4 ms·

this greek story is possibly 100,000 years old https://www.iflscience.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronomers-say-global-myths-about-seven-sisters-stars-may-rea

this greek story is possibly 100,000 years old https://www.iflscience.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronomers-say-global-myths-about-seven-sisters-stars-may-reach-back-100000-years-61777 https://www.iflscience.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronome...

yread 3y ago
That one is hard to date precisely though. Especially compared to floods or volcanos. It could be that the stars were still distinguishable 50ka or 30ka
- potatopatch 3y ago
  We don't really need precision dating to know the headline is proposing something extremely unlikely.
huytersd 3y ago
It’s not Greek as the Australian aboriginals also have the same story with the seven sister. It might be a story an ancestor common to both the people in Europe, and the aboriginal Australians shared before they left Africa.
anonymouskimmer 3y ago
Commenter Dobbin in the comments of your link said: > The seventh sister is observable even in modern times. Among the Greeks, Arabs and Romans, the ability to see the seventh star was used as an eye test to determine ones suitability for certain tasks as a warrior. Stories of the seventh daughter being taken captive no doubt stem from how elusive seeing that seventh star was though some could see ten or more if viewing conditions are good enough. The conjecture about this being a hundred thousand year old story is probably hogwash in order to publish something.
- thaumasiotes 3y ago
  > Among the Greeks, Arabs and Romans, the ability to see the seventh star was used as an eye test to determine ones suitability for certain tasks as a warrior. How would this work? This is a test that operates on the honor system where it's guaranteed that everyone knows the right answer. It must either be the case that no problems will arise if people are free to lie about their vision -- in other words, that acuity of vision has nothing to do with performance at the special tasks gated by this test -- or that the appearance of the stars changes day-to-day, so that someone who is known to be able to see all seven is capable of telling the difference between a testee who can also see all seven and a testee who is lying about their ability to do so.
- truculent 3y ago
  The story of the seventh sister isn’t just about star visibility but also about the coherence of the story across disparate cultures that have been separated for millennia.
  - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
    Yeah, I caught that too. The coherence breaks apart a bit with Orion being a singular hunter versus the three brothers in a canoe. Though it is interesting that they're all chasing the same set of sisters. I wonder how likely it is that the same type of story developed independently? The human tendency to anthropomorphize the constellations limits the ideas which can be imposed on them. Are there other traditions that call the 7 sisters something else which weren't included in the article?

yread 3y ago

That one is hard to date precisely though. Especially compared to floods or volcanos. It could be that the stars were still distinguishable 50ka or 30ka

potatopatch 3y ago
We don't really need precision dating to know the headline is proposing something extremely unlikely.

huytersd 3y ago

It’s not Greek as the Australian aboriginals also have the same story with the seven sister. It might be a story an ancestor common to both the people in Europe, and the aboriginal Australians shared before they left Africa.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

Commenter Dobbin in the comments of your link said: > The seventh sister is observable even in modern times. Among the Greeks, Arabs and Romans, the ability to see the seventh star was used as an eye test to determine ones suitability for certain tasks as a warrior. Stories of the seventh daughter being taken captive no doubt stem from how elusive seeing that seventh star was though some could see ten or more if viewing conditions are good enough. The conjecture about this being a hundred thousand year old story is probably hogwash in order to publish something.

thaumasiotes 3y ago
> Among the Greeks, Arabs and Romans, the ability to see the seventh star was used as an eye test to determine ones suitability for certain tasks as a warrior. How would this work? This is a test that operates on the honor system where it's guaranteed that everyone knows the right answer. It must either be the case that no problems will arise if people are free to lie about their vision -- in other words, that acuity of vision has nothing to do with performance at the special tasks gated by this test -- or that the appearance of the stars changes day-to-day, so that someone who is known to be able to see all seven is capable of telling the difference between a testee who can also see all seven and a testee who is lying about their ability to do so.
truculent 3y ago
The story of the seventh sister isn’t just about star visibility but also about the coherence of the story across disparate cultures that have been separated for millennia.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  Yeah, I caught that too. The coherence breaks apart a bit with Orion being a singular hunter versus the three brothers in a canoe. Though it is interesting that they're all chasing the same set of sisters. I wonder how likely it is that the same type of story developed independently? The human tendency to anthropomorphize the constellations limits the ideas which can be imposed on them. Are there other traditions that call the 7 sisters something else which weren't included in the article?