Delhi

Delhi is the natural focal point of northern India, and has been the capital city of many different kingdoms, over more than 2500 years. New Delhi is actually the capital of India today, and is a district within Delhi rather than a separate city.

The city was the center of the Delhi Sultanate for over four hundred years, until it was conquered in 1526 by Babur, who was the founder of the Mughal (or Mogul) Empire. Remember that we saw Babur in the posting on this blog, "Why We Should Understand The Mongols". The Delhi Sultanate had earlier evaded conquest by the Mongols. The Mughals began with central Asian armies extending the domain of Islam, and are known for the magnificent architecture and gardens that they left behind.

The fifth Mughal Emperor was the widely-known Shah Jahan. He is remembered as the builder of the Taj Mahal, as a tomb for his favorite wife, but is also the builder of what is now called the Old City of Delhi. From the Eighteenth to Twentieth Centuries, control of this city that was the natural capital of a wide stretch of south Asia passed between Mughals, Persians, Marathas and, Sikhs.

New Delhi was named as the capital of India in 1912. It is the location of the government district of the country. The center of New Delhi is the Rashtrapati Bhavan, or Presidential Compound. It includes a palace and extensive Mughal gardens. It was the largest residence of a head of state in the world, until President Erdogan of Turkey recently outdid it with an extravagant new palace. India is actually a parliamentary democracy, run by a prime minister, but has a presidential role as well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtrapati_Bhavan#/media/File:Forecourt,_Rashtrapati_Bhavan_-_1.jpg

One of the most familiar sights in Delhi is the India Gate. There is a broad avenue. leading to the Rashtrapati Bhavan from India Gate, known as Rajpath. This is reminiscent of the Champs Elysees in Paris, leading to the Arc de Triomphe, or the National Mall in Washington, leading from Congress past the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. The Canopy, east of India Gate and along the axis formed by Rajpath, is where six roads come together in a way similar to the Arc de Triomphe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Gate#/media/File:India_Gate_from_Rajpath.jpg

Here are some scenes of India Gate, with the Canopy along the same axis of Rajpath, and some of the nearby government buildings. There are actually two central axes of New Delhi, Rajpath and Janpath, which begins at Connaught Place to the north and crosses Rajpath at a perpendicular angle:

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6128563,77.2305308,3a,75y,273h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-IZJP55Hfi4U%2FV7-bv98PLRI%2FAAAAAAAABaE%2FP7EwpCBzkAQtUeQJM9p1ZkoFOxTYeFDIwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-IZJP55Hfi4U%2FV7-bv98PLRI%2FAAAAAAAABaE%2FP7EwpCBzkAQtUeQJM9p1ZkoFOxTYeFDIwCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i4608!8i2304

The following scenes are of India's government buildings. Notice that, along Rajpath, you can see the dome of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential compound, in the distance in one direction, and India Gate in the distance in the opposite direction:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.61386,77.2102428,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-RgaX8RyyqYs%2FUqGINU8TomI%2FAAAAAAACNew%2FTUbU4OHeMJk7NYGbZB_LbRDjOiaZpAU_Q!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-RgaX8RyyqYs%2FUqGINU8TomI%2FAAAAAAACNew%2FTUbU4OHeMJk7NYGbZB_LbRDjOiaZpAU_Q%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i4000!8i2000

South of the government buildings is the diplomatic district if Chanakyapuri, along a road called Shanti Path. The following images begin with a scene that would make any American diplomat feel at home, a baseball diamond. But India's national sport of cricket, which is actually the second-most popular sport in the world, is really not that different from baseball:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5991757,77.1848015,3a,75y,124h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-pTRcQEC0oKM%2FV4CxoQiD-8I%2FAAAAAAAACK0%2FedoPizq7_WIfunoiosJik0W8N7bKQVCwACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-pTRcQEC0oKM%2FV4CxoQiD-8I%2FAAAAAAAACK0%2FedoPizq7_WIfunoiosJik0W8N7bKQVCwACLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352

From the diplomatic district let's move east, to Humayun's Tomb. Upon seeing Humayun's Tomb, one of the best-known sights of Delhi, you may think that the Taj Mahal had been colored red. There is a close resemblance between the two buildings. Both are on the bank of the same Yamuna River. The grounds around both are divided into quadrants. Each mausoleum has a faux tomb one level above the real tomb. Humayun's Tomb is built of white marble and red sandstone, while the Taj Mahal is built of white marble and the adjacent mosque and guesthouse if built of red sandstone.

But Humayun's Tomb is in Delhi, while the Taj Mahal is in Agra. Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor while Shah Jahan, who had the Taj Mahal built, was the fifth. Shah Jahan was the great-grandson of Humayun. Humayun died in 1556, and the tomb was completed in 1571.

But Humayun's Tomb was certainly an inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Some differences are that Humayun's Tomb does not have the opulent gates, or the minarets, that the Taj Mahal does and Humayun's Tomb is in the center of it's grounds, while the Taj Mahal is at one end.

Here are some scenes of Humayun's Tomb. The octagonal tomb with the dome is that of an Afghan noble, and was there before Humayun's tomb.:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5933051,77.2505152,3a,75y,107.32h,88.63t,0.77r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssO8N0kuMP4c1b7QGM1rN3w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsO8N0kuMP4c1b7QGM1rN3w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D354.53784%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

North of the government district and India Gate is Connaught Place. This is a business district, built in the form of a circle. The inner and outer street are named for the mother and son prime ministers of India. The inner for Rajiv Gandhi, and the outer for his mother Indira Gandhi. They were not related to Mahatma Gandhi, Indira got the name by marriage which I am sure did not hurt her political career. They were members of India's long-dominant Congress Party. I can remember when both were assassinated, Indira in 1984 after the raid on the Sikh Golden Temple, and Rajiv in 1991, when a Sri Lankan woman bowed to him but detonated a bomb hidden in her clothing.

Near the circular business district of Connaught place is what is known as the Qutb Complex. This is the remains of structures that go far back in time, further than anything we have seen so far in Delhi. It is the kind of complex that is added to over time, similar to Karnak in Egypt. The Qutb Complex is believed to be on the site of a very old fort, and much of it built from the rubble of destroyed temples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_Minar_complex#/media/File:Qutb_minar_ruins.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_complex#/media/File:Qutub_Minar,_Qutb_complex,_Delhi_-_August_2015_(5).JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_complex#/media/File:Tomb_of_Imam_Zamin,_next_of_Alai_Darwaza,_Qutb_minar_complex.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_complex#/media/File:Qutab_Minar_mausoleum.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_complex#/media/File:Quwwat-al-Islam_Mosque,_Delhi.jpg

Perhaps the most interesting thing at the Qutb Complex is the Iron Pillar. This is from the time of Chandragupta II, more than 1600 years ago, and contains inscription in Sanskrit. The thing that is amazing about it is how it does not corrode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutb_complex#/media/File:QtubIronPillar.JPG

Also not far from Connaught Place is what is known as the Jantar Mantar. It is not as old as the Qutb Complex, being built in 1724. Jantar Mantar is a calendar and astronomical observatory. There are over a dozen separate instruments, and there are others like it elsewhere in India.

