Started an argument with my much smarter wife because she said North and South America are not two separate continents. She was right, because continents are only defined by convention.

  • Laurel Raven@lemmy.zip
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    3 months ago

    Regardless of which definition you go with, someone saying North and South America are one continent but Europe and Asia are two separate continents are at the very least being inconsistent

  • Dagnet@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I remember many years ago I was playing WoW and the conversation in guild chat was about continents so I said that in my country America is a single continent. That moment an American in guild flipped the fuck out and got really mad at me even suggesting that his great country could be in the same continent as mine (Brazil) going as far as saying “that’s so fucking dumb, next you will say Europe and Asia are the same continent?!” which is funny cause eurasia is a thing, what a dumbass.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Some states do indeed codify this in law, but the definition varies by state. Michigan and Minnesota for two if I’m remembering correctly.

    • Klear@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Huh. In my language the difference is that a pond is artificial (generally for farming fish), but apparently that’s a fishpond in English and pond can be natural. TIL.

  • Gladaed@feddit.org
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    3 months ago

    There is a useful way to do it: By looking at Tectonic Plates and their boundaries.

    • Denvil@lemmy.one
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      3 months ago

      According to the image on Wikipedia depicting the plates, there would then be 17 continents, although some of those 17 would be entirely ocean, or only small islands

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I’m really surprised this is the first time I’ve seen Africa as two continents. The Great Rift Valley is well known but I just hadn’t heard going the next logical step

        • Klear@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          These are not continents. The image is more of an illustration of why tectonic plates are not a good way to redefine continents not be arbitrary.