"The last assumption I made was that there are 2.5 kilometers in a mile" - Big assumption! I laughed at this before I remembered that this was dreamy, trying-to-sleep logic. In dreams, that math checks out.
Also: as much of a global citizen as I am (I really do pay close attention to world events!), I'm still an American at my core. It's like we have some kind of immune system against metric.
I read that the biggest gaps were in the southeast, but it makes sense that there would be little gaps and such everywhere. You really need like 10 million people for this, including supervisors to make sure there aren't people willfully trying to prevent a chain from being created. A noble effort to be sure, and I'm glad you got to be a part of it!
This made me think of several things. One, I remember when this happened very well! I was pretty little but for some reason it really stuck in my head as this unique cool thing that made me really happy. Two, in my mind the obvious string of people/connections would happen all along the 10 freeway, because it runs from Jacksonville all the way to the Santa Monica Pier. I grew up off the 10 in a little place called Cottondale in Florida and then moved almost 3000 miles away to live in L.A. also just off the 10. Three, have you seen the movie Us? If you have, let’s discuss. If you haven’t and like the trailer, please watch and then let’s talk!!
Yes! I had to rewatch clips from it, but yes, we watched Us a few years back and really enjoyed it. It was weird enough and different from traditional horror films.
I've also driven across 10! I remember going across Texas and not seeing another car for like an hour. Very surreal.
I really love that movie. I like the way Jordan Peele plays with that theme of unity vs. separation and connections. There’s a lot going on in that film! The imagery of holding hands in a line has stuck with me.
I can see that! It was remarkable and noteworthy, and exactly the type of spooky/creepy horror film I tend to enjoy (no thanks on jump scares or gore most of the time).
Thanks, Anne! Do you remember how crazy popular "We Are The World" was? I was only 10 years old, but felt like I couldn't get away from it. Did young adults feel the same way?
I do remember We Are the World (it's stuck in my head now, thanks) but not Hands Across America. I was really little then. I wish I had known about it when it happened. Little Kristen would have thought it was super cool, as big Kristen does now. Thanks for sharing this, Andrew!
Haha no worries, it is gone, and any earworm I get is usually replaced by a new one before too long, anyway. And yes, I agree! Beautiful symbolism, and I really wish it could have been successfully completed. It would be wonderful to see it happen in our lifetime. People need to be brought together, this might do it literally and metaphorically!
I do remember "Hands Across America" and was just old enough to understand about what famine in Ethiopia meant and such. Oh, boy, was I sick of hearing "We Are the World" everywhere I went over and over and over again those couple of months!
It's kind of hard to explain to someone who didn't live through this, just how ubiquitous truly big pop songs were. We didn't have a lot of options - maybe 2 stations I could stand listening to, for instance- so we all heard the same stuff. I think that peaked during the 80s.
"You could get this done if you had a little under 4 million people, all perfectly cooperating at once"
Considering just how well we are as a species at getting along and agreeing on stuff, this sure sounds like a cakewalk!
I was only vaguely familiar with Hands Across America, but "We Are The World" was pretty huge in Ukraine when I was growing up, so I definitely know that one.
I'm still sort of dumbfounded that this came out so badly. Bell Labs had like 100 of the smartest physicists and engineers working in one place, and they came up with the transistor, underwater cables, pretty much the entire world... but when the greatest pop stars of the greatest pop era ever got together, we ended up with *this*?!?
Well, kind of. Bell Labs had something that no other research facility (ever, as far as I can tell) has had: mutlidisciplinary intersections from a handful of the sharpest minds in various fields. I think most research has been done at places that don't focus on an intersection of knowledge, but that is exactly where the unknown questions are answered.
But like, if I listen to Michael Jackson, or Lionel Richie, or Stevie Wonder, or almost anyone who participated, the parts are just so much greater than the sum. Those folks made some of the best music in human history, and yet... We Are the World? Really, y'all?
I see why you couldn't get back to sleep. Poor choice for a soporific. Working out all those numbers would keep me up too. I remember to work out miles from kilometers, you take your km times 8 and divide it by 5, for a rough estimate.