The large triangle in the Jantar Mantar is a sundial with it's hypotenuse pointing to the north star so that it is parallel to the earth's axis. Such a sundial can measure not only time of day, but also the time of year. Any point in the sky can be easily located by declination from the north celestial pole, along with it's alignment at a given time of night:

This triangle, with it's hypotenuse parallel to the earth's axis, is in the foreground of the following photo of the Jantar Mantar:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi#/media/File:Jantar_Mantar_Delhi_27-05-2005.jpg

The Jayaprakash Yantra, another instrument in the Jantar Mantar, is literally a map of the sky. The gaps are to look at the stars from inside. There are cross-wires above the map for positioning anything in the sky, and so the sun casts a shadow on the celestial map during the daytime, showing where it is against the background stars, which cannot be seen because of the daylight:

The Misra Yantra determines the shortest and longest days, and can also determine when noon is in any city of the world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi#/media/File:Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi_(Misra_Yantra).jpg

The Rama Yantra is the large cylindrical structures with open top. It measures the altitudes of stars based on latitude and longitude:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi#/media/File:Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi_(Rama_Yantra_2).jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi#/media/File:Jantar_Mantar,_New_Delhi_(Rama_Yantra_2_inside).jpg

Across the street from the Jantar Mantar is the Imperial Hotel. This is where the discussions took place to partition Pakistan and Bangladesh from India, so that Moslems would have their own country. Pakistan and Bangladesh existed as one country for 24 years, known as East and West Pakistan, and this can thus be considered as the birthplace of those countries. But India and Pakistan can never be completely separate. So much Mughal arctiitecture, from the Taj Mahal to Humayun's Tomb, is within India and the river that India was named for, the Indus, is within Pakistan. Hindu, the majority religion, Hindi, the language and India, all come from the name of Indus.

The following scenes are of Jantar Mantar, and the surrounding area,with the first scene being inside the Imperial Hotel. The red geometric structures are the astronomical instruments of Jantar Mantar:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6255551,77.2180986,3a,75y,72.84h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-NlPSOHIcBQE%2FVy3N9VAkpCI%2FAAAAAAAAPPU%2FPJTWOjCFHu0PXQy8MENuRQ6u4A_t9osKwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-NlPSOHIcBQE%2FVy3N9VAkpCI%2FAAAAAAAAPPU%2FPJTWOjCFHu0PXQy8MENuRQ6u4A_t9osKwCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i5376!8i2688

Next, we come to what is known as Old Delhi, which is north of Connaught Place, which is north of Rajpath. Old Delhi was built by Shah Jahan in 1649, and is actually called Shahjahanabad, the City of Shah Jahan. It was a walled city that was the Mughal capital. It included Jama Masjid, the mosque, and the Red Fort, which we will get to shortly. This is believed to be where the Urdu language originated.

Ironically it was Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in Agra, who decided to move the Mughal capital from Agra to Delhi, and this is what he built. He did not start Delhi, it had already been a city for a very long time. This "Old Delhi" of Shahjahanabad is actually the Seventh City of Delhi. New Delhi, which we have seen where the government buildings are, is the Eighth City of Delhi. The Qutb Complex goes all the way back to the First City of Delhi. But these are only the cities of Delhi that archeologists can establish with certainty, there is likely much more before that, which did not survive the destruction and later building of thousands of years.

The walls of Old Delhi, or Shahjahanabad, and the six other certain cities of Delhi that came before it, are mostly gone, but many of the gates remain. in times past, when walls become irrelevant and there is other building going on nearby, the walls are likely to be dismantled so that the material can be used in building new structures. There are many gates in Delhi, remnants of it's long history. Some gates are gone and others are in ruins, but here are some of the remaining gates of Delhi. The India Gate that we have seen, of course, fits New Delhi, the Eighth City of Delhi, in with the past:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Delhi#/media/File:Entry_gate_to_Tugalaqabad_fort_and_palace.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Delhi#/media/File:Lal_Darwaza.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Delhi#/media/File:View_of_Ajmeri_gate.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Delhi#/media/File:Turkman_gate_view.JPG

When Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan decided to move the capital from Agra to Delhi, in 1638, he built the Red Fort as a palace and his residence. It was the Mughal Emperor's residence for nearly two centuries. Today, the Prime Minister of India makes his Independence Day, August 15, speech from the Red Fort.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort#/media/File:Red_Fort_Delhi_1785.jpg

Here are some scenes from the Red Fort, located in the Old City of Delhi:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6558899,77.2400995,3a,75y,95.94h,79.36t,-4.44r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sffDABh0jkjfvOb0hfweV2g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DffDABh0jkjfvOb0hfweV2g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D1.7190212%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

The reign of Shah Jahan was the Golden Age of the Mughals. But their empire began to decline after the death of his son. Persians, led by the great conqueror Nadir Shah, raided the Red Fort in 1739, and the magnificent Mughal throne, the Peacock Throne, was taken. The Peacock Throne had been made during the reign of Shah Jahan, and reportedly cost twice as much as the Taj Mahal to construct.

Have you ever wondered what became of the Peacock Throne? After Nadir Shah was assassinated by some of his own officers, it was never heard from again. Does the throne of the Persian shahs contain some of it's elements or jewels? I once looked at a collection of photos of the lavish celebration when the last shah of Iran had himself crowned shahanshah, "king of kings", in 1967. There was the jeweled throne, and many photos of diamonds. I got the feeling that some of them had been taken from the Red Fort in 1739. Why did the last Shah of Iran also call his throne the Peacock Throne?

This was the Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperors:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_Throne#/media/File:Nadir_Shah_on_the_Peacock_Throne_after_his_defeat_of_Muhammad_Shah._ca._1850,_San_Diego_MOA.jpg

We conclude our visit to this magnificent and ancient city with the mosque complex in Old Delhi. Jama Masjid is the large mosque in the Old City of Delhi, built by Shah Jahan in 1656. The name means "Friday Mosque". There is also a Jama Masjid in Agra. It appears as a cross between the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. Jama Masjid has a vast open court, and is built adjacent to the Red Fort:, in the same was as the Jama Masjid in Agra had been built next to the Agra Fort. Shah Jahan moved the Mughal capital from Agra to Delhi and notice that the positioning of the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid and, Humayun's Tomb, in Delhi, are virtually identical to that of Agra Fort, the Agra Jama Masjid and, the Taj Mahal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Masjid,_Delhi#/media/File:Jama_Masjid_-_In_the_Noon.jpg

Here are some scenes around Jama Masjid, the vast mosque complex in Old Delhi:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6493168,77.2320709,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-a779Bxy7l2o%2FVpiJAXFhx1I%2FAAAAAAAABak%2FMv7VFNeTLLoFgJ9B9MSz0Pe9fBmzzIhWwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-a779Bxy7l2o%2FVpiJAXFhx1I%2FAAAAAAAABak%2FMv7VFNeTLLoFgJ9B9MSz0Pe9fBmzzIhWwCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i4096!8i2048

The Temple Is Still With Us

The content of the investigation, 23) THE COLOSSEUM AND THE VATICAN, from the compound posting, "Investigations", December 2018, is part of this posting.

The world actually forms a tree pattern that leads back to the Temple in Jerusalem. This Temple was central to the story of the Bible, and was destroyed during an uprising against Roman rule in 70 A.D. Here is something that I cannot find has ever been pointed out. Through this tree pattern the Temple is really still with us.

ST. PETER'S SQUARE IS OF THE SAME SHAPE AND DIMENSIONS AS THE COLOSSEUM

Have you ever wondered why St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, is actually shaped like an oval? Every other square that I can see, both in Italy and just about everywhere else, is literally right-angled in form. So why would this "square" actually be shaped like an oval?

As it turns out there is a simple answer. I cannot find anything about this being documented but am not quite sure whether to believe that I am the only one today that knows this.

St. Peter's Square is exactly the same size and shape as the Colosseum, which is about 3.5 km away. This is St. Peter's Square. St. Peter's Basilica is to the left so that the two together have the shape of a key, with the oval form of the "square" being the handle of the key.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9022804,12.4569524,309m/data=!3m1!1e3

Here is the Colosseum, shown from the same altitude. Although the directional alignment of the two is not the same, you can right click and select the "Measure Distance" feature to see that the dimensions of the Colosseum are exactly that of the internal diameter of the Colonnades that give St. Peter's Square it's oval form. Part of the structure of the Colosseum along it's long axis is missing but both measure about 190 meters, or 625 feet.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8902923,12.4922463,309m/data=!3m1!1e3

The oval form of both is not an extreme ellipse, the ratio of the long axis to the short axis being about 1.2 or 6 / 5.

Clearly, St. Peter's Square was constructed to exactly match the Colosseum but this has never been made public.

