I'm surprised the article didn't mention one of the most popular names for the "Seven Sisters," Subaru, the Japanese name and vehicle manufacturer whose logo contains six of the stars.
“The six of the stars” are in fact all the stars. :)
‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
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Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#52Seven is a common story-telling number. Seven days in a week, sailing the seven seas, the seven wonders of the world, the seven continents, seven deadly sins, etc.
Why did you stop at 6 examples?
Seven is a common story-telling number
1. Seven days in a week
2. sailing the seven seas
3. the seven wonders of the world
4. the seven continents
5. seven deadly sins
6. seven sisters
7. the seven canonical examplesRe: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#53This reminded me of a theory came up with as a teenager, that the Vaanaraas of Ramayana (a group to which the famous "monkey god" Hanuman belongs) may actually be an early hominid that had ape-like features, that lived in parallel with humans in different territory. They were intelligent enough to help the human princes in their quest, which got them a place in their story - a story which went on to become an oral tr…
This might not be quite as outlandish as it sounds, because we now have plenty of evidence that early humans were living alongside and interacting with other archaic homo species.
I have a pet (similarly highly speculative) theory that the Nephilim[1] of the Bible might be a earlier oral history of Neanderthals. But I'll just leave it at that, speculation.
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#54It's a nice theory but sometimes simpler, less glamorous solutions might hold the truth. There are more than 6 "sisters" visible with the naked eye, but most people normally can't see them. It's more believable to me that the "missing" 7th sister is just the brightest of the less visible ones. Those less visible would certainly have been used as a test of prowess for determining the keenest-eyed, especially among ear…
If true then at least one of the stories should sound in that vein right? Let's consider your rule itself, though first modifying it to the real occams razor which says the simplest answer is probably the real one. Simple is probably more measurable than glamor anyway! So what's the simpler of the two explanations? A complex variation of the story as we now know independently arose in multiple cultures and then every…
I don't agree obviously - the seventh sister is there, and not every story has her missing.
And a common early eye-test seems far simpler and more believable than a common myth that possibly predates by tens of thousands of years the start of contemporary cognitive parity within our species.
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't disagree, but you have to understand that because "university" isn't a protected name in the US, it also doesn't carry the same status and thus calling the Singularity organization a university is less preposterous. Eg you learn to run a team of hamburger flippers at the McDonald's University. Many SaaS startups have a tutorials page named $BRAND University. In that context, a bunch of atheistic reli-nuts cal…
Thank you for clarifying, then the main issue comes with global scale (a point that one of the other comments here makes).
You can pay them money to attend classes they hold (which you can find example Youtube videos of--basically 50min TED talks), and at the end of it you get a certificate. It was modeled after the International Space University, which in France, and shares a co-founder.
I may be swayed that this is more of a "summer workshop" and not as academically rigorous as I'd like, but otherwise I'm not sure why you claim it doesn't deserve the title "University."
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did that elder offer some proof that they had significantly better eyes than most humans? Because the generally accepted number of visible stars is ~5000 in each hemisphere. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/how-many-stars-n...
I have read that some indigenous Australians had/have ridiculously good vision, by western standards. (Brb googling :) Edit: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/prince-harry-may-stru... (popsci but generally reliable journalism)
Thanks, my initial scepticism is weakened.
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#57I must say the Singularity Hub web presence looks snake-oily to me. Why do they call it a "university"? Why do they call some of the members "faculty"? Why do they claim Ray Kurzweil has "a thirty-year track record of accurate predictions"? ( https://singularityhub.com/experts/ ) Any idea why they brand it like this? Who is supposed to take this seriously? I'm EU-based and here you're not allowed to claim that your o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University In America, university holds no special branding, and American companies aren't great about respecting EU branding law. See California Champagne and Kraft Parmesan cheese. I don't think anyone attending Singularity University thinks it is a real university; their paying audience generally already has a university degree. Singularity University is basically an overpriced…
> See California Champagne
You mean the labeling that the EU agrees (if reluctantly) to be legal?
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/loophole-california-champagne...
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#58The Pleiades[1], also known as the Seven Sisters:
> It is among the star clusters nearest to Earth... and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.
Only six stars in the cluster are visible to the naked eye yet mythology from several ancient cultures share the idea that one of the seven “sisters" is hidden. The article The world’s oldest story?, originally published in TheConversation [2], states:
> The star Pleione... was a bit further away from Atlas in 100,000 BC, making it much easier to see.
These two stars now appear as one to the naked eye which the author proposes is the source of the hidden sister. This dates the story to 100 kya.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
[2] https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronom...
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#59I must say the Singularity Hub web presence looks snake-oily to me. Why do they call it a "university"? Why do they call some of the members "faculty"? Why do they claim Ray Kurzweil has "a thirty-year track record of accurate predictions"? ( https://singularityhub.com/experts/ ) Any idea why they brand it like this? Who is supposed to take this seriously? I'm EU-based and here you're not allowed to claim that your o…
The only experience I had with the Singularity University is an exec at a client of mine who -- after studying there -- told everyone his company needed a moonshot. His idea of a moonshot was simply "triple profits by next year" by telling people they needed to believe it was possible.
So yeah, he probably did not grasp what he was taught, but then again, you'd expect a self-proclaimed university to teach its students better than that.
To me, the Singularity University's target audience seems to be execs who need to convince others they are capable of developing a vision.
Re: ‘Seven Sisters’ Myths May Reach Back 100k Years
#60It's a nice theory but sometimes simpler, less glamorous solutions might hold the truth. There are more than 6 "sisters" visible with the naked eye, but most people normally can't see them. It's more believable to me that the "missing" 7th sister is just the brightest of the less visible ones. Those less visible would certainly have been used as a test of prowess for determining the keenest-eyed, especially among ear…
Agreed. When hiking in mountains, on some nights the sky is so clear, air so still and light pollution so low that I can easily discern eight or nine "sisters" there. Such nights are usually in summer, but less frequently also during other seasons.
Of course, in or near large cities, seeing five or six of the "sisters" is about the best one can hope for.