Oh no, Andrew, I can't help you there, sorry. 🤣 We don't work in miles here in RSA, so the 8/5 thing is something my dad taught me. One of those useless facts floating around my head that just stuck. I'm not even sure I know how many kilometers a mile is without looking it up. 🤣🤣
Your metric knowledge is terrible, probably cos you're really old if you lived through the 80s. Average adult span is more like 1.5m (5 feet). They could stand close for comfort but the premise of your question implied the minimum number of people.
It's just a fan fact, and I am sure you already know and we could use it to more accurately calculate the number of people we need as long as we know everyone’s height.
The Roman architect, Vitruvius, had noted in the first century BC that the arm span closely approximated to height. This relationship has been exploited by medical science by using arm span to estimate height in situations where height measurement is not possible.
I mostly played one sport in my childhood, the only sport I know to play well, and it is called cricket. Mostly, it is played in the countries that were part of the British Empire. The lack of interest in other sports is probably the reason I never heard of this index.
"The last assumption I made was that there are 2.5 kilometers in a mile" - Big assumption! I laughed at this before I remembered that this was dreamy, trying-to-sleep logic. In dreams, that math checks out.
Also: as much of a global citizen as I am (I really do pay close attention to world events!), I'm still an American at my core. It's like we have some kind of immune system against metric.
I actually wrote about this here: https://goatfury.substack.com/p/centuries-of-standardization
I was there! Somewhere in central PA. I have a photo buried in the barn to prove it.
I hereby challenge you to find this photo and scan or snap a pic of it for Notes!
I do remember though, as much as we all stretched, there were some gaps in our line. But it was a rural area, so it was a big ask. Was fun trying!
I read that the biggest gaps were in the southeast, but it makes sense that there would be little gaps and such everywhere. You really need like 10 million people for this, including supervisors to make sure there aren't people willfully trying to prevent a chain from being created. A noble effort to be sure, and I'm glad you got to be a part of it!
Sadly, would take about a year and I'm doing taxes today. Bleh.
Oof. This would be a welcome relief! But yeah, taxes. Bleh.
This made me think of several things. One, I remember when this happened very well! I was pretty little but for some reason it really stuck in my head as this unique cool thing that made me really happy. Two, in my mind the obvious string of people/connections would happen all along the 10 freeway, because it runs from Jacksonville all the way to the Santa Monica Pier. I grew up off the 10 in a little place called Cottondale in Florida and then moved almost 3000 miles away to live in L.A. also just off the 10. Three, have you seen the movie Us? If you have, let’s discuss. If you haven’t and like the trailer, please watch and then let’s talk!!
Yes! I had to rewatch clips from it, but yes, we watched Us a few years back and really enjoyed it. It was weird enough and different from traditional horror films.
I've also driven across 10! I remember going across Texas and not seeing another car for like an hour. Very surreal.
I really love that movie. I like the way Jordan Peele plays with that theme of unity vs. separation and connections. There’s a lot going on in that film! The imagery of holding hands in a line has stuck with me.
I can see that! It was remarkable and noteworthy, and exactly the type of spooky/creepy horror film I tend to enjoy (no thanks on jump scares or gore most of the time).
I am 65 years old and I remember both of these events. I hadn't thought about them in years.
Thanks, Anne! Do you remember how crazy popular "We Are The World" was? I was only 10 years old, but felt like I couldn't get away from it. Did young adults feel the same way?
Yes, I remember the popularity. Young adults did feel the same way.
I do remember We Are the World (it's stuck in my head now, thanks) but not Hands Across America. I was really little then. I wish I had known about it when it happened. Little Kristen would have thought it was super cool, as big Kristen does now. Thanks for sharing this, Andrew!
Sorry about the song. Is it gone from your brain now, or still on a looooong loop?
I really loved the symbolic nature of connecting a continent, even if they didn't really make it all the way there.