THE CENTER OF ST. PETER'S SQUARE IS LOCATED EXACTLY ON THE LONG AXIS OF THE COLOSSEUM, AND ALSO THE LATERAN PALACE

There is more to the relationship between St. Peter's Square and the Colosseum. By using the right click and "Measure Distance" option on Google Maps, it draws a straight line between the two points that are clicked on. If we choose the first point as the obelisk in the center of St. Peter's Square and the second point as the far side of the long axis of the Colosseum, the southeastern end, we find something else amazing that has never been made public.

The direction to St. Peter's Square from the Colosseum is exactly along the extension of the long axis of the oval form of the Colosseum.

So St. Peter's Square was not only constructed to match the dimensions of the Colosseum, it was also located to be aligned with the long axis of the Colosseum, although the directional alignment between the two is not the same. The alignment may not be perfect, down to the centimeter, if measured with a laser, but remember that this alignment was set up centuries ago.

That is not all. The original center of the Catholic Church was not the Vatican, as it is today, but the Lateran Palace. The papacy moved, for some time, to Avignon in southern France. When it returned to Rome, the Lateran Palace had been damaged by fire and was relocated to the Vatican instead. The Lateran Palace is still officially the headquarters of the church.

As it turns out the Lateran Palace is located on the opposite side of the Colosseum, which is from ancient Rome and was built before either, from the Vatican. This means that the Lateran Palace was also located on the extension of the long axis of the Colosseum, but in the opposite direction to that of the Vatican with St. Peter's Square.

The Lateran Palace is a large complex, but that means that we can draw a straight line with the Google Maps "Measure Distance" feature from the obelisk in St. Peter's Square to a point in the Lateran Palace complex, and the line will go right along the long axis of the Colosseum.

It turns out that the very center of the cruciform, shaped like a cross, Archbasilica of St. John (San Giovanni) in the Lateran Palace complex is where the straight line leads to. There is an obelisk in the palace complex but that is not on the axis.

But what could these alignments mean? It is reminiscent of the Historical Axis of Paris, but that is no secret. I have searched and searched and cannot find that this alignment in Rome has ever been made public. The Colosseum is the best-known structure from ancient Rome, is the symbol of the modern city of Rome as well as it's geographical center.

It seems clear that this alignment with the Colosseum is an effort by the church to link itself with the power of the Roman Empire, but not to be made public. It could be a symbolic sympathy for those Christians who were martyred by the Roman Empire but it is not clear how many were martyred at the Colosseum, as opposed to the nearby Circus Maximus.

This hidden symbolism supports what we saw in the investigation, "11) SYMBOLISM THEORY OF THE VATICAN AND THE HAGIA SOPHIA, in the compound posting, "Investigations" December 2018.

THE FUNDING TO BUILD THE COLOSSEUM CAME FROM THE WEALTH LOOTED FROM THE TEMPLE

There is another reason for linking the Vatican to the Colosseum. It is well-known that the funding to build the Colosseum came from the wealth that the Romans looted from the Jewish Temple, when they destroyed it in 70 A.D.

Constructing St. Peter's Square so that the obelisk in it's center was aligned with the long axis of the Colosseum, which was built with the wealth taken from the Temple, to the center of the Archbasilica in the Lateral Palace, was the way of making the Vatican the new Temple, even if it was not made public.

The ideal way to accomplish this would, of course, have been to build the Vatican itself with the wealth looted from the Temple. But the Colosseum was built in the First Century, while Christianity was illegal and many Christians would be martyred in the Colosseum. Judaism was a legal religion, but Christians lost that legality when they separated from Judaism by recognizing Jesus as the awaited Messiah.

It was the bones of the martyred St. Peter, the best-known of the Apostles who had actually been with Jesus, over which the Vatican was built, hence the name of St. Peter's Square.

But the center of the Archbasilica of St. John (San Giovanni), in the Lateran Palace complex, which is older than the Vatican, and is much closer to the Colosseum, must have also been built so that it was on the long axis of the Colosseum. This was the precedent for centering St. Peter's Square in the same way.

THE CENTER OF THE DOME OF ST. PETER'S IS ON THE AXIS THROUGH THE ARCH OF TITUS

Putting down the Jewish uprising against Roman rule, which resulted in the destruction and looting of the Temple, had not been an easy battle for the Romans. When it was over, the Arch of Titus was built next to the Colosseum, to memorialize the victory. The engravings on the Arch illustrate the wealth being taken from the Temple which went to build the adjacent Colosseum.

To this day, Jews who visit Rome are not supposed to walk under the Arch of Titus.

The amazing thing is that there is not only the above described axis, through the long axis of the Colosseum, there is also another axis that runs close-by and parallel to it. The center of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica is located on the axis that runs through the Arch of Titus.

THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE WAS BASED ON THE ARCH OF TITUS

We saw in the compound posting on this blog, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris", December 2015, how Paris has been the prototype for cities across the world. 

The centerpiece of Paris is the Arc De Triomphe, a victory arch built by Napoleon. But it was modeled on, and inspired by, the Arch of Titus.

So Paris, which is imitated in so many cities across the world, is centered around the Arc De Triomphe in exactly the same way that Rome is centered around the Colosseum, which was built with the wealth taken from the Jewish Temple when it was destroyed. The Arc De Triomphe is actually modeled on the Arch of Titus, which was built in commemoration of the victory which resulted in the destruction of the Jewish Temple, and depicts the wealth being taken from that Temple which paid for the construction of the Colosseum.

Then we have the alignment. Paris is centered on an alignment, the Historical Axis of Paris or Axe Historique, just as St. Peter's Square and the Archbasilica of the Lateran Palace are aligned along the long axis of the Colosseum and the center of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica is on the axis through the Arch of Titus, which runs parallel to the one through the long axis of the Colosseum.

(Note- The Historical Axis of Paris runs from the statue in the center of the Louvre, through the Arc De Triomphe Du Carrousel, to the obelisk in Place Concorde, through the Arc De Triomphe, to the new Grande Arche. The three arches are in alignment).

THE LINK THROUGH THE FOUR HORSES

Another way that all of this is linked to the world is what we saw in the section 7) FOUR HORSES ALL OVER THE WORLD, in the compound posting "The Aztec Prophecy" April 2018.

This tradition of a statue of four horses actually began with the ones that are in St. Mark's Basilica, in Venice. Those were originally taken from Constantinople, which was established as the capital of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, as Rome was the capital of the western half. 

Napoleon took the four horses from Venice, but then copied them and returned the originals to Venice. Napoleon's copy are the four horses that are atop the Arc De Triomphe Du Carrousel, which is on the Historical Axis of Paris, was built by Napoleon before the larger Arc De Triomphe, and was also modeled on the Arch of Titus.

The bones of St. Mark are in his namesake basilica in Venice, just as the bones of St. Peter are the foundation of his namesake basilica in Rome. St. Mark and St. Peter are closely linked because the first of the Gospels, St. Mark's, was Mark writing for Peter, who was a great speaker but couldn't read or write.

So we have how Paris has influenced the world and the "Four Horses All Over The World" linked back to the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. 

But the four horses originated with the ones in Constantinople. That is where what would be the largest church in the world for a thousand years was built, after Rome became Christianized. 

This great church would have an effect on the world that is nearly incalculable. The church is the Hagia Sophia, the House of Holy Wisdom. We saw it's tremendous influence in the compound posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", January 2016. The original site of the four horses that are now in Venice is right outside the Hagia Sophia.

THE PARALLEL BRANCHES OF THE TREE THAT LINKS THE WORLD TO THE FORMER TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM

Notice all of the paralleling here. There is the two parallel axes in Rome. There is the link between Paris and Rome. There is the parallel of Venice and Rome, St. Mark and St. Peter, which meets the Rome axes at the four horses atop the Arc De Triomphe Du Carrousel in Paris. There is the parallel between the two capitals of the Roman Empire, east and west, Constantinople and Rome.

