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Non Technical, really !!

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The Lounge What is on Your Mind? Non Technical, really !!
# 8  
Old 01-21-2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perderabo
Continent comes from the Latin word for contain, which I still see as a requirement to count as a continent. Continent originally meant mainland. To leave a continent, you need a boat. When you can visit a building with a line going down the middle of a room showing the boundary between two continents, there is something very wrong. Anarctica is clearly a continent. America is one continent, not two. Digging a canal doesn't really count. People don't use boats to cross over the canal. Eurasia is clearly a continent and Africa is part of it. Australia seems a bit small. We have to set the bar rather low to count Australia, but ok, Australia is a continent too. That Oceanland thing is just silly. So I will concede 4 continents. But considering that people walked from Eurasia to America, I'm being generous.
I dont quite agree with you. Looking at the whole thing from a geological perspective, we had a single continent to begin with, but then the whole thing drifted apart and North and South America were seperated. So much so that there is absolutely no similarity between the flora/fauna of the two. In fact the land bridge that connects the two has not always existed in the past. The two landmasses are geographically distinct enough to classify them as seperate continents. The same is the case with Africa being part of Eurasia (Europe/Asia).

In the case of Europe and Asia, it is not the physically obvious differences, but history that plays a big part. If someone says western Europe, you know exactly where that is - western Eurasia will not ring any bells.
# 9  
Old 01-21-2006
America has been a unified continent for the entire period it has been inhabited by humans. It's possible that millions of years ago, America was two continents, I'm not sure about that. But it's a single continent now. Should the Isthmus of Panama suddenly disappear somehow Smilie , the situation could change.

Also there is nothing wrong with regional terms like "Europe" or "Pacific Rim" or "Central America" or "The Middle East". These are useful terms and I use them all the time. But this doesn't make them continents.
# 10  
Old 01-21-2006
Point taken.
# 11  
Old 01-23-2006
ok, whatever, I am happy to see some activity triggered on this thread. Perderabo, no offense intended breathing you in with Hitler, but thot probably would just be another interesting documentary movie perhaps :d, and now I know, national geaographic would be happy to have you on the team to research the left over continents and seas Smilie
btw does the term sea and oceans go together, if not probably thats what it means to have 5 oceans and probably 7 seas or 13 or whatever Smilie

well having a water body between 2 great land masses counts it as a continent ? did read somewhere that one of the reason why Asia and europe were separate as continents is because of the huge mountain ranges, the himalayas that contribute to a clear line for distinction at the India-Russia border. but then yes mountains can be walked across.
# 12  
Old 01-24-2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perderabo
America has been a unified continent for the entire period it has been inhabited by humans. It's possible that millions of years ago, America was two continents, I'm not sure about that. But it's a single continent now. Should the Isthmus of Panama suddenly disappear somehow Smilie , the situation could change.

Also there is nothing wrong with regional terms like "Europe" or "Pacific Rim" or "Central America" or "The Middle East". These are useful terms and I use them all the time. But this doesn't make them continents.
Just though I'd throw this in here to give some more background.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html

Even according to the commonly accepted notion of continental drift, Europe and Asia have never been two continents.
# 13  
Old 01-24-2006
hmmm, back from my winter holidays (it was great fun, btw.) and i have to see such a thread: i can't believe it!

Why, on earth (literally ;-) ), do you have to take a digression to something nontechnical like the number of continents - just to start a run-of-the-mill argument like this one? You could have stuck to the vi-vs-emacs-classic or even to the BSD-vs-SysV-perennial.

Ah, well, just wanted to tell you I'm back again and busy working (*sigh*). A (very late) happy new year to everyone here.

bakunin
# 14  
Old 01-25-2006
hi bakunin, welcome back and a very happpy new year to you too. looks like u have had a load of work year end, and u dont want to come out of the technical stuff, well this forum i thot was meant for non-technical stuff, so started to scribble something here. for ur technical stuff check the other forums :P

reborg, a good link tho. thanks for that info.

ok, guess this thread is not going to end up with a conclusion on the number of continents, lemme plan to come with some new non-technical thread Smilie
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