Published on 12, July, 2020
I thought we could start a thread for sharing facts we love or find interesting/fun. Next time we're due to be in a social situation where it might be expected to share a fact as part of introducing ourselves, we can have this thread as a resource to look through so we have something ready. And at least as importantly I think, this can also be a space for info-dumping favourite facts about special interests. I'll start:
It is longer in time from Cleopatra back to the Sphynx being built than it is from today back to Cleopatra.
Cleopatra was born in 69 BCE
The Sphinx dates roughly from 2500 BCE
The Sphynx was older to Cleopatra than Jesus is to us today.
This used to be my go to fact, but then it started appearing on Facebook and places like that. It's normally about the pyramids (2600 BCE), but I have adapted it in honour of the original poster
(great idea for a thread, Sphinx)
Aw I do feel very honoured :)
And this is a great fact!
For reference, is the Egyptian Sphinx with an I or Y? (I prefer the Y spelling, but the dictionary says the ca is the Y and the Egyptian figure the I?)
I guess that that it is a bit like arguing the western spelling of a Japanese word. If it's ancient Egyptian, then the western spelling doesn't really matter because it was different characters in the first place. (Disclaimer: I don't know the origins of the word)
I remember arguing once in my youth whether it was Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japanese Composer) or Riuichi Sakamoto - and then realised it's neither because it is 坂本 龍一 (Japanese characters)
I appear to have used both spellings - ha ha.
Absolutely - I think having physical contact with words, letters, music notation, and maybe for more mathematically-orientated braillists, numbers too, means I have a particular kind of depth to my relationship with those things.
Absolutely, the language we speak or use to convey particular things shapes the way we understand and perceive those things... That's just reminded me of another fact I'll add to the thread :)
That's fascinating to me. I love hearing about different ways of experiencing the world. The fact that letters have feeling to you beyond the physical. I looked up the braille of 'I' and 'Y'. I think that I get the same with words, but not so much with letters.
There was a book called "The Medium is the Message" where Marshall McLuhan argued that the format of or medium on which a message is presented is as important as the message itself, and is indeed part of the message in it's own right. Your 'Y' and 'I' brings this home to me.