why does the old birdlady say: birds of the FIVE continents?
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PorkPie007 — 13 years ago(February 11, 2013 03:03 PM)
There was a time when people counted the Americas (North and South) as one continent and failed to include Antarctica at all (perhaps a hangover from a time before much was known about it, primarily that there was a land mass beneath the ice, unlike the North Pole which is rightly not considered a continent to this day because it is only frozen water; either that or because it had/has no permanent/indigenous human inhabitants).
When people talk variously about the five or seven continents, I often find the difference in how they count them is generational. I learned about the seven continents at primary school (in the 1990s), but when discussing this with my mother she considered that there were only five (she was educated in the 1950s/1960s). If children were still being taught about the five continents at the time that the film was made, it seems highly likely that an old woman who learnt elementary geography some decades earlier would also count the Americas as one and omit Antarctica. -
Onholyservicebound — 12 years ago(November 01, 2013 01:06 AM)
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jgroub — 9 years ago(October 28, 2016 10:40 PM)
Oh, really? They sure were able to make it all the way to the Middle East.
To get aboard Noah's Ark.
And then they got all the way back again.
So I, for one, would say that their chances of reaching North America are pretty damned good.
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well. -
Tuggs-2010 — 13 years ago(April 08, 2012 10:14 PM)
She was pretty old, so maybe in her era, Australia wasn't discovered yet
In all seriousness I think we tend to catch goofs like that in older movies because todays viewers tend to be more critical and expect more believability. The Core for example was slammed for being one of the most scientifically inaccurate movies. Had they had filmed it back in the 50's the audience could have cared less that it was inplausible. -
zyggums — 13 years ago(July 18, 2012 03:03 PM)
no you both are wrong. totally. I had to research it myself because everyone here gave outlandish and unsatisfactory answers. According to my own research there were only 5 continents PRIOR TO THE PANAMA CANAL. North and South America joined as one.
This still dosnt answer why the bird expert lady thinks there are birds on only 5 continents, assuming that north and south america were 1, it would leave 6 continents for birds to exist in. so its still unanswered.
"eurasia" has never been a continent. its a term like for a region like "central america" or "middle-east".
The bird lady was an EXPERT, dishing out her knowledge. Of course she was aware of penguin habitat. -
Yorke71 — 13 years ago(July 19, 2012 07:05 AM)
no you both are wrong. totally.
Actually we are all right, or wrong, depending on your point of view. According to Wikipedia there are several systems of numbering the continents, resulting in anywhere from 4 to 7. Some people combine North and South America into one, others combine Europe and Asia, and some people go so far as to combine Europe, Asia and Africa into one!
So there are two ways to explain her statement. There is a five continent model that combines North and South America into one, and Europe and Asia into another. That leaves 5 including Antarctica. Or, she may have just combined North and South America (or Europe and Asia) and ignored the penguins in Antarctica since they are flightless. After all, she may be a bird expert but the script writers probably weren't.
Here is the article, scroll down to the "Number of Continents" section with the chart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent -
zyggums — 13 years ago(July 19, 2012 11:04 AM)
ok i clicked on the link you provided. this is what it says:
The seven-continent model is usually taught in China, India and most English-speaking countries
so the lady was.. NOT a bird expert and was also taught geography outside of the english speaking world. This is the explanation? -
Yorke71 — 13 years ago(July 19, 2012 03:14 PM)
ok i clicked on the link you provided. this is what it says:
The seven-continent model is usually taught in China, India and most English-speaking countries
so the lady was.. NOT a bird expert and was also taught geography outside of the english speaking world. This is the explanation?
Just because the seven-continent model is
usually
taught in English-speaking countries doesn't mean it is universally used by English-speaking people. The first reference for the five-continent model is from
The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2001. New York: Columbia University Press - Bartleby.
, obviously an English-language reference. So why is it so hard to believe that the "Bird lady" would use it? -
lexyladyjax — 13 years ago(August 12, 2012 09:08 AM)
Asia and India are more usually considered to be sub-continents. They aren't always counted separately. That's the answer to your original question without snark. It's more of a political separation to count them separately.
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Badgerman68 — 13 years ago(September 05, 2012 02:25 PM)
Until the late 1960s the standard teaching was that there were five continents: Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe. So there is nothing to question about a character saying it in a film made in 1963.
Most of Europe still teaches a six continent system of Africa, Antarctica, America, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. A lot of geographers also use a six continent system of Africa, Antarctica, Australia/Oceania, Eurasia, North America, and South America.
Seven continents is still not universally accepted and it definitely wasn't when the film was made. -
cristola — 13 years ago(September 15, 2012 08:21 PM)
When I went to school in Europe in the 1980s for a year, they were flabbergasted that I listed 7 continents. They teach Europe, the Americas, Africa, Antarctica, and Oceania (Australia and all of the South Pacific islands). This is also the rationale for the 5 Olympic ringsone for each continent of the world.
I protested that ther are 2 Americas, that 40 miles doesn't count and they said, yes it does, they touch! Then I said how Europe and Asia touch and they said, well, that's different.