The people have spoken – via the internet and long distance telephone calls. Yesterday (Saturday, 7/7/7) the official 7 New Wonders of the world were declared in Lisbon, Portugal. Four of our reader Namit’s picks figure on the final list and Dean’s does not.
It will be interesting to see if the "democratically" decided designations of honor will generate heightened tourism activities at the seven sites. Or will people continue to travel to places that tickle their personal fancy? I suspect that there will be a flurry of packaged 7Wonders tours for some time to come but they won’t be a lasting draw. Also, how much of a role did the access to the internet and long distance phone service have to do with the final outcome? Did Angkor Wat for example, lose out (it was a leading contender when polling began) because of the economic conditions in Cambodia? What role did fervent patriotism / nationalism play in the selection? Such questions will surely be raised by skeptics in certain quarters.
And if "worldly" wonders are not your cup of tea, how about an "other worldly" nudge to your jaded imagination? India, I notice, has a foot in both realms of wonder mongering. (link via Confused)
Accidental Blogger 
6 responses to “Wake Up To The New Wonders”
“Democratically” decided?
Well, I have noticed some friends voting time and again for their country’s place.
So how can we say it’s fair?
the country with great population can easily win the poll. Isnt it true? :)
LikeLike
Hmmm, the huge ‘vote for the Redentor’ campaigns in Brazil worked after all. I would’ve prefered even the Empire State Building over this bland hunk of a statue. Even Dean’s suggestion has more going for it! (Consider its greater logistical and supply chain challenges, and the wonder of finding products from all over the world under one roof, … :) However, when I see the Great Wall next month, I’d have seen all seven on this new list (and 14 of the 21 candidates).
LikeLike
I tried to vote online just days before the end of the poll, but the site was swamped and I couldn’t even view it, let alone vote. I’m pleasantly surprised by the outcome, though. I expected that a “democratically” defined sense of wonder might have been less interesting. Except for the Christ the Redeemer statue (which, though I haven’t seen it in person, strikes me as a relatively ordinary big thing), I’d grant that the final choices are all among the most wonder-ful of the choices given. Personally, I might have swapped out the Colloseum and the Taj Mahal (yes, selling short my own folk) for Angor Wat and Easter Island, but that’s really trying to split hairs, which makes no sense with real wonder.
As to the wonder of Kalpana Chawla’s reincarnation, I have to wonder, why do such things happen disproportionately in Indian villages?
LikeLike
As to the wonder of Kalpana Chawla’s reincarnation, I have to wonder, why do such things happen disproportionately in Indian villages?
Why indeed? Is it that there has to be a propensity for belief in such phenomena in the general culture already in place for individual events to occur? The “fertile ground” theory? Why do the weeping Virgin Mary or the bleeding Christ figures pop up only in Catholic countries? Similarly the claims of reincarnation are common in India where the belief is prevalent. Makes one wonder!
LikeLike
And if “worldly” wonders are not your cup of tea, how about an “other worldly” nudge to your jaded imagination? India, I notice, has a foot in both realms of wonder mongering. (link via Confused)
Really, I think belief is a powerful and mysterious force in the universe. I think it may be duew to sheer propensity, volume, and intensity of belief that certain other-worldy things happen in certain areas.
India seems to be a place with a lot of believers and I have heard of some really cool stuff happening there. Some good ones are in a very entertaining book called Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul the vegetarian version of the Chicken Soup books, I guess)
I think those kinds of things really do happen. They seem believable to me because they are just so ordinary and homely, and why not ~ this is an amazing universe, and many of the things we take for granted today would have been considered miraculous if witnessed a couple of hundred years ago.
Anyway, the pictures of the Taj Mahal I have seen look to me like a mirage of heaven. If ever there was a man-made edifice that straddled both realms, that would be it. Sort of a gate-way between the physical and spiritual realms. If I was going to pick a wonder to get on a plane and go see, that would be it.
LikeLike
Lorna:
While I agree that there is much we do not know nor understand, I take this kind of other worldly phenomona with a generous pinch of salt. That is what I meant when I asked why they occur only where the rest of the society believes in the “miracle.” If recalling one’s “past” life were indeed a natural phenomenon, we should see that happen everywhere in the world regardless of the prevalent cultural attitude. Yet reincarnation related events seem to happen pretty much in Hindu and Buddhist countries where the majority of the public has faith in the endless cycle of birth. Just as the wounded Jesus seems to make his appearance in Catholic areas.
There is much that is “miraculous” about the human mind and there is no saying what humans are capable of believing, seeing and hearing when deep faith is involved. To my knowledge, most reincarnation stories are found to be fraudulent upon serious investigation. That little girl in the story has probably been brainwashed and coached by a media savvy adult.
LikeLike