Which came first
Which came first, when the answer is not the one that feels right.
What this page collects
Every juxtaposition here trades on the same kind of surprise. Grouping them is a way to find more of the one you liked, rather than a claim that the grouping means anything in itself: the same two subjects could be put together a different way and land somewhere else entirely.
The surprise is almost always the same underneath. People judge historical distance by how much they know about a period rather than by how long it lasted, and we know far more about the recent past, so it feels longer than it was. Everything older collapses toward everything else older. Drawn to scale, that collapse is visible, and the answer stops being a matter of opinion.
Why time feels compressed goes through that properly.
Where does Troy belong?
ancient Homeric-era city in northwest Asia Minor; it is
- Isaac Newtonlived 1642 to 1727
Placed against Isaac Newton
Where does Francis Galton belong?
British eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist
- Troydated 3000 BC, ended 500
Placed against Troy
Where does Stanford University belong?
private research university in Stanford, California, USA
- Albertus Magnuslived 1200 to 1280
Placed against Albertus Magnus