Haha no worries, it is gone, and any earworm I get is usually replaced by a new one before too long, anyway. And yes, I agree! Beautiful symbolism, and I really wish it could have been successfully completed. It would be wonderful to see it happen in our lifetime. People need to be brought together, this might do it literally and metaphorically!
I think people underestimate the power of a symbol. This is exactly the sort of idea we need for today's truly big problems.
Exactly!
I do remember "Hands Across America" and was just old enough to understand about what famine in Ethiopia meant and such. Oh, boy, was I sick of hearing "We Are the World" everywhere I went over and over and over again those couple of months!
It's kind of hard to explain to someone who didn't live through this, just how ubiquitous truly big pop songs were. We didn't have a lot of options - maybe 2 stations I could stand listening to, for instance- so we all heard the same stuff. I think that peaked during the 80s.
"You could get this done if you had a little under 4 million people, all perfectly cooperating at once"
Considering just how well we are as a species at getting along and agreeing on stuff, this sure sounds like a cakewalk!
I was only vaguely familiar with Hands Across America, but "We Are The World" was pretty huge in Ukraine when I was growing up, so I definitely know that one.
I'm still sort of dumbfounded that this came out so badly. Bell Labs had like 100 of the smartest physicists and engineers working in one place, and they came up with the transistor, underwater cables, pretty much the entire world... but when the greatest pop stars of the greatest pop era ever got together, we ended up with *this*?!?
Guess coordinating and iteratively working on a solution to a problem is part of the job description for scientists and engineers.
With celebrities...not so much.
Well, kind of. Bell Labs had something that no other research facility (ever, as far as I can tell) has had: mutlidisciplinary intersections from a handful of the sharpest minds in various fields. I think most research has been done at places that don't focus on an intersection of knowledge, but that is exactly where the unknown questions are answered.
But like, if I listen to Michael Jackson, or Lionel Richie, or Stevie Wonder, or almost anyone who participated, the parts are just so much greater than the sum. Those folks made some of the best music in human history, and yet... We Are the World? Really, y'all?
I see why you couldn't get back to sleep. Poor choice for a soporific. Working out all those numbers would keep me up too. I remember to work out miles from kilometers, you take your km times 8 and divide it by 5, for a rough estimate.
Great shortcut! But what tricks do I use to remember that 8/5 ratio?
Oh no, Andrew, I can't help you there, sorry. 🤣 We don't work in miles here in RSA, so the 8/5 thing is something my dad taught me. One of those useless facts floating around my head that just stuck. I'm not even sure I know how many kilometers a mile is without looking it up. 🤣🤣
Wait a sec... aren't there 8/5 KM in a mile?
Well, I suppose I did know then hey? 🤣🤣🤣
I am frequently shocked at the amount of things I know, that I don't think I know! Happens all the time.
Hey that's true! It's amazing the random snatches of junk I find in my head sometimes, jogged by the weirdest stuff.
Your metric knowledge is terrible, probably cos you're really old if you lived through the 80s. Average adult span is more like 1.5m (5 feet). They could stand close for comfort but the premise of your question implied the minimum number of people.
I guess maybe the question I was really asking was the least *realistic* number of humans. These humans won't stand in straight lines, most likely.
And, you might be shocked at how much worse younger Americans are with the metric system. At least I understood the order of magnitude!
Also, I am much more familiar with weight conversions due to having to... well, you know.
It's just a fan fact, and I am sure you already know and we could use it to more accurately calculate the number of people we need as long as we know everyone’s height.
The Roman architect, Vitruvius, had noted in the first century BC that the arm span closely approximated to height. This relationship has been exploited by medical science by using arm span to estimate height in situations where height measurement is not possible.
Ever hear of the "ape index"? It's still relatively new to me, but entered my world through MMA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ape_index
The answer is No. I do not watch MMA.
It's used in tons of sports, apparently. MMA is just the one where it snuck through my filters.
I mostly played one sport in my childhood, the only sport I know to play well, and it is called cricket. Mostly, it is played in the countries that were part of the British Empire. The lack of interest in other sports is probably the reason I never heard of this index.