6 ms·
"Asia" is one of the dumbest archaic misnomers still in use by Western people
by Razengan 8mo ago
"Asia" is one of the dumbest archaic misnomers still in use by Western people
- recursive 8mo agoWhat do you call it? It's a continent, right?
- nobodyandproud 8mo agoThe phrasing and implication is all wrong. “4-day week, WFH roll-outs in Asia to solve fuel crisis caused by Iran War” is better.
- andrewflnr 8mo agoCalling Eurasia a continent would make more sense. "Asia" doesn't have a really sensical physical boundary. May as well say Mexico is a different continent from the US just because there's a big cultural and ethnic difference across the border.
- bombcar 8mo agoThe term "North America" almost always means US or US and Canada, hardly ever the technically correct "US, Canada, Mexico" except in things like NAFTA. And "Central America" often means "Mexico and countries south that speak Spanish" even though LATAM might be a bit closer.
- andrewflnr 8mo agoOther nonsensical terminology also existing would imply nothing about the usage of "Asia". That said, I'm not sure I see the same incorrect usage of North America as you do, either.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- 1718627440 8mo agoThe Ural mountains, the Black Sea and the Bosporus aren't sensical physical boundaries?
- andrewflnr 8mo agoSensible boundaries for dividing continents? Do the Rocky Mountains count as dividing North America into east and west subcontinents? Does the Baltic Sea partition the Nordic countries into their own continent? Are you really expecting that logic to work even a little bit?
- 1718627440 8mo ago> Do the Rocky Mountains count as dividing North America into east and west subcontinents? The east part would be a bit small, but after a bit more seismic activity that may be sensible. > Does the Baltic Sea partition the Nordic countries into their own continent? Could be a subcontinent border yeah, it is a common division in Europe. > Are you really expecting that logic to work even a little bit? Yeah, there are multiple aspects of continents and topology is one part. Others are cultural and political and I think there the division is even more clear.
- andrewflnr 8mo agoLook at the absurdities you have to commit to so you can keep pretending this makes sense.
- recursive 8mo ago> Calling Eurasia a continent would make more sense Is that what Eastern people do?
- andrewflnr 8mo agoI don't know, but it doesn't have any more bearing on the logic of the situation than what Western people do.
- wat10000 8mo agoIt's a somewhat vaguely defined region. It often excludes India and the Middle East. It always excludes Europe, despite there being no sensible reason to consider them to be two separate continents. Consider this sentence from the article: "Asia is particularly dependent on oil exports from the Middle East." That's a bizarre statement if you take "Asia" literally. The Middle East is in Asia. Is Saudi Arabia dependent on oil exports from the Middle East? Is Iran?
- 0_____0 8mo agoIt's all Asia. Europe is in Asia. Europeans are West Asian. The traditional boundary of the Ural Mountains is a fabricated one. There is no reason to separate Europe out of Asia except for that "people that look like that go over there."
- graemep 8mo agoNot really. there is no entirely accepted definition of a continent. If you want to refer to them as one continent the term is Eurasia. > There is no reason to separate Europe out of Asia except for that "people that look like that go over there." People that look like what? A lot of west and central Asians look far more like Europeans than like South Indian or Chinese people, and the latter resemble two do not resemble each other at all. You cannot put it down to racism dividing white vs non-white because that is very recent. It predates the invention/introduction of racism to Europe. Even better, until well into the 20th century (literally millennia after people separated Europe from Asia) South Asians and some North Africans were regarded as belonging to the same race as Europeans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
- jltsiren 8mo agoThe traditional boundaries of Asia were Bosporus and Nile. Europe, Asia, and Africa were names given to the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. Because sea enabled travel, while land was difficult to cross, the extension of those names to lands beyond the Mediterranean world was of little consequence.
- Razengan 8mo agoThe way they use it is what "Oriental" used to mean: East Asia: Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam etc.
- Hamuko 8mo agoIt's not really that different from "Europe", especially when you listen to Americans talk about "Europe".
- nikkwong 8mo agoAt least in the case of "europe" it could refer to the EU (which obviously is not correct because it doesn't encompass all of europe). But when they are talking about "Asia"—what governing body would they even be referring to? It's obviously non-sensical.
- Mordisquitos 8mo ago> in the case of "europe" it could refer to the EU (which obviously is not correct because it doesn't encompass all of europe) Not just that. If we get really pedantic, the EU is not only in Europe but includes territories in Africa (parts of Spain) and Asia (the entirety of Cyprus). And that's not even getting into the intercontinental shenanigans of France!
- wolvoleo 8mo agoYes though Europe is a lot more culturally similar and has a shared government for the most part. Asia has very distinct countries and in some cases is even at war even if it's a cold one. Like India vs Pakistan, India vs China, North vs South Korea, China vs Taiwan. And customs, languages and (where applicable) religions are more radically different than within Europe too. It makes less sense calling it "Asia" than it is calling Europe "Europe" :)
- retromario 8mo agoHow do you define "Western people"?