The link, on the same axis in Paris, between the Arc De Triomphe, which was based on the Arch of Titus in Rome and which celebrates and depicts the wealth that was looted from the Temple and built the Colosseum, and the Arc De Triomphe Du Carrousel, which hosts Napoleon's copy of the four horses in Venice, that were taken from the former capital of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, represents the link between Rome and Venice, which are also linked by hosting the bones of St. Peter and St. Mark. St. Mark wrote the first Gospel for St. Peter, who couldn't read or write. Venice is linked to the Hagia Sophia because the namesake basilica that hosts both the bones of St. Mark and the original four horses is a copy of it.

Can you see how the world is actually branches of the destroyed Temple that was so important in the story of the Bible? All of these parallels are the branches. The Temple has been destroyed but in this way is still with us.

We have seen the Temple Mount, the semi-artificial hill upon which the last Temple was located in the posting on this blog, "Esau And The Temple Mount", February 2016.

Finally, I find it utterly amazing how the Temple being still with us so much resembles the branches of a tree because we saw in the interpretation of Bible prophecy, 2) THE TREE STUMP AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT in the compound posting "New Insight Into Bible Prophecy" October 2017, that I see the tree stump with the band around it, in the Book of Daniel, as a prophecy of the Temple Mount, which would be built centuries in the future, and would remain after the Temple had been destroyed.

The tree being cut down represents the Temple and that is why the Temple being still with us is in the form of a tree.

Bible Readers

For those who read the Bible, don't forget the resources on this blog. 

There is "Insights Into The Bible", http://markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2017/10/insights-into-bible.html?m=0 

There is the book, "New Insight Into Bible Prophecy", https://markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/10/new-insight-into-bible-prophecy.html?m=0 

Also don't forget "The Tomb Of The Patriarchs", https://markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-tomb-of-patriarchs.html?m=0

Mexico City

Mexico City is located in a high-altitude valley that is surrounded by mountains. The Aztec name of the valley is the Valley of Anahuac. There used to be a lake in the valley, Lake Texcoco. The lake has since been drained, and Mexico City is built on the former lake bed and what was once the islands in the lake.

The Valley of Mexico has long been a center of civilization. The first city to appear that is today well-known is Teotihuacan. The city was at it's peak around the year 250 A.D. Many tourists go to see the Avenue of the Dead, with it's two major pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Here is a look at Teotihuacan today.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.6939858,-98.8444206,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Dktsa4p6ax0%2FWBVqsgmLliI%2FAAAAAAAASZg%2FB0onaNtt31EiGi21LO4nzwEZWkXXddG7wCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-Dktsa4p6ax0%2FWBVqsgmLliI%2FAAAAAAAASZg%2FB0onaNtt31EiGi21LO4nzwEZWkXXddG7wCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya77.50001-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

After the decline of Teotihuacan, which may have been due to an internal uprising, the balance of power in the Valley of Mexico shifted first to the Toltecs and then to the Aztecs. The Mexica Indians, from where the name of the country comes, were rulers of the Aztec Empire. Teotihuacan was already long in ruins by the time the Aztecs arrived.

The Aztec Empire was a "Triple Alliance" of three city-states, the best-known of which is Tenochtitlan. This city was built, in 1325, on what was then an island in Lake Texcoco. The site of Tenochtitlan is today near the center of Mexico City.

The Aztecs had a belief that they were to build a city in a place where they saw an eagle that had caught a snake. They saw that on an island in Lake Texcoco, where they then built Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. The image of an eagle holding a snake is on the flag of Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mexico#/media/File:Flag_of_Mexico.svg

The important Aztec temple, Templo Mayor, was found in 1978. The main language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl, is still widely spoken in parts of Mexico. There are radio stations broadcasting in Nahuatl, and other Indian languages are also still spoken as daily languages.

Tenochtitlan was virtually destroyed in 1521, with the arrival with Spaniards led by Hernan Cortes. Tenochtitlan was then rebuilt into Mexico City. What is known as the Historic Center of Mexico City, around what is now Zocalo Square, had also been the center of Tenochtitlan.

Zocalo is also called Plaza de la Constitucion. It is where the Spanish colonial-era Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace, residence of the Mexican president, are located. The name of Mexico, from the Mexica Indians, arose because the Spaniards had difficulty pronouncing many Indian names.

Much of the building materials of the National Palace were salvaged from the destroyed palace of the Aztec emperor at the time of the Spanish expedition, Moctezuma II. Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador, initially rebuilt the former palace of Moctezuma II as his palace. It was rebuilt again, after Mexican independence from Spain, and more improvements were made during the reign of Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I. The National Palace was added to by the long-term president Porfirio Diaz, who was eventually overthrown by what could be called the Second Mexican Revolution.

Adjacent to the National Palace is the Metropolitan Cathedral, also dating from the Spanish colonial era and built over an Aztec ceremonial site, was begun in 1573, and also made use of stone from destroyed Aztec buildings. The Zocalo area, also referred to as the Historic Center of Mexico City, especially suffers from the subsistence of the ground level that plagues Mexico City, caused by excessive pumping of ground water.

Here is a look around Zocalo Square, the Historic Center of Mexico City, with the National Palace and starting inside Metropolitan Cathedral. This is the largest cathedral in the western hemisphere.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4344381,-99.1330774,3a,75y,189.07h,89.86t,0.79r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNIAzewD0GiyI00EJxLLpCw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNIAzewD0GiyI00EJxLLpCw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D102.21192%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Another famous cathedral in Mexico City is the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe. There is both a new and an adjacent old basilica. The old one was closed for extensive repairs, due to the subsistence of ground level on the former lake bed on which Mexico City is built, and the new one opened. The old basilica has also since been reopened. The new basilica is very reminiscent of the modern Catholic cathedral in Liverpool. This is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world. Here is a look, starting in the old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4851367,-99.1169983,3a,75y,200h,89.05t,1.4r/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sCWii0RSk00XfTzWJeBAiuA!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DCWii0RSk00XfTzWJeBAiuA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D69.165215%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Mexico gained independence from Spanish colonial rule in 1821. The country was briefly a monarchy after independence, led by Emperor Agustin de Iturbide. This was followed by what is known as the First Mexican Republic.

There was the Mexican-American War and in 1847 U.S. forces attacked Mexico City, finally capturing Chapultepec Castle. After this the Mexican Civil War, or Reform War, lasted from 1857-60. Mexico City was the capital of the Conservatives in the Reform War, representing institutions such as the church and the army, but the Liberals eventually won the conflict.

While the U.S. was embroiled in it's own Civil War, Napoleon III of France took the opportunity to invade Mexico. The invasion was initially supported by Britain and Spain, and was due to Mexico suspending interest payments on debts to these three nations. Maximilian I, of the Austrian House of Habsburg, was installed as emperor.

This is referred to as the Second Mexican Empire, and was an attempt to permanently set up Mexico as a monarchy. Maximilian I was eventually overthrown and executed, and restored President Benito Juarez. This was a native Indian who became the well-known liberal president who did much to modernize the country, and for whom the Mexican border city, opposite El Paso, is named. The popular Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo, us a celebration of victory over French imperial forces.

One of the best-known streets in the world is Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma. It runs diagonally across the city and was built as a great boulevard by Emperor Maximilian I to run between his imperial residence, Chapultepec Castle, and the city center. It was modeled on the Champs Elysees, in Paris. After the execution of Maximilian, the boulevard was renamed in honor of those who served in the Reform War, the Mexican Civil War.

Here is a look at Chapultepec Castle, starting inside the castle and showing the garden ans adjacent Chapultepec Park.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4204561,-99.1821078,3a,75y,68.33h,89.53t,-0.5r/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s8qKFwi3X1tjqJ5K4ZzfWpA!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D8qKFwi3X1tjqJ5K4ZzfWpA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D294.384%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Not far from Chapultepec Castle, on the Paseo de la Reforma, is the state of the Angel of Independence, celebrating Mexican independence from colonial rule. Here are some views of the area, beginning at the Angel of Independence. The Chapultepec Acqueduct that can be seen was built by the Aztecs.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4267096,-99.1675132,3a,75y,329.95h,116.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soYWnRsPkkM60i_GlWyW1Ug!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DoYWnRsPkkM60i_GlWyW1Ug%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.79794%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

One place that the Paseo de la Reforma also passes by is the site of another Aztec city. This city was Tlatelolco, and it shared the island in the former Lake Texcoco with Tenochtitlan. The ruins of Tlatelolco, like those of Tenochtitlan, are preserved within Mexico City. Tlatelolco is also known for something else. In 1968, just before the start of the Mexico City Olympics, possibly hundreds of demonstrators were shot and killed by the Mexican Army and police.

