7 ms·

The Pacific Ocean is ginormous (I think that’s the technical term?) I often find myself surprised when I spin a globe (physical or virtual) and compare the expa

The Pacific Ocean is ginormous (I think that’s the technical term?) I often find myself surprised when I spin a globe (physical or virtual) and compare the expanse of the ocean to my neighborhood of the planet. The scale also makes the history of Polynesian seafaring all that more incredible.

distribot 5y ago
Yes, they had incredible techniques. They could detect a remote island by the way the swell is disrupted. Also recently read about Magellan's voyage and it is remarkable that they made it.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > Also recently read about Magellan's voyage and it is remarkable that they made it. Well, they didn't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan#Voyage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan#Voyage > Of the 270 men who left with the expedition, only 18 or 19 survivors returned. A 93% mortality rate really isn't a success by any metric. Losing 80% of your ships is nothing to be proud of either.
  - obmelvin 5y ago
    I don't see the point of your snark. What they did was quite hard for the time. What point are you trying to make?
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      They set themselves a task that they weren't up to, and they failed at it. It doesn't make sense to say "it is remarkable that they made it", because they didn't make it.
      - obmelvin 5y ago
        You know this happened 500 years ago, right? If someone did this today and had that death rate, I would absolutely agree, but the challenges then were drastically different. No, not everyone made it, but those who did were the first to circumnavigate the planet - and they very much did make it. A little off topic, but as a reminder of how different the world used to be: families used to move across the US on foot, maybe with a wagon carrying their supplies, and many died doing so. I'm quite thankful I can just get on a plane to see my family :). Also, as someone who needs to remind themselves occasionally to be less negative, I would encourage you to be less negative about things that aren't 100% a success. P.S. If you really want to hate on Magellan it would make sense to do so for something like him burning a village in Mactan because they didn't want to convert to Catholicism[0], not this. You may be pleased to hear that this directly led to his death. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan
      - distribot 5y ago
        I know this is days late but I don't understand how you can say the voyage was a failure? They hobbled back home for sure, but they made it!
  - didericis 5y ago
    By any metric related to exploration they were wildly successful. The amount of information that was gathered and relayed on a single voyage at that point in history was astounding, and the story was incredible.
taneq 5y ago
Some experts prefer ‘humongous’. ;)
didericis 5y ago
I recently read a book about South America and learned there’s genetic evidence Polynesians made there in about AD 1200, which is amazing. There’s also I think some mystery about some South American DNA that doesn’t support the land bridge hypothesis. I don’t know if that’s well supported or not/evidence might be poor, haven’t bothered to do any digging. I think that’s distinct from what was found linking some populations to Polynesians and suggests there might have been seafaring people that made it even earlier, but I’m not sure.
post_from_work 5y ago
Our previous Commanding General once quipped that PowerPoint presentations that transition between geographic focus areas should include slide after slide after slide of blue ocean, to communicate the vast distances involved in our Area of Operations. Otherwise no one appreciates the distances between the islands that are of interest. Too many people think Hawaii and Guam and the Philippines and Okinawa are all just down the street from each other.

distribot 5y ago

Yes, they had incredible techniques. They could detect a remote island by the way the swell is disrupted. Also recently read about Magellan's voyage and it is remarkable that they made it.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
> Also recently read about Magellan's voyage and it is remarkable that they made it. Well, they didn't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan#Voyage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan#Voyage > Of the 270 men who left with the expedition, only 18 or 19 survivors returned. A 93% mortality rate really isn't a success by any metric. Losing 80% of your ships is nothing to be proud of either.
- obmelvin 5y ago
  I don't see the point of your snark. What they did was quite hard for the time. What point are you trying to make?
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    They set themselves a task that they weren't up to, and they failed at it. It doesn't make sense to say "it is remarkable that they made it", because they didn't make it.
    - obmelvin 5y ago
      You know this happened 500 years ago, right? If someone did this today and had that death rate, I would absolutely agree, but the challenges then were drastically different. No, not everyone made it, but those who did were the first to circumnavigate the planet - and they very much did make it. A little off topic, but as a reminder of how different the world used to be: families used to move across the US on foot, maybe with a wagon carrying their supplies, and many died doing so. I'm quite thankful I can just get on a plane to see my family :). Also, as someone who needs to remind themselves occasionally to be less negative, I would encourage you to be less negative about things that aren't 100% a success. P.S. If you really want to hate on Magellan it would make sense to do so for something like him burning a village in Mactan because they didn't want to convert to Catholicism[0], not this. You may be pleased to hear that this directly led to his death. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan
    - distribot 5y ago
      I know this is days late but I don't understand how you can say the voyage was a failure? They hobbled back home for sure, but they made it!
- didericis 5y ago
  By any metric related to exploration they were wildly successful. The amount of information that was gathered and relayed on a single voyage at that point in history was astounding, and the story was incredible.

taneq 5y ago

Some experts prefer ‘humongous’. ;)

didericis 5y ago

I recently read a book about South America and learned there’s genetic evidence Polynesians made there in about AD 1200, which is amazing. There’s also I think some mystery about some South American DNA that doesn’t support the land bridge hypothesis. I don’t know if that’s well supported or not/evidence might be poor, haven’t bothered to do any digging. I think that’s distinct from what was found linking some populations to Polynesians and suggests there might have been seafaring people that made it even earlier, but I’m not sure.

post_from_work 5y ago

Our previous Commanding General once quipped that PowerPoint presentations that transition between geographic focus areas should include slide after slide after slide of blue ocean, to communicate the vast distances involved in our Area of Operations. Otherwise no one appreciates the distances between the islands that are of interest. Too many people think Hawaii and Guam and the Philippines and Okinawa are all just down the street from each other.