro-USA type of guy, I thought it would be ludicrous for the Statue of Liberty to be named a wonder of the world.

What strikes me now, in this and another thread, is the extent to which we all readily use facts and current events as springboards for expressing our opinions, and less often (or perhaps less visibly) as a basis for forming or changing our opinions.

This dynamic is most easily seen when there is a disconnect between the opinion and the fact cited in support of it. Here, for example, it was hypothesized that the Statue of Liberty would win in the voting because of "infallible American pride." In turn, had it won, this would have served as evidence of such pride.

However, the converse is not true. The Statue of Liberty was not selected, but that doesn't mean anything. The only meaningful outcome was the one that corresponded to the predicted result.

I submit it doesn't mean anything either way.

For if it did, imagine the arguments we could make based on the actual result of the voting. We might argue that the voters hate America. Or that the people of Brazil have an unhealthy amount of national pride (they actively campaigned for Christ the Redeemer, and does that statue any more deserving than the Statue of Liberty?)

People hate the color green?

People are sexist because they vote for statues of men but not women?

Scott Hardie | July 10, 2007
Well, I started the discussion because I wanted to take American pride down a few notches. Just like I get tired of all the professed good will & cheer at Christmastime, July 4th can get me fed up with all the professed patriotism. (I've been really cranky lately; forgive me.) Anyway, if I'm taking each chance to needle American pride no matter how the voting turns out, that's because I want to – I *am* trying to express my opinion and not trying to change it or learn by this. Still, despite my ignoble purpose, that I happened to learn something that challenged my expectations made me glad, and I probably won't predict this way in a similar contest again.

Steve Dunn | July 11, 2007
Scott, you're either with us or you're with the terrorists. ;)

Jackie Mason | July 12, 2007
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Tony Peters | July 13, 2007
yes a "french" import

Scott Hardie | July 13, 2007
I kept thinking of that back when the war started and anti-French rallies were getting so rowdy they were pouring French wine down the sewer grates. Aren't going to trash a giant American icon, are we?

Michael Paul Cote | July 13, 2007
The greatest wonder of them all is "I wonder why they are making this list"

Jackie Mason | July 13, 2007
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