The Seven Wonders Reconsidered

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201425.html?nav=hcmodule

The Seven Wonders Reconsidered
Internet Campaign Draws Millions of Votes, Both Predictable and Puzzling

By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; Page A10

PARIS, March 12 -- Maybe it simply feeds modern society's obsession with lists and rankings, but more than 2,000 years after ancient Greeks identified the Seven Wonders of the World, millions of people around the globe are casting Internet ballots to update the list.

Whether motivated by nationalism, conservation, curiosity or sheer boredom, more than 4 million Chinese, Indians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Americans and others have cast 28 million votes, organizers say. They have generated 21 wonder finalists, including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis in Athens, Jordan's ancient city of Petra and the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.


Of the Seven Wonders of the World compiled by Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, the only one still in existence is the pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Of the Seven Wonders of the World compiled by Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, the only one still in existence is the pyramids of Giza, Egypt. (By Amr Nabil -- Associated Press)

Also in the running are Britain's Stonehenge and the statues of Easter Island in Chile. A few finalists -- notably the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the Sydney Opera House -- have left experts and neophytes alike wondering.

"It is comparing apples and oranges, and that's why it is a subjective thing, but a wonder is something that moves you and makes you wonder why they built it and how they built it," said Tia Viering, a spokeswoman for the organizers, the New7Wonders Foundation.

The seven winners will be announced on July 7, or 07/07/07.

[SmokingJacket]

1. People always underestimate the power of name recognition

Many people will vote for the Eiffel Tower just because it's a familiar icon, while many other possible wonders are not so familiar -- says less about the "wondrousness" of the thing that the familiarity of it.

Same goes for presidential candidates: early in the process, at least, the familiar names will have a distinct advantage -- it's not that people think they're that much better, they just haven't heard of all the others. (Later on other names will become more familiar to people and the old familiarity often dissolves into contempt, though...)