About Those New Seven Wonders...

Who gets to decide that it's time to revamp the seven wonders of the world? I'm not sure I'm in agreement with this move. When were the first seven first chosen? Which set is better? I'm doing a little research on this, just for you, dear reader. Then we can decide.

The Classic Wonders:

1. The Great Pyramid at Giza
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
6. Colossus of Rhodes
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

Okay, well Herodotus was one of the people who named them, so I'm going to say that gives the Classic Wonders a huge advantage. The list was compiled mostly by the ancient Greeks as sort of a tourists' guide. They didn't call them "wonders," they called them "must-sees." It's unfortunate wording for those of us living in the present day because they've all been destroyed.

During my "research" I discovered that there are several Seven Wonders lists. Some are pretty dumb. One man is responsible for all of them. He too is a travel writer, but he's no Herodotus.

On to the new set:

The Seven Wonders 2.0

1. The Great Wall of China
2. Petra Haha, just kidding.
3. Machu Picchu
4. Christ the Redeemer Statue
5. Chichen Itza
6. The Colosseum
7. The Taj Mahal

8. Whoa, the Great Pyramid only made it to "Honorary Candidate" on this list. Ouch.

I have been to a few of these wonders and I think they're pretty amazing (especially Machu Picchu), but I'm not so sure about the Christ the Redeemer thing. A statue? That's wonderous?!?!

So who wins?
It's hard to judge since I can't see the original wonders. I was going to say that the Christ the Redeemer statue knocked 2.0 out of the running, but there's a statue in the first set too. I think I might call it a draw. The Original Wonders win because of originality and authenticity. The New Wonders win because they have a broader geographical scope, I can go visit them, and most of them are pretty stunning.

P.S. If you're really into categorization of Seven Wonders, check this out.