Vote For Wonders

Philon Of Byzantium/Antipater of Sidon provided the world with a list of wonders, all located around the Mediterranean sea. These served as a travel guide for the Greeks, besides leaving us with a lasting record of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World"

The seven wonders of the time were

• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• The Colossus of Rhodes
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Lighthouse at Alexandria
• The Statue of Zeus
• The Temple of Artemis
• The Pyramids of Egypt

Of these, only the Pyramids are still standing. Various attempts have been made in recent times to enumerate modern wonders.

Bernard Weber , Swiss film-maker and explorer is hosting an effort to choose the seven modern wonders by democratic vote - voting is open to everyone with a modem everywhere.

Half of the net revenue raised by the New 7 Wonders Project is to be used to fund restoration efforts worldwide, such as the mission to recreate the giant Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan. The sites or monuments with the most votes by the end of February 2005 will be reviewed by the N7W panel for inclusion in a shortlist of 21 candidates. Bernard Weber has an interesting profile and this effort is well supported by various organizations.

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be declared on January 1, 2006.

You can vote for literally any human creation from the dawn of time to the present day. The current leaders:

1. Wall of China, China: 11.28 %
2. Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet: 8.73 %
3. Colosseum, Rome, Italy: 7.17 %
4. Pyramids of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico: 6.49 %
5. Statues of Easter Island, Chile: 6.18 %
6. Taj Mahal, India: 6.16 %
7. Tower of Pisa, Italy: 6.13 %
8. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 5.18 %
9. Machu Picchu, Peru: 3.98 %
10. Red Square and the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia: 3.49 %

The most votes so far are from China, followed by Peru, Turkey, Mexico, the United States and India.

Voting is moderated by having to call a telephone number (different worldwide) and receive a 6-digit code that is then entered into the website form. Very original form of vote control. This is also possibly an experiment in global consensus building that could be extended to other spheres and topics of human interest.

Vote!

Note:For some reason, I have been unable to call the number listed for the United States - perhaps I'm dialling it wrong.