Sparked by Idiot Joe Biden’s yammering about the “nine” wonders of the world, I put it to you, O my Readers:
What would YOU consider to be the modern-day Seven Wonders of the World?
Some parameters:
- no natural stuff e.g the Grand Canyon; the original Seven were man-made, e.g. Hanging Gardens, Colossus of Rhodes etc., so only man-made stuff should be considered
- you don’t have to rank them, that’s too difficult not to say irrelevant
- for the purposes of this exercise, let’s say that “modern” is anything built or made since 1900
- longevity is not important; most of the original Seven Wonders have long since disappeared
In case anyone’s wondering or forgotten, the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Today, we would call them “tourist attractions” — i.e. things worth traveling to see.
However, times have changed, and what with construction and engineering techniques making structures less awe-inspiring a task than before (not to mention fugly, e.g. London’s Shard), let’s not confine ourselves to structures, and include things like the jet engine, penicillin or the Internet — stuff that would make a time-traveling visitor from (say) 1860 go “Whoa!”.
Have at it in Comments. My own opinions are below the fold, so as not to influence anyone.
- the Internet
- the Chrysler Building, New York City
- the Three Gorges Dam, China
- the U.S. interstate highway system
- the jet engine
- the television set
- microchips
1. John M Browning
2. Samuel Colt
3. Sophia Loren
4. Raquel Welch
5…… oh well, you get the idea
the internet
the atomic bomb
the Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (with one fuel core for its entire 42-year projected operational lifespan)
the F35 Lightning II fighter jet
the semiconductor fabrication plant
the Ford-class aircraft carrier
(tie) GPS/imaging/telecom satellite networks
(tie) the Federal Reserve banking cabal
CERN especially the LHC
Zuiderzee works
Thames Barrier
Manhatten Skyline
Christ the Redeemer statue
Cape Canaveral
Angel of the North Statue
Interesting that no one mentioned…. wait for it….
Antibiotics
Interesting that no one mentioned…. wait for it….
Antibiotics
for filler….
Smokeless powder
Dynamite (hmm maybe not “modern” enough
Bessemer process (also probably not modern enough)
Aniline dyes (also probably not modern enough)
Apollo project
Transistors
The Space Shuttle.
Interesting that no one mentioned…. wait for it….
Antibiotics
for filler….
Smokeless powder
Dynamite (hmm maybe not “modern” enough
Bessemer process (also probably not modern enough)
Aniline dyes (also probably not modern enough)
Apollo project
Transistors
I’d add chemical fertilizers but they’re definitely not modern enough….
The Hoover Dam (because no more dams will be built – thanks greens)
Nuclear power plants (see above)
U.S. Navy (because politics)
U.S. Army (see above)
USMC – because it will persevere regardless and against all odds
The B-52 bomber – even thought the AF may wither.
The first anti gravity spacecraft for the Space Force (Oh! Sorry, was not supposed to mention thatone seeing it is still under development and flight testing)
> The Hoover Dam (because no more dams will be built – thanks greens)
In this case it’s not (just) the greens. Part of the problem as I understand it is that we’ve already used up the best spots for hydro-electric dams, and with modern regulations and safety procedures the places that are left won’t produce enough power over their lifetimes to be useful.
The Saturn V rocket, including the lunar landing module
The Starlink satellite network
The GPS satellite network
Voyager I and II, the only manmade objects (so far) that will survive the death of our sun
The US Interstate Highway system
The smallpox vaccination program (1958-1977)
The Panama Canal
Having grown up in the Zone, of course I have to put the Panama Canal as one. I may think of the others after my morning nap.
The Internet
Apollo 11 (can I have the entire Apollo program?)
Antibiotics
The deep space probes – Voyager and Pioneer
Capitalism
Democracy
Universal healthcare (if you’re in a first world country outside the USA)
If you want physical constructed things:
Apollo 11
Deep space probes
The Dutch dam system
The Milau Bridge
The Panama Canal
Hubble telescope
The atom bomb / nuclear power (two sides of the same coin)
No Ikea?
Seven Wonders of the modern world in no order
1) social media
2) fake boobs and viagra
3) The cell phone camera
4) Internet
5) autotune
6) Relatively cheap travel
7)
Most people listed advancements that moved humanity forward or were amazing project that were built. I went the other way completely. These are utterly atrocious negative accomplishments in the modern world. Many are intertwined but each is another step of vanity to the human condition. Social media pushes the narcissism in people with its “look at me,” “look at what I’m eating,” “don’t I look gorgeous,” “look where I am” and other assorted nonsense.