Here is a look around the ruins of the Aztec city of Tlatelolco, and the nearby square, starting from the Paseo de la Reforma.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4481414,-99.1350429,3a,75y,219.6h,88.41t,1.56r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1stEe-glaRdztZKSHXQrtN7Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DtEe-glaRdztZKSHXQrtN7Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D100.28589%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Angel of Independence was actually built not during the time of Maximilian I, but during the long presidency of Porfirio Diaz, 1876-1911. It's construction in 1910 was for the celebration of Mexican independence.

More stairs were added later due to the incessant sinking of the ground level that plagues Mexico City. Some areas have sunk 9 meters since 1900. Remember from our visit to New Orleans that it suffers from the same problem. The City was rebuilt along the lines of the renovation of Paris, that we saw in the visit there. Diaz planned for the entire city to be rebuilt, with Colonia Roma which is near the Angel of Independence, as a model.

Here is the northern part of Colonia Roma, that Porfirio Diaz wanted to use as a model for the rebuilding of the entire city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4190609,-99.1629929,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-_hvE-GgJPQg%2FV57hBlP20xI%2FAAAAAAAAAgk%2FjEzJdEUGktIf2a9zLArXOxY3_v7r1A9zwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-_hvE-GgJPQg%2FV57hBlP20xI%2FAAAAAAAAAgk%2FjEzJdEUGktIf2a9zLArXOxY3_v7r1A9zwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-23-ya181.5-ro0-fo100%2F!7i7000!8i3500

Here is a look around the vast development, known as Nezahualcoyotl, sometimes referred to as Ciudad Neza, that is built on the former bed of a section of Lake Texcoco that was drained in the early Twentieth Century.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4023139,-99.0176778,3a,75y,116.11h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sHwU1BycBwhen9Tm6g7l8FQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DHwU1BycBwhen9Tm6g7l8FQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D116.11285%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 

This development in the southwest of Mexico City is known as Valle de Chalco.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.2921762,-98.9395443,3a,75y,278.44h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sajMDN8lnrh-1q5v5Klq1GQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DajMDN8lnrh-1q5v5Klq1GQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D278.44086%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the Polanco area of Mexico City. A lot of wealthy people live here.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4340199,-99.1956012,3a,75y,242.36h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM-8NErnR2DwXIfvqk1BftB7W_XuJXIwxX6X46-!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM-8NErnR2DwXIfvqk1BftB7W_XuJXIwxX6X46-%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya242.36334-ro0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

West of Mexico City is the city of Toluca.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.288023,-99.661026,3a,75y,257.52h,120t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOQ3VcqAtPONLI9mSsxriI8T9LsVoqWx-YUamUm!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOQ3VcqAtPONLI9mSsxriI8T9LsVoqWx-YUamUm%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-30.000002-ya160.02344-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Remembering The Aztec Prophecy

 With our visit to Mexico City today, don't forget "The Aztec Prophecy", April 2018. This compound posting is all about different prophecies. The first six sections are about The Aztec Prophecy. 

I named it "The Aztec Prophecy" because it was the first prophecy like that I thought of. I added more prophecies as I came up with them.

In "The Aztec Prophecy" there is also the story of the Aztecs and the origin of Mexico City. Here is a link to "The Aztec Prophecy",

http://www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-aztec-prophecy_28.html?m=0

The Human Complexity Ratio

Out there somewhere is a very important number. 

My information theory, "The Theory Of Complexity", August 2017, establishes that complexity, which is simply an amount of information, can be quantified, meaning that a number can be put on it. 

We usually describe complexity in subjective terms, such as "less complex than" or "much more complex than", but, if complexity is a volume of information, it must somehow be possible to put a quantitative number on it.

My information defines the quantity of information as the numerical value of the denominator when something is expressed as a fraction or ratio. Complexity is always expressed as a dimensionless whole number.

Now we know that we, our bodies and brains, are more complex than our inanimate surroundings, even though we are made of the same kinds of atoms. But if we are more complex than our inanimate surroundings, and complexity can be expressed as a number, then there must be some number that expresses how many times more complex we are than our inanimate surroundings.

Since complexity, the amount of information, is so primary to us, and since we interact with our surroundings in all we do, we should expect that this number would be very important and would show up in so many things that we do.

We can see this difference in the two complexity levels, our higher complexity level relative to the lower complexity of our inanimate surroundings, in many ways.

Having free will would not make any sense unless we were more complex than our surroundings. Free will means that we can be wrong and can make mistakes. But we can only be wrong about anything if there is not enough complexity in our surroundings to manifest every arrangement that our minds can conceive of. This can only mean that we must be more complex than our surroundings.

We can see this difference in complexity in what I will call "Identifiable Dimensions". With planets, for example, there is no identifiable top, bottom or, sides. The same is true of an ordinary rock, it does not have an identifiable top or bottom or sides.

But when we come to living things, beginning with plants, this changes. Unlike inanimate matter, such as a rock, a plant has a definable top and bottom. When a living thing has free will, unlike a plant, it will also have a definable front and back. 

This is the complexity of a thing, whether living or not, showing up as the number of definable dimensions. 

0 = inanimate non-living

1 = living but no free will, such as plants

2 = living and with free will

We have one dimension remaining that is undefined, our sides. We are essentially the same from one side to the other. If there was a being a major step above us in complexity we could expect that, unlike us, it would be different from one side to the other.

But while our lateral, side to side, dimension is undefined, there are a couple of interesting things about it.

First, our hands are our side-to-side feature that is the most guided by our brains, according to our will. But, since our brains are more complex than our bodies, this does impart a degree of definition to our lateral dimension. This definition shows up as handedness, with people tending to be either right- or left-handed.

Second, our internal organs are not quite symmetrically arranged from side-to-side. It is the organs involved in the processing of food and distribution of nutrients, the stomach, intestines, liver and, heart that break the side-to-side symmetry. But remember that all of our food is ultimately based on plants, and we saw that plants have one definable dimension. This break in our lateral symmetry of the digestive organs is the information of the definable dimension in plants showing up.

If our brains were not more complex than our bodies, we would not be able to recognize each other. We would be able to recognize another human being, but not to tell one from another.

We can tell that our bodies are more complex than our surrounding inanimate environment because, when a person dies, the environment breaks down the complexity of the body to it's simpler level.

The more complex something is, the more possibilities there are to go wrong. A medical textbook shows all that can go wrong with the human body and can be taken as a representation of how much more complex we are than our inanimate surroundings.

When we use technology, we are imposing our higher level of complexity on our inanimate surroundings. A cup, for example, may seem like a simple piece of technology. But to really understand a cup, it would be necessary to understand why we would make it. How we can get materials from the earth to make the cup, how we would hold the cup with our hands, why we would need to drink the water or other liquid that the cup holds.

We know that energy can never be created or destroyed, but only changed in form. But, if this is true then why can't we reuse energy? It is because we are at a higher level of complexity than our inanimate surroundings, and when we use technology we are imposing our complexity on our inanimate surroundings. Once we use energy, it goes back to the surrounding environment, with it's lower level of complexity. We, with our higher level, cannot get it back in useful form.

So we know that we are more complex than our inanimate surroundings, and we know that complexity is quantifiable, meaning that we can put a number on it. The conclusion is this number, which I am calling the "Human Complexity Ratio", must be a very important number that we can expect to show up all around us.

