Who owns the centre of the Earth?

[Svartalf]

Arne Saknussemm

nice one sir.

[Thinking Aloud]

I don't know about the centre, but the core is being lusted over by the Daleks, who will arrive in 2164 (or thereabouts) and attempt to extract it using slave labour and pit-props, via a huge hole in Bedfordshire.

[Cormac]

Considering the small things men obsess over, I find the point hardly rational.

Quite right. The clitoris really isn't that important, all things considered...

[rasetsu]

Considering the small things men obsess over, I find the point hardly rational.

Quite right. The clitoris really isn't that important, all things considered...

You've just been caught obsessing. Punked!

[laklak]

The centre of the earth is a point. It has no spatial dimensions. Who cares who owns an infinitely small thing.

All the angels dancing on it.

[Drewish]

Jules Verne

[Cormac]

Considering the small things men obsess over, I find the point hardly rational.

Quite right. The clitoris really isn't that important, all things considered...

You've just been caught obsessing. Punked!

Dammit!

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Arne Saknussemm

nice one sir.

I did wonder if anyone would get the reference...

[PsychoSerenity]

The centre of the earth is a point. It has no spatial dimensions. Who cares who owns an infinitely small thing.

Best response in the thread so far!

Considering how large sectors of the global economy are now based on entirely immaterial property, and the abstract nature of modern financial wealth, I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone does try and dispute ownership at some point.

[pErvinalia]

[Jason]

The centre of the earth is a point. It has no spatial dimensions. Who cares who owns an infinitely small thing.

Best response in the thread so far!

Considering how large sectors of the global economy are now based on entirely immaterial property, and the abstract nature of modern financial wealth, I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone does try and dispute ownership at some point.

As I said, the borders of every country on earth extend radially from the surface to the earth's centre. So the only dispute would be over ownership of the mass under international waters. In case anyone wants to ask who owns the atmosphere, national borders extend 161km into it so each country owns their own portion of the troposphere, tropopause, ozone layer, mesosphere, stratosphere, and a 71km thick section of the ionosphere. These borders also extend radially from the earth's centre so naturally the 'area' of stratosphere a nation owns is larger than the nation's landmass.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Actually, nobody owns any of it! There is just an agreement between humans that that is the case but ask any migratory bird its onion on national boundaries and similar hegemonies...

[Jason]

Migratory birds cannot carry onions! It's a simple matter of weight ratios!

[rasetsu]

Why am I reminded of the partitioning of the red man's lands by the white man, or the French and English partitioning the Middle East in WWI, before they'd even won the war.


Dunno. Guess I should get back to reading Pinker's Better Angels Of Our Nature.

[cronus]

There must be one country closer than any other because of the geometry so which country is closest? any one done the calculations?