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We have turned to the computer to answer all our questions. The computer has even chosen, for us, the New Seven Wonders of the World. I feel that a story I once wrote, my very first one to be published, is becoming fact. The greatest minds of the world, I wrote, got together with their computers, linked them together and, to test their validity, they asked the ultimate question that has puzzled man since his very beginning—“Now tell us, mighty machines, is there a God?” The machines replied: “Now there is.”
The machine has chosen today's Seven Wonders of the World. How did that happen? More than 90 million on-line users chose for their Seven Wonders: (1) the Coliseum in Rome, (2) Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid, (3) the Eiffel Tower, (4) Easter Island, (5) The Great Wall of China, (6) Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and (7) Jordan's Petra. None gave the reasons why they had made their choices, nor did they even indicate that they had seen any of their choices.
The contest was obviously for publicity, the creation six years ago by Bernard Weber, a Swiss filmmaker and adventurer. I have to admit, his premise was good. There has never been any true public consensus of opinion on the last 2000 years of human achievement. To begin his study in the year 2000, nearly 200 early candidate sites, chosen by Internet balloting, were scaled down by a panel of experts to 21 finalists, each from a different country, from Greece's Acropolis to the Statue of Liberty. Their lucky seven wonders were chosen in a decidedly unscientific poll.
Online voting on the finalists began a little over a year ago. Nothing prevented repeat voting by fans, citizens, governments, or tourism agencies.
The reaction is mixed. In Jordan, as I mentioned last week, Queen Rania lobbied (successfully) on behalf of the ancient red-stoned desert city of Petra. The Spanish royals, along with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, did their bit (unsuccessfully) to promote the candidacy of the Alhambra, the 13th century Moorish citadel in Granada. Elsewhere, there was indifference, and even indignation.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, referring to the enormous volcanic-rock carvings on Chile's remote Easter Island, said: "None of us need a vote to know that Easter Island is a marvel." The mammoth sculptures made the list.
Apathy and disdain apparently doomed Stonehenge, Britain's prehistoric collection of circularly arranged megaliths. "The polling arrangements, in the contest, are so flawed that they make even Eurovision Song Contest judges look objective," sniffed London's Independent newspaper.
And the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t too happy. The Vatican complained that none of the finalists was a Christian church, noting instead the inclusion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, a 6th century Byzantine church converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks nine centuries later. Christian prayer there today is prohibited, further annoying the Catholics.
The United States' Statue of Liberty and Australia's Sydney Opera House were contenders but they ended up at the bottom of the list. Also in the less-voted group were Spain's Alhambra, Turkey's Hagia Sophia, Japan's Kiyomizu Temple, Russia's Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, and Britain's Stonehenge.
All well and good—not everyone can win. But what befuddled me were the sites they didn’t pick. I don’t think anyone would question the Great Wall of China but to bypass Angkor Wat in Cambodia is preposterous. Angkor is not just one edifice or monolith but a collection that covers many square kilometres of Khmer ruins with stone gods and goddesses yet to be uncovered. Angkor ranks right along with The Great Wall, and yet Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid made the list. What’s even more baffling is that Chichen Itza pyramid is not Mexico’s finest example of Mayan and Aztec sites, such as Teotihuacán. Nearly 2000 years ago, an unknown people built Teotihuacán, the first major metropolis of the Americas. Much like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Teotihuacán guards secrets we have yet to unravel. Construction of the city probably started in the last two centuries BC and the civilization reached its high point between 350 and 650 AD. Scholars in archaeology agree that this is Mexico's, and perhaps one of the world's, most important archaeological sites.
While the Suez and the Alcan Highway will generally satisfy one's curiosity after one trip, the other wonders have a never-ending attraction. For example, I never grow tired of looking at the Golden Gate Bridge nor climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Both the Golden Gate and the Eiffel Tower seem to change every hour of the day. They hardly ever appear twice in the same perspective. When I am in San Francisco, I have to drive – or sometimes walk – across the Golden Gate Bridge and when I visit Paris, I must climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which gets tougher each time.
Both the Bridge and the Tower were engineering feats but with a difference. The Bridge was built in 1935 to serve a purpose. The Tower was built in 1889 for the Paris World's Fair to show to the world the wonders of steel construction. It was to be torn down a few years later. At the time of its construction, it was considered by many to be an ugly eyesore that marred the beauty of Paris.
Tall buildings are always a good topic for Wonders. The Empire State Building in New York was a likely candidate, a majestic building constructed in 1931. It didn’t last long, however, as a man-made wonder for its tallness. Soon to come was the Sears Tower in Chicago, Taipei 101 and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Now there is no limit to height at the sacrifice to beauty, and we have to admit, most are a monstrosity. We can’t help wondering what Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead would have thought were he alive today. I am sure he would abandon architecture forever if he were to travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and witness the construction of a 1,680-foot skyscraper that’s still under construction, surpassing Taiwan's Taipei 101 which has dominated the global skyline at 1,667 feet since 2004. When completed, the skyscraper will feature more than 160 floors with 56 elevators. The question: will the Dubai tower make a Seven Wonders? It would be pointless to do so. Someone else will come up with a taller building before long.
A question often asked is why seven wonders? Why was the number fixed at seven? The list might just as easily have been composed of five wonders, or eleven, or thirty-two. One reason might be that a list of seven is convenient, not too long to be memorized, not so short that it omits a great deal.
Another, and more likely the main reason, is that the number seven has been considered a sacred or lucky number by many cultures. The ancient astronomers believed there were seven planets; they knew nothing of Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto, but counted the moon as a planet to round out the list. The Bible is full of groupings of seven: seven days of the week, seven days of Creation and seven lean years. When Joshua laid siege to Jericho, seven priests with seven trumpets marched around the city once every day, but seven times on the seventh day. There are seven virtues and seven deadly sins. The Greeks had a list of seven wise men though they never could agree on which seven philosophers belonged on it. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician of the sixth century B.C., who believed that the essence of all wisdom lay in numbers, regarded the number seven as of special mystical significance.
We still speak of the seven seas, the Seven Hills of Rome, the seven years of hard luck and many more. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and all the Seven Wonders, simply seem to fit the pattern of things. But we don’t have to agree with the choices. If readers really want to visit some true wonders, let Royal Orchid Holidays at Thai Airways be you guide. It’s a pity Bernard Weber didn’t ask ROH for advice when he let his so called panel of 21 experts scale down his 200 candidate sites. The New Seven Wonders of the world might be quite different.
Next week we take a look at Driving America.
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(1) Colosseum in Rome
2) Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid.The author lost a bet and had to carry the lady to the top
(4) Easter Island, South Pacific
(5) The Great Wall of China
(6) Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer
(7) Jordan's Petra
Spanish conquistadors destroyed two cultures in The New World
Hopeful Sydney Opera House never made it
Hopeful Sydney Opera House never made it
Nor did the hopeful Stonehenge in England
In 1931 the Empire State in NYC was the tallest building in the world
King Kong got his fame climbing the Empire State
Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur boasted the
tallest building but not for long
You can't go wrong with the ROH booklet to choose your own seven wonders
The author, standing, with his Jeep at the Kremlin.
It didn't make the list either
For more searches read the author's Who Needs a Road
Next week shop in a country store in America
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