Having a look at how this number might show up can help us to determine what it is. Following are some ways I have tried to do that.

The first thing that we might look at is the human body. If the body was homogeneous, the same throughout, it would be no more complex than it's surrounding inanimate environment. But that is not the case, the body has multiple organs that work together. We could expect that, the more separate organs the body has that work together, the more complex it will be. I think the number of major organs comprising the body must be equal to the number of times more complex the body is than the surrounding inanimate environment, which I define as the Human Complexity Ratio.

In my complexity theory plants are more intricate than the surrounding inanimate environment, meaning that they have more complexity per mass, but are actually no more complex, contain no more information, than the surrounding environment. That is why plants do not require free will. But we depend on plants for food and my thought is that the number of plants that we need for an optimum balanced diet, either directly or indirectly through meat, should equal the Human Complexity Number. Remember that much of the crops today have resulted from cross-breeding different plants, and the number would be the total number of those plants.

There is a temperature range on earth, from cold to hot. While we may be able to survive anywhere on earth, we are comfortable in only a narrow fraction of that temperature range. Since we have more complexity than the surrounding environment, this is what we should expect and the ratio of the total range to our comfort range is equal to the Human Complexity Ratio. This is about only the temperature range on earth, our environment, and not the range of temperatures in the universe, or down to absolute zero.

Humans can sense only a limited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that comes from the sun. As with the temperature range, this is what we should expect if we are more complex than our inanimate environment, and the ratio of the total solar spectrum to the visible light that we can see and the infrared that we can feel as heat is equal to the Human Complexity Ratio.

Whenever we make or build anything, we are imposing our higher level of complexity on our surrounding environment, and we can expect that the Human Complexity Ratio will show up there also. If a house is built, without financial constraints, my feeling is that the optimum number of rooms, without being too many, will be equal to the Human Complexity Ratio. We build houses to shield our higher complexity level from the surrounding lower complexity level, and we can expect that the house will reflect this complexity. This is why things that we make or build have a tendency to decay, break down or, malfunction. The lower level of complexity in the surrounding environment is trying to equalize the higher level that we have imposed on whatever we make.

If our houses reflect our higher level of complexity, but we have to be able to operate in each room of the house, obviously our houses must be a scale larger than us. But this scale difference should reflect the complexity difference. I got the idea that the ratio of the width of all doors of a house should average out to be the reciprocal of the Human Complexity Ratio, relative to the total circumference of the house. This, of course, only involves the first floor of the house.

We see and interact with our surrounding environment at our higher level of complexity. What I am thinking is that the number of broad classifications of labor and the number of broad classifications of education subjects should generally be a reflection of the Human Complexity Ratio.

The number that I finally decided on as the value of the Human Complexity Ratio is 18. This means that we are 18 times as complex as our surrounding environment, and the answer to all of the above examples is either 18 or 1 / 18.

There is an explanation of this Theory of Complexity, in a single posting, in "How Information Works", April 2019. Here is a link to it,

http://www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-information-works.html?m=0

Sao Paulo

When St. Paul, the apostle in the Bible, was aboard a ship that was hindered by a storm, as described toward the end of the Acts of the Apostles, could he have imagined that someday, several centuries on, the Roman Empire would fragment, and it's Latin language would develop into a number of different languages? One of those new languages, on the far western fringe of the Roman Empire, where Paul would never visit, would be called Portuguese.

Far in the distant future, a Portuguese ship would be trying to sail eastward, to the other side of the world. But the ship would be knocked off course by a storm, much like the one that was afflicting the ship that Paul was on. The ship would lose it's way, and drift westward, until it encountered a vast continent that had previously been unknown. (It is nor known with certainty whether Brazil was discovered accidentally or not).

A Portuguese-speaking settlement would be founded on the new continent. A great city would grow up there that was just about the largest city in the world, and the city would be named for St. Paul.

Sao Paulo, Portuguese for St, Paul, was originally based on trade in gold, then sugar cane, then coffee. Now, it is the financial center of Brazil. The name of the city comes from a mission named for St. Paul.

It was the destination of great numbers of immigrants. The local dialect of Portuguese has been affected by the Italian spoken by so many new arrivals. There is the largest Japanese community, outside of Japan. Sao Paulo is believed to be the largest city in the western hemisphere, and also the southern hemisphere.

The following scenes are of Iberapuera Park, in Sao Paulo. The stone monument of a large number of people are of the Bandeiras, the early Portuguese settlers and adventurers who went from coastal Sao Paulo deep into Brazil's interior in search of wealth. The obelisk monument is to celebrate a one-time uprising of Sao Paulo, against the government of Brazil. This uprising might be thought of as a Brazilian version of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, but which did not overthrow the government. Like Mexico Brazil was an empire, rather than a democracy, after gaining independence, but for a lot longer than Mexico.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5853978,-46.6556644,3a,75y,249.61h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0e4atys7HeC_xpwmHTkTCQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0e4atys7HeC_xpwmHTkTCQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D235.23721%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Cathedral of Sao Paulo was built where the original settlement that became Sao Paulo began.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5511359,-46.6343089,3a,75y,143.08h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNhq2Q2T0HhXcLpd_UICUlA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNhq2Q2T0HhXcLpd_UICUlA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D145.44096%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is Paulista Avenue, the financial center of Sao Paulo, and the surrounding area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5573617,-46.6607746,3a,75y,302h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-lBGb4ikl26Q%2FV8yOd9JBCHI%2FAAAAAAAAUxQ%2F-dx9hZEKdZE6dtY50ULNBc4uWq0RMecLgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-lBGb4ikl26Q%2FV8yOd9JBCHI%2FAAAAAAAAUxQ%2F-dx9hZEKdZE6dtY50ULNBc4uWq0RMecLgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya106.93601-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i7680!8i3840

Here is the Bela Vista neighborhood.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5611759,-46.6451276,3a,75y,304.69h,90.37t,2.07r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sL7nykwYK42QLcd7e-4p8tA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DL7nykwYK42QLcd7e-4p8tA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D34.685875%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the Jardins neighborhood, to the north of Iberapuera Park. Sao Paulo is known to be a very expensive city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5718476,-46.6745596,3a,75y,224.33h,89.77t,1.25r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCSkqT0Um7soQZeGjSvk9TQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DCSkqT0Um7soQZeGjSvk9TQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D126.23936%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The center of Sao Paulo is wealthy but, as in Rio de Janeiro, there are areas that are not as wealthy.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5369204,-46.8978791,3a,75y,52h,83t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNxXDWcKeAGX06Imj4tJpgA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNxXDWcKeAGX06Imj4tJpgA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D52.5%26pitch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the neighborhood known as Ipiranga.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5902177,-46.6011567,3a,75y,271.04h,90.79t,-0.6r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sP2NH7PDtUO4Np8f5ke9Mpg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DP2NH7PDtUO4Np8f5ke9Mpg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D20.138367%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 

Moving further from the city center, this area of northeastern Sao Paulo is known as Guarulhos.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.451674,-46.5384846,3a,75y,161.31h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sQF1GEDWCFMnoEtGdUjue4Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DQF1GEDWCFMnoEtGdUjue4Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D161.30817%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 

Toward the south of this vast city is the area of San Bernardo Do Campo.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.692628,-46.5677001,3a,75y,158.53h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sUSnE9Cgu2cg52zL-xXmhsA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DUSnE9Cgu2cg52zL-xXmhsA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D158.52905%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 

This western part of the city is called Osasco.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.5360584,-46.7936019,3a,75y,40h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN5ewRdEvmm5TwwHtKzpEjRoNPDjdCIyLekJ5Y!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN5ewRdEvmm5TwwHtKzpEjRoNPDjdCIyLekJ5Y%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya94.245186-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600 

To the northwest of Sao Paulo is the city of Campinas. This is a residential neighborhood in Campinas.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-22.9196475,-47.0365026,3a,75y,288.06h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1skMyoJLBfhJ8k9-jMSK-SGA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DkMyoJLBfhJ8k9-jMSK-SGA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D288.06238%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Why Nothing Can Move Faster Than The Speed Of Light

What I really like about the cosmology theory that I have developed is that it makes so much so easy to explain. Concepts that seem to be very complex become explainable as simple arithmetic or geometry.

