The Coastline Paradox Explained

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[barrywever]

U.S.A.: we don't really know the size of our coast, how do you do it?

The Netherlands: simple, it's the size we want it to be.

[_Pikalika_]

If only we had some unit of measurement between 1km to molecule sizes

[pigboiii]

"and then there is the Dutch".

Yes, your arguments are invalid. There is no such thing as sea, only unclaimed land.

[shark]

Instead of approaching infinity, wouldn't the coastline perimeter form a sort of exponential curve towards a definite amount as the unit got smaller and more precise?

[drdestrukt]

"Let's move over to a smaller Country."

UK starts sobbing... "not that long ago..."

[ethanos]

Why doesn’t somebody just walk around Britain with a trundle wheel

[octoriagaming]

"Let's move on to a smaller country"

Great Britain: I used to rule the world

[vanminhle]

It may resemble fractals. However, "real" fractals are infinite in nature while coastlines are not, so the only problem is the scale of measurement (as mentioned in the videos and a few others). You can find the exact length of the coastline by measure the distance between each molecule, which is not practice and of little good. You must decide the scale by determining your need, defining how long is "meaningful".

For example, if NATO wants to measure the coastline to know how many fleets the Russians can have at their harbour, 10m is a reasonable number. OTOH, the Malaysians wants to know how much land they can use for harvesting sea salt, 20-30m probably makes more sense.

[thorgodofthunder]

Me coming out of Area 51 knowing the exact measurement of the coastline of Great Britain

[Jera]

Just use the Planck Length for measuring for the most accurate answer.

[lunabeekhuizen]

The sea: *trying to drown the land*
The Dutch: Do you have any idea who you're challenging?

[cmyk]

This “paradox” also applies to the surface area of your lungs. That’s why we can never agree on how many football fields your lungs can cover.

Also, nobody pronounces it the “cotch” snowflake. It’s always either “coke” or that other way that could be flagged by profanity filters.

[devenhull]

The length of the coast of Great Britain is 1. As I failed to specify the unit, that could be one anything and is therefore technically correct (1 coastline of Great Britain)

[somerandomcommenter]

*talks about America*

“Let’s move over to a smaller country, Great Britain.”

*Angry British Noises*

[pacthuglife]

Can't a international organisation like U.N just agree that cost line is measured for all countries by, lets say 10 m?

[tobiashagstrom]

So, how you measure the coast depends on what you need your measurements for. If you need to patrol your coast with ships for defense or surveillance or whatever, you only need to have enough ships for their patrol routs to enclose the landmass, only accounting for the major features and drawing straight lines in the water between them. If you wanna calculate how much beachfront property you can build you, gotta determine what the minimal size is to make an worthwhile lot or neighborhood on, and then measure it with that resolution in mind. If you wanna know how many boats can be docked up against the land, you use another approach, and so on.

[jackpada]

heres my solution:
- get a standard unit for measurement of coasts (say 1 meter)
- wait for the us to not abide by the standard unit

[leobaratin]

**Normal people** : Desperately try to measure Norway's coastline.
**Me, with a lot of IQ points** : measure swiss coastline.

[percentSNAFU]

There's only one solution. I gotta get out there with my Stanley 12 ft measuring tape and get to work!

[amdobrantal]

I'd say measure it like this: how long does it take to walk around the coast? Combine that with the walking speed of your walk and you have a human-sized length.