5 ms·

When I was a kid (11/12 or so) I was fascinated by finding alignments between ancient things in the landscape (of which there are many here in Scotland!) - even

When I was a kid (11/12 or so) I was fascinated by finding alignments between ancient things in the landscape (of which there are many here in Scotland!) - eventually I came to the realisation that given the scale of the maps I was looking at (1:25,000) that you can find loads of meaningless alignments if you look hard enough...

Oarch 2y ago
The Great Glen Fault is beautifully straight line across Scotland. Once seen it can't really be unseen.
- arethuza 2y ago
  My own favourite is the Highland Boundary Fault - the northern edge of the rift valley that is central Scotland: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Boundary_Fault https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Boundary_Fault
- Shrezzing 2y ago
  I'm not sure if this is concrete fact, or just a theory, but you can continue the line up Norway's western coast too. Then in the other direction, the line was broken, but restarts & progresses from Nova Scotia down through the Appalachians in North America.
  - kitd 2y ago
    IIRC they were all part of the same Pangaian range, and include Greenland east coast and the Atlas mountains.
- jfengel 2y ago
  I'm gonna be driving along most of Loch Ness early this autumn. Anything in particular I should look out for with respect to the Great Glen Fault? Any less-obvious geologic features?
  - arethuza 2y ago
    Not related to the Great Glen Fault but the Parallel Roads in Glen Roy are fairly close and worth a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Roy#The_Parallel_Roads_of_Glen_Roy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Roy#The_Parallel_Roads_of... Edit: Also have a look at the Lochaber Geopark: https://lochabergeopark.org.uk/ https://lochabergeopark.org.uk/
    - jfengel 2y ago
      Thanks! I'll keep an eye out.
spiderfarmer 2y ago
It's a type of apophenia.
- LudwigNagasena 2y ago
  More like the garden of forking paths, the look-elsewhere effect and data dredging.
  - Blahah 2y ago
    As opposed to the forking of garden paths, the whereelse-look effect, and dreading dating
gravescale 2y ago
The Ancient Aliens discovered the same laws of engineering: 5. (Miller's Law) Three points determine a curve. 6. (Mar's Law) Everything is linear if plotted log-log with a fat magic marker. https://spacecraft.ssl.umd.edu/akins_laws.html https://spacecraft.ssl.umd.edu/akins_laws.html
- arethuza 2y ago
  Speaking of Ancient Aliens - I did have also read a book by Erich von Däniken when I was younger (9 or so) although I had realised that was nonsense by my stage of hunting maps for alignments it probably influenced me to think about it.
  - grahamlee 2y ago
    I used to read his books as exercises in critical analysis—how does he get from the data to these conclusions, and what does he ignore that doesn't fit his conclusions? Then I discovered that, as stated by Carl Sagan, von Däniken also relies on factual errors in his arguments.
- theginger 2y ago
  Assume pi is 1
- tutuca 2y ago
  I yell Akin's laws to any new coworker like a drill sargent.
wolframhempel 2y ago
I studied art history, and this always bothered me when learning about Christian symbolism. When reading about numbers related to cathedrals, such as the number of statues on a ledge or the number of archivolts (the bands around doors), so much emphasis was put on the meaning of these particular numbers by whoever authored the piece. Three related to the Holy Trinity, four represented the four Gospels, five alluded to the number of wounds Christ received, seven related to the days of creation, sins, or virtues - and don't even get me started on twelve. In fact, as an architect of a cathedral, you pretty much had to make 22 or more of anything to avoid having a meaning ascribed.
- dfxm12 2y ago
  One Christmas homily, the priest told a story about how the candy cane was invented by persecuted Christians as a symbol for each other. The cane looked like a shepherd's staff, red for Jesus' blood, etc. If you look into the actual history of the candy cane though, none of this is true. What I'm saying is that it didn't matter what the architect did. Someone, well after the fact, would have found a tenuous connection between their work and the Bible and claimed they were divinely inspired.
  - mensetmanusman 2y ago
    Not the candy cane, but the fish: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_the_ichthys_symbol#:~:text=The%20ichthys%20symbol%20(or%20%22Jesus,with%20or%20affinity%20for%20Christianity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_the_ichthys_sy....
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      Might the fish have anything to do with precession of the equinoxes into Pisces? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38761574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38761574
      - mmcdermott 2y ago
noduerme 2y ago
I had a similar obsession for awhile. Take any 2 really famous places in the old world and draw a great circle line between them on Google Earth... and it's astonishing what falls under that line. (Try Avignon and Jerusalem, for example).