A great mystery is why nothing can ever move faster than the speed of light. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity explains it as an object gaining mass as it moves at ever-faster speeds until, at the speed of light, it will have infinite mass. Accelerating it to higher speeds would require an infinite amount of energy which is, of course, impossible.

The speed of light can be measured with precision. It is about 300 million meters per second, or 186, 282 miles per second.

What differs about my cosmology theory, compared to other theories, is how we are a part of cosmology ourselves. Science usually presumes that we have an unbiased view of our surroundings. But my theory is that we are part of the universe ourselves. To understand the universe we have to understand that we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are.

We can see and move in three spatial dimensions, and so conventional science presumes that is how many there are. But we also experience time. Time is often recognized as a dimension and Relatively refers to "space-time". But it had never been explained just exactly what time is.

So many otherwise difficult-to-explain mysteries just fall into place if we consider that we actually inhabit four spatial dimensions, one of which we experience as time. The elementary particles of which matter is composed, such as electrons, are really strings in four dimensions. We perceive them as particles because we can only see in three of the four dimensions.

There has long been a feeling that matter is actually composed of strings, and various forms of "string theory" have been around since 1968.

This idea of matter actually consisting of strings in four dimensions immediately, and simply, explains two of the greatest mysteries of the universe. It is the first plausible explanation that I have ever seen of what time actually is. It also explains why the speed of light is what it is, instead of some other speed. Otherwise, although we can measure the speed of light with precision, we cannot explain why it is that speed instead of some other speed.

The simple answer is that both time and the speed of light is within us. What we perceive as time is our consciousnesses moving along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains. The rate at which it moves is what we perceive as the speed of light.

The universe, as we know it, began with the Big Bang. My theory has a simple explanation of what caused the Big Bang, other theories detail what happened after but do not explain what caused it. Everything in the universe moved outward from the Big Bang. All energy in the universe can ultimately be traced to the Big Bang.

My cosmology theory has motion, which requires energy, as actually angles in the strings, or bundles of strings, comprising matter. The greater the angle, the faster we perceive the object to be moving, as our consciousness proceeds past it at what we perceive as the speed of light. 

The speed of light is actually a 90 degree angle in a string, or bundle of strings, that we perceive as moving because it is our consciousness that is actually moving. The speed of light is the fastest possible speed because a right angle is the greatest possible angle.

What became all of the matter in the universe was thrown outward from the Big Bang. All of the energy in the universe also derives from the Big Bang. 

But if the only energy is of that which moves away from the Big Bang, that means it is impossible to move back toward the site of the Big Bang. Energy may be diverted sideways from the direction outward from the Big Bang, becoming more difficult as the angle increases, but it would be impossible to use the energy of moving outward from the Big Bang to move back toward the site of the Big Bang. With everything moving outward from the Big Bang, there would be no "wall" to bounce off to move back toward the site of the Big Bang.

This neatly and simply explains the mystery of why nothing can move faster than the speed of light, and also why time always moves forward. The two are related. A number of people have already conjectured that the way to travel backwards in time is to find a way to move faster than the speed of light.

If everything is moving outward from the Big Bang then wouldn't we see that reflected in space travel? If we could pinpoint the direction in space that the Big Bang took place then we should be able to travel faster in space going away from it because it would be "swimming with the current". Then it might be possible to move faster than the speed of light.

The trouble with that is we cannot pinpoint the direction in space in which the Big Bang took place. We can detect the background radiation from the Big Bang but, allowing for the movement of the earth through space, it seems to be coming at us equally from all directions.

If we lived in three dimensions of space then we should be able to pinpoint the direction in space in which the Big Bang took place. The only way to explain why we can't is that there is another dimension of space that we can't see or move at will in. The site of the Big Bang must be in this direction.

We cannot pinpoint the site of the Big Bang in space, but we know that it took place in the past, and was effectively the beginning of time. Since the site of the Big Bang must be somewhere in space, this explains what time is. It can only be a dimension of space, although we cannot see it.

This then explains that matter is indeed strings, as has been conjectured for decades. We see matter as composed of particles such as electrons, rather than strings, because we can see in only three of the four dimensions over which matter was thrown outward by the Big Bang.

So for us to experience time as we do, our consciousness must be moving along the bundles of strings that must comprise our bodies and brains. This explains what the speed of light is. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity revolves around it but we can see no reason why the speed of light is what it is, rather than some other speed.

The speed of light can only really be the speed at which our consciousness moves along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains. That is why everything, including mass and time, seem to revolve around the speed of light but we can find no reason, in terms of physics, why it is the speed that it is rather than some other speed.

This shows that the universe is really stationary. That is why my cosmology theory is called "The Theory Of Stationary Space". The universe seems to be in motion, which is actually relative angles in the strings and bundles of strings, because it is our consciousness that is moving along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains, which are aligned primarily in the dimension of space that we perceive as time, at the rate that we perceive as the speed of light.

The universe is stationary. The only "new" movement is that brought about by living things. Time is a property of living things. The principle of entropy is often cited to prove that time moves only in one direction. If an open bottle of ink is submerged in an aquarium, the ink will disperse out into the water much more easily than it will go back into the bottle, which would be time reversing.

But every meaningful example of entropy that I have ever heard of involves either living things or items made by living things, such as the bottle of ink and the aquarium. This shows that time is really within us, a property of living things.

Remember my principle that there are so many unanswered mysteries of the universe because we presume that we have an unbiased view of the universe. To really understand the universe we have to realize that we are part of it, and we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are.

A bundle of strings in four-dimensional space appears to us as an object in three-dimensional space. If the bundle of strings is at an angle relative to the bundles comprising our bodies and brains, it will appear as an object in motion as our consciousness moves along. If the object is at a right angle to our bundles, we will perceive it as moving at the speed of light.

This means that if the bundle of strings comprising an object could be bent past the right angle position, not only would we see it as moving faster than the speed of light, but also traveling backward in time.

This might seem like a simple matter but it cannot be done because all of the energy that could propel the object, bending it's bundle of strings at an angle, is moving outward from the Big Bang. Energy can be diverted in a lateral direction, to the sides from the dimension of space that we perceive as time and along which the strings of matter are primarily aligned, to some extent but can never bend a bundle of strings back in the direction of the Big Bang, which we perceive as the past in our time dimension.

That is why no object can move faster than the speed of light. My cosmology theory explains it so simply. This theory of how the universe really operates has got to be correct. Remember the principle in physics known as "Occam's Razor", that the simplest explanation of something usually turns out to be the best explanation.

A more detailed explanation of the cosmology theory is in the posting on this blog, "In Cosmology Everything Just Fell Right Into Place",

 http://markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-cosmology-everything-just-fell-right.html?m=0

After The Pandemic

 I see the world as moving in a definite direction due to the pandemic. The world will certainly be different but just how will it be different?

First comes globalization. The world will have to move closer together than it already is. With international travel being so widespread, nations have to work together on this, in case it should happen again. Having each nation decide for itself how to handle the virus means that international borders have to be essentially closed. The post-virus world order will have to have closer global cooperation than is the case today.

This virus is a great boost for the internet. As important in daily life the internet is already, this will make it even more important. It is just about the greatest thing that ever happened to the internet. What would this have been like if people couldn't work and study from home? Life will be lived increasingly online.

But so many people lack satisfactory internet access. With internet access becoming ever-more important, in case it is necessary to work at home again, it is vital for everyone to have high-speed Internet access. The surest way to accomplish this is to make internet access into a utility, like water and electricity.

If making internet access into a utility, taking control of it from private companies although it may still be managed by those companies, seems socialistic this leftward trend will have to continue in the making of health coverage for all absolutely mandatory. If someone thinks that they might have contracted a virus, it is essential that they go and get tested and treated immediately, before they spread it to other people. They will obviously be less likely to do that if they are worried about being covered or how much it will cost to get tested and treated.

