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1802 sats \ 9 comments \ @Scoresby 9h mostly_harmless

I saw this story about the workers at the Louvre going on strike on Monday. Apparently, the workers feel that too many people want to see the museum.

To be fair, roughly 20,000 people pass through the room that houses the Mona Lisa every day, and the Louvre sees almost 9 million visitors a year.

Why don't Parisians build a bigger museum?

Perhaps it's my Americanness coming through, but I'm having a difficult time understanding the complaint. Macron plans on renovating some parts of the Louvre to accommodate more people, but my question is: why not build a new museum?

If you have too many people coming to your thing, raise your ticket prices and use the extra revenue to build a bigger venue. We're all happy that people in the 18th century decided to convert the Louvre from a palace to a public gallery. Perhaps there were some folks at the time who stomped their feet and complained that only the royals should be able to look at the art, but it's hard to feel sympathetic with them.

So, why can't we do that now?

Skyscrapers, tunnels, and the wonders of getting stuff done

Sure, I'm blissfully armchair city-planning things, but it gets at a larger question I've had lately: why aren't we building new wonders? About the only new wonder I can think of is the Vegas Sphere. If you google the term "new wonders of the world" you actually get a list of the ancient wonders that are still standing.

When I asked AI to list human-made wonders constructed after the year 2000, it provided a list that mostly consisted of functional structures like the Hadron collider and the Burj Khalifa or tunnels and bridges. Perhaps there is an argument to be made that we're more focused on functionality in our efforts these days.

It is true that we build a lot of stadiums. Wikipedia says the Colosseum of Rome could hold around 50,000 people. Chat estimates there are 200 - 300 stadiums in the world that can hold more than 50,000 people, and around half of these were built in the 21st century. But for some reason, these stadiums don't feel very wondrous to me.

Is SpaceX a wonder?

I've been wanting to go see the launch of one of the big SpaceX rockets. I could see an argument that the human space endeavor is a wonder itself. The ISS and all the private space companies working on space stuff are building things that feel like wonders, but the difference is that they aren't very accessible to the population.

The wonder(s) of the internet

The other big thing we humans have built in this millennium is the Internet (sure we were working on it before, but I think it's fair to say the internet age is synonymous with the new millennium).

The internet truly is a wonder. It's an infinite space that can grow to whatever size humans need and enables new ways of being that were previously unimaginable. The internet has enabled ecommerce, social media, Bitcoin, and AI -- each pretty wondrous in their own right. Almost every day, I find myself struck by a moment of awe for the internet, but I'm not ready to move to the Metaverse (even if it's Snow Crash style, not Zuck's thing).

Moar wonders

I think I just like big buildings.

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207 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 9h

We need more eccentric rich people. The previous wonders were either functional (wall, lighthouse, library, temple, etc) or a wild rich guy extravagance (garden, mausoleum, big ass statues).

One of the Koch brothers built an entire Old West town, just because he thought it was cool. It doesn't rise to the level of a wonder, but that's the kind of impulse we need.

125 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 6h

It's a bit morbid, but on the topic of eccentric, my wife and I were discussing what we'd like done with our remains when we die. I said I want a 100ft marble statue of myself with a subterranean museum via a trapdoor at my feet - wax statue scenes of me, a forever-showing holographic/animtronic concert hall, a gift shop, a restaurant serving only my favorite foods, etc. But, I wouldn't actually be buried there. It'd just have clues to where I was buried, which would be like a treasure hunt - find where I'm buried and get a t-shirt and some sats or something.

It's a joke obviously but I felt like writing it down.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @istealcheetos 4h

that will be a worthy job us k00b juniors on SN :)

The plinth should read: The k00b who gave wings to Satoshi Nakamoto

and then k00b would be a word in the dictionary which would mean 1. an alternative metaphor to bitcoin, 2. the founder of world's most democratic form of currency

and maybe you'd get a Presidential Medal of Freedom after your work :)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 6h

That's where territory fees can go after you're gone.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 9h

yeah, darn rich guys are all too busy building rockets.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @seashell 6h

We don’t build to inspire anymore, stadiums, malls everything’s just made to make money. old wonders were all about flexing legacy. now it’s all churn and ROI. no wonder none of it feels like it’ll stick around.

141 sats \ 0 replies \ @flat24 7h

I think the following: "In ancient times these wonders were built with the purpose of showing how much wealth the empires had, and in order to last for generations"

If we take a look in detail, we notice that now the wealth of the world has focused on a single group of people. (And they do not want to spend it by building anything) governments and empires, have the magical printers of paper money, but only use that magic to develop war technology and others use it to enrich their own pockets.

This was excessive consumption to such an extent, where they no longer build that kind of wonders overlooking the future, they only build structures whose purpose is that they keep you spending.

And here you mention a great example football states. (bread and circus for the population), same formula used from the spoca of the majestic Roman coliseum that you mention in your lines.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @istealcheetos 8h

Moar wonders

Firstly, it is wrong to say that new wonders are not being identified. The UNESCO is always on the strive every year to uphold new wonders. As per the criteria posted by UNESCO:

To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of Outstanding Universal Value and meet at least one of ten criteria, as well as the relevant conditions of integrity and authenticity and requirements for protection and management.

and every world heritage is a wonder in itself. The UNESCO puts a rigorous test for the eligibility of a wonder of the world, and it is done every millenia, which is the reason why it seems slow. This time, it was done it the year 2000 But most heritage sites get qualified as national heritage due to the strict rules. Because if you look up the details of the 7 wonders, they are indeed mind-bending when you try to compare them with other buildings built then and even now.

Secondly,

So, why can't we do that now?

Of course, you can! Send an email to your president, attaching 1 BTC and give him this idea, I'm sure he'd discuss this in the Oval

Is SpaceX a wonder?

If SpaceX is a wonder, ISRO looks like double wonder (selective bias) 😂

The wonder(s) of the internet

that looks more of a philosophy, and I think it has enough chance to be true sometime when UNESCO realizes it is posting on the internet too 🤦‍♂️

202 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 9h

🤠 digital wonder