Editing 2925: Earth Formation Site
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| − | + | {{incomplete|Created by TWO 4,450,002,024-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES - Please this edit this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this historical tag too soon.}} | |
| − | The | + | The historical marker that [[Cueball]] is reading amusingly claims to be where the {{w|Earth}} formed in a specific year 4.45 billion years ago. |
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| + | The aburdity of sign is threefold: | ||
# The Earth did not form on its surface | # The Earth did not form on its surface | ||
# The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable | # The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable | ||
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'''#1: The Earth did not form on its surface''' | '''#1: The Earth did not form on its surface''' | ||
| − | First, the Earth formed at its center, not anywhere on its surface, so an “Earth formed here” sign on the surface is | + | First, the Earth formed at its center, not anywhere on its surface, so an “Earth formed here” sign on the surface is factually incorrect. |
One may argue that technically the sign is ''above'' the right spot, just as every location on Earth is above the right spot. However, the sign refers to “this location,” not to a spot underground. | One may argue that technically the sign is ''above'' the right spot, just as every location on Earth is above the right spot. However, the sign refers to “this location,” not to a spot underground. | ||
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Secondly, specifying a single year of formation BCE (Before the Common Era) is an amusingly precise choice. It takes [https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/how-do-planets-form/ tens or hundreds of millions of years] for a planet to form. Picking a year would require some specific definition of when a gradually-coalescing mass of proto-planet dust and gas could be considered a planet, as well as the impossible ability to determine when that mass met the definition. | Secondly, specifying a single year of formation BCE (Before the Common Era) is an amusingly precise choice. It takes [https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/how-do-planets-form/ tens or hundreds of millions of years] for a planet to form. Picking a year would require some specific definition of when a gradually-coalescing mass of proto-planet dust and gas could be considered a planet, as well as the impossible ability to determine when that mass met the definition. | ||
| − | + | Note: The date shown for the formation of the Earth, 4.45 billion years ago, also differs from the commonly accepted date, [https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html 4.54 (±0.05) billion years]. The difference lies in the transposition of two digits, 5 and 4, potentially a mistake. | |
| − | + | '''#3: Hstorical markers typically refer to events within the past several centuries''' | |
| − | + | This comic satirizes US historical markers by channeling their standard tone, structure, and inaccuracies. They are placed at precise locations where historical, religious, and even mythological events are believed to have happened — such as where battles have been fought, or where famous people resided or accomplished something. Typically these signs refer to more recent events. | |
| − | + | '''Title Text''' | |
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| − | ''' | ||
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The title text refers to the 'exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core,’ Of course, since the lat-long geographic coordinate system is used for locating places on the ''surface'' on the Earth, the center of the Earth does not have latitude and longitude. | The title text refers to the 'exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core,’ Of course, since the lat-long geographic coordinate system is used for locating places on the ''surface'' on the Earth, the center of the Earth does not have latitude and longitude. | ||
| − | Also, a historical marker referring to the | + | Also, a historical marker referring to the earth’s core could be placed anywhere, and its specific location in the real world wouldn’t mean anything; just as before, every spot on Earth is above the right spot. |
Examples of similar historical marker signs: | Examples of similar historical marker signs: | ||
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* {{w|File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|Lowest Point}} | * {{w|File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|Lowest Point}} | ||
| − | '''Analysis''' | + | '''Analysis and trivia''' |
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| + | The comic and its title text are actually inverse jokes of each other: The historical marker in the comic assigns an attribute of the Earth’s '''center''' (the site of formation) to a spot on its '''surface''', while the title text assigns an attribute of '''surface''' locations (latitude and longitude) to the Earth’s '''center'''. | ||
| − | The | + | The topic of what precisely makes a planet — related to the 2006 redefinition of a planet and the subsequent demotion of Pluto from the ninth planet from to the sun to a dwarf planet — has been covered before in [[473: Still Raw]] and referenced in other XKCD comics. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