The next subject is a basic guaranteed income for everyone. If someone cannot work, whether because of being sick or because their place of employment had to let them go, their resulting lack of consumer spending hurts the economy, causing other people to lose their jobs and thus perpetuating the cycle. The way around this is to give everyone a certain guaranteed income, and this was underway in many places before the virus. This will keep the economy going while there are people who cannot work. It is not a question of meritocracy because it is not a worker's fault if something like this virus happens.

Another reason for implementing a basic guaranteed income is the possible need to quarantine. If a person is told that they might have been exposed to the virus and to quarantine for two weeks, how are they supposed to support themselves? Doesn't it make sense that the only realistic way to get people to cooperate with quarantining and contact tracing is to give them a guaranteed income?

The next topic is authoritarianism, or even dictatorship. The truth is that authoritarian societies have handled this virus a lot better than freer societies. Societies with a strong emphasis on individual personal freedom, such as the U.S. and Britain, have been among those that have suffered the worst. History often operates in cycles and if 1989 represented the ascent of democracy then 2020 represents it's decline.

Remember that, just before this pandemic started, we saw in the compound posting, "Economics" November 2019, two particular sections, 8) THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY, about where democracy is headed, and 9) THE MARKETPLACE ECONOMY AND CATACLYSM, about how the marketplace economic model that we use that I wrote after this virus began.

Remember, with the U.S. election approaching, that it is impossible to really understand U.S. politics without understanding how it goes back to the French Revolution. France helped America gain independence, and was the first nation to give it diplomatic recognition, but the French king and queen were overthrown and guillotined not long after, and America's Republican Party is actually the continuation of the Bourbon Dynasty.

I wrote the compound posting, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris" December 2015, before Donald Trump was elected and explained why a Republican president is actually a king, and can be expected to act like one. It is not possible to understand U.S. politics without understanding that.

Chile

Chile is an extremely elongated country on the Pacific coast of South America. The country is basically the land between the Andes Mountains and the ocean. Chile is about 4200 km (2600 miles) long, but an average of only about 160 km (100 miles) wide. The largest population center and capital city of Santiago is about in the middle of the north-south length of the country. Valparaiso is roughly adjacent to Santiago on the coast.

If you live in a northern hemisphere temperate climate zone, you may have noticed seeing "Product of Chile" when you buy produce in the winter. Chile has taken advantage of it's location in the southern hemisphere, which means that it's agricultural growing season is opposite of countries in the northern hemisphere, where the majority of the world's people live.

Chile is rich in minerals and is also known for mining, which can sometimes be dangerous. In 2010, people around the world followed the brilliant rescue of 33 miners that had been trapped far underground by a collapse for 69 days. Holes had been drilled by which food and supplies could be lowered to the miners, who communicated by written notes. The miners were brought to the surface one-by-one in a specially-constructed capsule. It was a very delicate operation because any drilling might cause a further collapse.

Chile is also prone to earthquakes, as the widening of the Atlantic seafloor by magma emergence along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge pushes South America against the Pacific Tectonic Plate. It is actually a subduction zone where one plate slips under another, which causes some of the most powerful quakes of all. Earlier in 2010, there was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded off the coast of Chile. It caused a tsunami and massive blackout and over 500 people were killed. The quake was so powerful that it caused a measurable shift in the earth's rotation but, of course, caused nowhere near the destruction of the earthquake in Haiti the month before.

Santiago dates from the Sixteenth Century and is one of Spain's original "conquistador cities". that were started at the time South America was settled by Spain. The following scenes begin in the Plaza de Armas, or central square, of Santiago. As in so many cities of Latin America, there is the country's main cathedral facing the central square in the capital city, and also other government buildings. But Santiago's main cathedral is not as old as the city itself. The former judicial building is now the national museum. If you see La Moneda, in Constitution Plaza, that is where the President of Chile lives.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.4373184,-70.6508139,3a,75y,104.98h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOlLHPtYTfsRtb9Bo7wxeHWj97U5Es-S_16tkbN!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOlLHPtYTfsRtb9Bo7wxeHWj97U5Es-S_16tkbN%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya221.77763-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This street is Avenue Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, named for Chile's independence leader. Yes, that is an Irish name. His father was Irish. Isn't this a coincidence, Eamon de Valera, the founder of modern Ireland, has a Spanish name.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.4497858,-70.6753881,3a,75y,105.47h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sHmjWi0BXutpxtdh_ZweJZg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DHmjWi0BXutpxtdh_ZweJZg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D108.346725%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes begin on Santa Lucia Hill, in the middle of Santiago.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.4410678,-70.6436927,3a,75y,134.06h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slSH0g1NHneppOj-5XxRf3w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlSH0g1NHneppOj-5XxRf3w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D139.22783%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the modern development known as the Costanera Center. The Grand Torre is the tallest building in South America.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.4176208,-70.6059932,3a,75y,150.27h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMIybwAEKesJrdpJ4zxo6HXwB7qq58_a0ysJHyE!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMIybwAEKesJrdpJ4zxo6HXwB7qq58_a0ysJHyE%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya154.51204-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

The city of Valparaiso is less than 100 km from Santiago and is on the coast. There has been many immigrants from Europe arriving in Valparaiso, and it was a great port city before the opening of the Panama Canal. The following scenes of Valparaiso begin in Plaza Sotomayor.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.0385963,-71.6289206,3a,75y,174.71h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPQGJF_6EaSqHPavKeoqlV2IGMRKL3lqCJzmmRL!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPQGJF_6EaSqHPavKeoqlV2IGMRKL3lqCJzmmRL%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya305.55835-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

This is the northern city of Antofagasta, which is over 1,000 km north of Santiago and Valparaiso, and was once part of Bolivia. This is where the "War of the Pacific" began, in the late Nineteenth Century, which resulted in Chile gaining the valuable area which is now known to be rich in copper, and in Bolivia losing it's seacoast. The war began over Bolivia raising taxes on Chilean investments, after Chile claimed it signed a treaty agreeing not to. Bolivia had a secret treaty with Peru, which was also brought into the war. Although Bolivia is allowed to use the port, as Chile agreed to, the two countries still do not have formal diplomatic relations. Although Bolivia has since been landlocked, it has not disbanded it's navy.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-23.6242012,-70.3870715,3a,75y,34.5h,105t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ss_hcWv7Zgcr2PxPKcKQyMA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Ds_hcWv7Zgcr2PxPKcKQyMA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D34.500004%26pitch%3D-14.999996%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Chile is in the southern hemisphere. It also has high mountains and the driest desert in the world. What all of that adds up to is astronomy.

Since the vast majority of the earth's population live in the northern hemisphere, the northern stars have been much-more studied than the southern stars. Astronomical observatories need very special locations. To get the best vision of outer space, the observatory should be as high as possible and in an area that is as dry as possible. It is also necessary to be far away from the bright lights of a city, which will drown out faint stars.

The best place is thus on a mountain in the desert, and it's even better if it's in the southern hemisphere. Although telescopes are now moving above the atmosphere altogether, with the Hubble Space Telescope  that has been a fantastic success far exceeding anyone's expectations and the James Webb Telescope which is being built to succeed it, Chile has made itself into probably the world center of ground-based astronomy.

We saw the Mount Wilson Observatory on the blog of Travel Photos Of North America. So much of what we know about the universe was discovered there, along with the observatory at Mount Palomar not too far away. But the usefulness of the Mount Wilson Observatory has long since been compromised by the bright lights of nearby Los Angeles.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5492/3756/1600/dc_250993.jpg

There are actually many astronomical observatories in Chile today. The best-known is probably the one at Cerro Tololo. Despite the endless fascination with outer space, have you ever though about how difficult it must be to make a living at it? Not only do you have to work all night on a mountain out in the desert, but there should not be any heating because the resulting convection currents could distort the vision of the telescope.

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