Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Jan 4 2022 - The Four Corners Near You

 

The four corners of the earth is still a phrase in use.  Some think it is physical and real, such as the Flat Earthers, and their identification of Fogo Island as one of the corners.  Is there any actual agreement on where the four corners are - either historically in ancient texts or currently by some mathematical calculation? 

Wikipedia outlines the history aspect:

Several cosmological and mythological systems portray four corners of the world or four quarters of the world corresponding approximately to the four points of the compass (or the two solstices and two equinoxes). At the center may lie a sacred mountain, garden, world tree, or other beginning-point of creation. Often four rivers run to the four corners of the world, and water or irrigate the four quadrants of Earth.


Here's a practical answer from study.com that shows the journey of this phrase:

"The term 'corner' is often used in mathematics to describe the spot at which two lines or planes intersect. In everyday life, we use 'corner' to describe the place where two streets come together.

The phrase, 'four corners of the Earth' means from every direction. Since the Earth is a sphere, it cannot, by definition, have actual corners. The phrase 'four corners of the Earth' comes from the Bible. Some say that it is an erroneous translation that should actually be the four 'extremities' of the Earth. For example, in Isaiah 11:10-12 (New King James Version), the Bible says, '...And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the Earth.' What this means is that people from every direction (north, south, east, and west) will be gathered together."

This seems similar to how the traditions of Christmas have become based on interpretations and translations of religious texts, particularly the Bible, given how dominant it is as a religion.

And we find something very practical about the idea of "four corners", that is, a quadripoint - where four lines meet geographically.  There is only one international quadripoint.  This is a spot in the middle of the Zambezi River, in southern Africa, where Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana all touch.

There are 150 different tripoints in the world - where three nations meet.  


Within countries, who has the most Tripoints?  China has 16, Russia has 14 and Austria has 9. This is the website with the information HERE.  The website is "Everything Explained".   Here's what it has to say about Canada's quadripoint:

The full details are here in Four corners (Canada).

The creation of the Canadian territory of Nunavut might have resulted in the creation of a quadripoint between the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the territories of Nunavut and Northwest Territories (NWT). Nunavut was officially separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999, though the boundaries had been defined in 1993 by the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Both documents define Nunavut's boundary as including the "intersection of 60°00'N latitude with 102°00'W longitude, being the intersection of the Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan borders". However, the northernmost point of the Manitoba–Saskatchewan border as surveyed is slightly off from 60° north 102° west, therefore the laws are not perfectly clear about whether the Nunavut–NWT boundary, which has not been surveyed, is to meet the others in a quadripoint or not.


Here's another manipulated image.  This one might be called "Ascension Towards the Light".  The original motion blur picture is below - it is the birch tree around the corner - the orange is the red brick of the house.
 
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