Fake boobs and viagara, more vanity trying to hold on to fleeting youth and virility. With all of our efforts to cure disease, we divert our efforts into this. Of course breast reconstruction techniques can be used to help a cancer survivor but we see it abused far more often.
Cell phone camera is just tankers of gasoline onto the fire of social media. Remember when we took pictures of our food before the 2000s and had to wait to get the film back from the developer to share with our friends and family? me neither.
Internet to disseminate the rubbish rather than use it for research and learning.
Autotune. This absolutely destroys the music industry. No real talent needed we’ll just run your voice through a computer and instantly you have talent that you never developed naturally.
Cheap travel, now you too can become a human sardine with the boorish and great unwashed of society.
JQ
Not had your breakfast gin yet, I assume?
LOL I love all of them.
Seven Wonders that are Laudable
1) The microchip because it launched pretty much every advancement of the second half of the 20th century. space travel, internet to use for learning and entertainment, instant banking transactions, modern flight, control of water treatment, waste treatment, power plants etc. these microchips gave humans the power to perform thousands or more calculations very quickly that an be applied to all sorts of engineering challenges as well.
2) the radio. Sure morse code and the telegraph connected many distant parts of the world in the 1850s, but radio reached far more people with less infrastructure.
3) The Wright brother’s first airplane. this kicked off the man’s quest for flight and space travel.
4) The advancement of plastic and synthetic materials. Sure they may have been some synthetics in the late 1800s but this really exploded after 1900. Rayon, nylon, gortex, polar fleece, kevlar, nomex, and many more have revolutionized many different industries and created many more.
5) genetic engineering to improve crop resistance to damage. This has helped more humans and animals to avoid the long slow death by starvation.
I guess the early Wonders of the world were fixed construction accomplishments. Moving material from it’s natural location to someplace else then carving it into something else is certainly amazing when considering the effort to mine, chop, smelt, move and alter the materials used. Our modern marvels to me are far more reaching to all parts of the globe and into more lives than large construction projects in remote areas.
JQ
I disagree with counting things like “the microchip” or “the jet engine” for being out of the spirit of the thing. The Ancient Wonders didn’t include “running water” or “hydraulic concrete.” The spirit is that these are one off things that you need to see to believe.
Hoover Dam
Mount Rushmore
Panama Canal
Christ the Redeemer
Cheyenne Mountain
Statue of Liberty (if you’ll spot me 14 years)
The CN Tower
1. Yoga pants.
2. The Internet
3. F-22 Raptor
4. Hoover Dam
5. The Computer
6. Cell Phones
7. Nuclear Weapons
Yes – I’d vote for Yoga Pants as number 1 as well. It’s ceertinly something you need to see to believe — although in 1890 you’d be quickly jailed for wearing them.
Based on the criteria of things that would get you accused of being a Wizard in 1890 and run out of town .
Powered Flight – and remember in 1890 there were steam ships and Railroads but no automobiles or trucks.
the Transistor – From which have come all manner of electronic wizardry.
Radio waves – from which has come things like telecommunications, Radar and even tangentially Lasers.
Nuclear Energy – Imagine trying to to explain to someone from 1890 that there is something you cannot see that will either Power a ship 10 times the size anything they have ever seen for 25 years without refueling or turn a city twice the size of the largest city they have ever seen into a smoking pile of rubble almost instantly.
Rocketry and from that space travel and satellites
Modern Medicine.
Even electric lights weren’t “invented” until 1882 when Edison first displayed them in NYC
Now try to explain those things without using words that also didn’t exist in 1890.
Ice cream in summer!
Bananas and mangos available year-round outside the tropics!
Gluten-free everything!
The WorldWideWeb!… and Search Engines!
On-demand Hot and Cold Running Water (counts as ‘one’for showering purposes)!
I’m choosing mostly wonders not made in this century. Because older stuff is cooler.
Lake Ponchartrain Causeway – longest bridge over open water.
Empire State Building – world’s tallest from the time it was built in 1931 until 1974
Mponeng Gold Mine – world’s deepest mine, and in our host’s country of origin
Chunnel – quite a feat of work
Panama Canal – again, quite a feat of work
Hoover Dam – again, quite a feat of work
The Internet – or we couldn’t participate in these exercises. It has its down sides, but properly used, it’s a net (pun intended) positive.
Honorable mention, but too old:
USS Constitution – oldest ship still afloat
Great Pyramid of Giza – ’cause dayum!
I made my list before reading comments. I read the list criteria to be single, constructed things. The internet may not quite qualify, but it is made up of constructed items. I like many of the things listed in others’ comments as well.
I can only think of one: How the fuck did the retard Joe Biden get elected?