Do you think Australia really exists ?

Question

Or are they just made up by Hollywood ? just like the fake moonlandings

Answer 1

ok, who let the dumbass in the room?

Answer 2

A friend of mine used to say: “I’ve never been to Australia, but I know its there.” Now, if you think about it, that expression goes a long way toward explaining how we all interact. After all, how do we really know there is an Australia?

Now, full disclosure…. I’ve never been to Australia either, but like my friend, I’m pretty sure its there in the sense that there’s a place shaped more or less like the continental United States, but sitting out in the middle of nowhere – relatively close to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Also, I’m pretty sure a lot of the elements of the narrative about Australia that we all have in common – that the people over there say funny things like “another shrimp on the barbie” and that its infested with vicious carnivores like koalas and kangaroos – happen to be true.

Anyway, so how do we know that Australia truly does exist, as opposed to being a truly imaginary place like New Zealand? Even people who have been to Australia might be wrong – after all, it might be that when you fly to Australia, what you’re really doing is circling around the Pacific for a few hours and then landing somewhere in the boondocks in Nevada. Most folks who claim to be from Australia could be in on this, Capricorn One-style, with the remainder being innocent simpletons who haven’t figured out the scam.

Well, an economist would think cost and benefits. The costs of mounting such a monumental hoax would be enormous. The benefits – well, there would be some… how could you get people to visit Elko County if you didn’t dress it up? But the financial costs would exceed the financial benefits by many orders of magnitude.

So a rational person would conclude, reluctantly perhaps, that Australia probably does exist – even if they had never been there.

Which leads me to this from one of the denizens of the National Review:

“Rich, I thought your column yesterday made a very important point. The letters you post today make valid points as well. Media coverage of Iraq has been biased, and that bias has indeed helped to shape events there for the worse. At the same time, conservative distrust of the media’s very real bias has inclined us to dismiss reports about problems in Iraq that are real.
In the end, I think the media bears fundamental responsibility for this. Had they been less biased–had they reported acts of heroism and the many good things we have done in Iraq–I think conservatives would actually have taken their reporting of the problems in Iraq more seriously. In effect, the media’s consistent liberal bias discredits even its valid reports.”
It goes on in this vein, and its worth reading. Now, a lot of the big name bloggers have commented on it already, but there’s still room for a little guy like me to pipe up.

One of the many problems with this is that he’s in effect saying that believing in the existence of Australia would be easier if only the NY Times had the occasional story about the Great Australian Controversy – can a creature like the platypus possibly exist, and what’s with the accent and Crocodile Dundee? The fact that the media is so firmly entrenched in the “Australia Exists” camp only serves to make a smart guy like Kurtz more skeptical.

Answer 3

Since childhood I always knew about the kangaroos and a relative went there and brought me back a Kawala Bear which I had forever. Also the Bee Gees were real and out there on top for 40 years and they are LEGIT.

Bottom line? I aint never been to Alaska but if I go far enough up north I am CERTAIN to see an eskimo.

Answer 4

Australia is the greatest country on Earth
(after the People's Independent Republic of Yorkshire!)

Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you amen!

Now give me the Holly Vallance as we agreed....

Answer 5

hahaha well i can tell you i'm in australia right now mate



at least that's what they tell me



i can also tell you it's a really great place. we're very very relaxed. it's norm to party most nights and strike up the barbie. the women are the most beautiful on the planet and we're all about our friends!

someone mentioned earlier that we're very dissconected from hollywood and that's absolutely true. we don't care much about any of that guff.

Answer 6

Ummmmmmm...

Of COURSE Australia exists. People I know have BEEN there and grew up there. And they are in NO way connected to Hollywood.

Answer 7

Of course australia really exists r u from this planet. I'm living in Australia now. Are you alrite up there??

Answer 8

Unless a storm moved the continent of Australia to Alaska, it should be still where it always was.

Answer 9

I refuse to believe it exists until you present me with absolute proof! Seems to just be a fabrication by this cult of Austrailians. You probably just read about it in some "book" didn't you?

Answer 10

lol

I'm sure the people that live there think its real. I bet the people who've been there think it is too.

I've looked into the fake moon landing thing, I had a grandfather that was CONVINCED it was fake. (My childhood introduction into conspiracy theory's) I've not been convinced by the theory's myself but I do question why we've not been back.....

Answer 11

Ah Gee, I really hope so, I like my life, would hate to think it didn't exist...

OF COURSE Australia exists, jump on a plane and see it.