It is admittedly an idle question, but still, while I am here I might as well mention a minor enigma that has been puzzling me ever since I was a child:

Why is it that the ancient peoples (supposedly) saw shapes in constellations - and we can't?

(By "we" I mean every single person I've ever asked about this. And I've asked a lot of people.)


Honestly... when you look at, say, the constellation f Virgo, do you really see a sitting maiden?

When you see the constellation of Leo, do you really see a lion?

As a matter of fact, do you really "see" them even AFTER having been shown the outlines according to the perception of the Ancients?

I know I don't.
And nobody I've asked so far does either.

I don't think it's due to the probable fact that there were many more stars visible (because of the lack of environmental pollution) - which would offer many more reference points - because when I look at the stars in sky maps I still don't see any such shapes.

And it cannot be simply because they had "more imagination", unless the surplus of "imagination" were somehow lost from the DNA of posterior generations... A child small (but bright and/or imaginative) enough would still see the same things today that children - and adults - saw many centuries ago. Seeing shapes in clouds is a very obvious everyday example. We can see them with almost no effort (and not just in clouds) - and yet we don't "see" the formations that the ancient peoples saw in the starry skies.

Anyone else finds that puzzling?


P.S. I see this post landed in the "conspiracy" forum.
So, just for the record, I'd like to declare that I am NOT hinting at any "conspiracies".









[edit on 20-4-2008 by Vanitas]

It's less that we can't, and more that we don't. At the time, they really vbelieved that the Gods sent heroes and villains into the heavens to be forever remembered, and it was also handy for navigation, keeping track of the months and seasons, and astrology.
For that matter, some people still do make constellations, one fellow came up with some, like an X-wing and some others.
Where the ancients used stars to to navigate, we have compasses, GPS, maps, roadsigns, ect. We don't really need constellations, so there havn't been anymore.

Move along, nothing to see here.

[edit on 20-4-2008 by RuneSpider]

It's less that we can't, and more that we don't.

But that's just it: we don't because we can't.

Do YOU see a lion in Leo?
A maiden in Virgo?
(Good for you if you do; but nobody else I've ever asked about this does.)

And it cannot be simply a question of functionality because we surely don't "need" the clouds as orientation points - and yet people, from children to adults, DO see shapes in clouds, with no effort at all.
(Not only that: it is not unusual that there is some "consensus" about the shape perceived. In other words, a shape that is visible to one person is very often visible as such to other people, too. Not so with stars. As I said, even after being shown the outlines of, say, the "maiden" of Virgo, people do NOT see the maiden even if their life depended on it...)





[edit on 20-4-2008 by Vanitas]

I understand what you are saying Vanitas and have wondered the same about some of them.
There are some obvious ones though, Oirion and Scorpio as already mentioned as well as Taurus. Some others are just way too ambiguous for mine.
Maybe the number of stars that can be seen in and the cities has declined like you suggested. That could account for some of them. I know when I go camping I can make out a lot more than at home.