Oarch 2y ago

The Great Glen Fault is beautifully straight line across Scotland. Once seen it can't really be unseen.

arethuza 2y ago
My own favourite is the Highland Boundary Fault - the northern edge of the rift valley that is central Scotland: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Boundary_Fault https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Boundary_Fault
Shrezzing 2y ago
I'm not sure if this is concrete fact, or just a theory, but you can continue the line up Norway's western coast too. Then in the other direction, the line was broken, but restarts & progresses from Nova Scotia down through the Appalachians in North America.
- kitd 2y ago
  IIRC they were all part of the same Pangaian range, and include Greenland east coast and the Atlas mountains.
jfengel 2y ago
I'm gonna be driving along most of Loch Ness early this autumn. Anything in particular I should look out for with respect to the Great Glen Fault? Any less-obvious geologic features?
- arethuza 2y ago
  Not related to the Great Glen Fault but the Parallel Roads in Glen Roy are fairly close and worth a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Roy#The_Parallel_Roads_of_Glen_Roy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Roy#The_Parallel_Roads_of... Edit: Also have a look at the Lochaber Geopark: https://lochabergeopark.org.uk/ https://lochabergeopark.org.uk/
  - jfengel 2y ago
    Thanks! I'll keep an eye out.

spiderfarmer 2y ago

It's a type of apophenia.

LudwigNagasena 2y ago
More like the garden of forking paths, the look-elsewhere effect and data dredging.
- Blahah 2y ago
  As opposed to the forking of garden paths, the whereelse-look effect, and dreading dating

gravescale 2y ago

The Ancient Aliens discovered the same laws of engineering: 5. (Miller's Law) Three points determine a curve. 6. (Mar's Law) Everything is linear if plotted log-log with a fat magic marker. https://spacecraft.ssl.umd.edu/akins_laws.html https://spacecraft.ssl.umd.edu/akins_laws.html

arethuza 2y ago
Speaking of Ancient Aliens - I did have also read a book by Erich von Däniken when I was younger (9 or so) although I had realised that was nonsense by my stage of hunting maps for alignments it probably influenced me to think about it.
- grahamlee 2y ago
  I used to read his books as exercises in critical analysis—how does he get from the data to these conclusions, and what does he ignore that doesn't fit his conclusions? Then I discovered that, as stated by Carl Sagan, von Däniken also relies on factual errors in his arguments.
theginger 2y ago
Assume pi is 1
tutuca 2y ago
I yell Akin's laws to any new coworker like a drill sargent.

wolframhempel 2y ago

I studied art history, and this always bothered me when learning about Christian symbolism. When reading about numbers related to cathedrals, such as the number of statues on a ledge or the number of archivolts (the bands around doors), so much emphasis was put on the meaning of these particular numbers by whoever authored the piece. Three related to the Holy Trinity, four represented the four Gospels, five alluded to the number of wounds Christ received, seven related to the days of creation, sins, or virtues - and don't even get me started on twelve. In fact, as an architect of a cathedral, you pretty much had to make 22 or more of anything to avoid having a meaning ascribed.

dfxm12 2y ago
One Christmas homily, the priest told a story about how the candy cane was invented by persecuted Christians as a symbol for each other. The cane looked like a shepherd's staff, red for Jesus' blood, etc. If you look into the actual history of the candy cane though, none of this is true. What I'm saying is that it didn't matter what the architect did. Someone, well after the fact, would have found a tenuous connection between their work and the Bible and claimed they were divinely inspired.
- mensetmanusman 2y ago
  Not the candy cane, but the fish: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_the_ichthys_symbol#:~:text=The%20ichthys%20symbol%20(or%20%22Jesus,with%20or%20affinity%20for%20Christianity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_the_ichthys_sy....
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    Might the fish have anything to do with precession of the equinoxes into Pisces? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38761574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38761574
    - mmcdermott 2y ago

noduerme 2y ago

I had a similar obsession for awhile. Take any 2 really famous places in the old world and draw a great circle line between them on Google Earth... and it's astonishing what falls under that line. (Try Avignon and Jerusalem, for example).