Santa Fe spiral staircase explination

[Invictus ChiKen]

I'm no engineer but I'm trying to find a logical explination for this:

Legend of the Spiral Staircase

My theory is the material is excemptionally sturdy and the uber blacony is serving as a support.

So is my theory sound?

[Turin]

I'm no engineer but I'm trying to find a logical explination for this:

Legend of the Spiral Staircase

My theory is the material is excemptionally sturdy and the uber blacony is serving as a support.

So is my theory sound?

Oooo... a fucking stair holds itself up. Wow, it must be a miracle.

The article is just the usual bullshit Appeal to Ignorance. It's a very nice stair, but nothing magical. Skilled craftsmen have made elaborate wooden buildings without the use of nails for centuries. The stair is supported by its own rigidity and by the balcony it's anchored too. Nothing mysterious about it.

My favorite part is the "perfect curve" bullshit. Anyone can easily make a reasonably "perfect" circle with a piece of string and a pencil. This is nothing but the usual insult to skilled / intelligent human beings by religious boobs.

[Big Phil]

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/loretto.asp

Essentially, the staircase acts like a spring - which, as we all know, have been divinely created by St. Joseph - and is not exactly an engineering marvel. Read the Snopes article for a basic debunking... a structural or materials engineer could more thoroughly explain why the legend is pure bullshit.

[Companion Cube]

A chapel was constructed sometime in the 19th century. When it was ready, the nuns found that there was no staircase built to take them to the top level.

They spent nine days preying to St. Joseph, who was a carpenter.

This reads like the lead-up to a joke. Reading on, it seems like the staircase is actually considered a safety hazard because of the spring action.

[Singular Intellect]

"In other news, it has been rumored that an mysterious individual has created large structures out of water. People are baffled as the rumor says the builder used only simple tools to mold said structures, using no other building materials or support system to maintain their sturdy forms. Many religious individuals have attributed this remarkable achievement to God's work, or the work of one of his minions. "Have you ever tried to shape a handful of water?" said one believer. "It's impossible. Only god or one working under god's guidance could possibly perform such a feat!"

[Bounty]

What we have here is a shoddy architect who got bailed out by an ingenious carpenter and like any good story, it got turned into a small-time legend.

Frankly, I wonder who could draw and build a church and forget the staircase...

[haas mark]

A chapel was constructed sometime in the 19th century. When it was ready, the nuns found that there was no staircase built to take them to the top level.

They spent nine days preying to St. Joseph, who was a carpenter.

This reads like the lead-up to a joke. Reading on, it seems like the staircase is actually considered a safety hazard because of the spring action.

One of two reasons they don't let people go on it anymore. Structural integrity (it's fucking old, besides), and because it's a "miracle" and also considered a historical piece.

[Patrick Degan]

Without reading the story of the staircase's construction, I'd have guessed the "miracle" was down to using a system of pins and slots to fit the steps together and lock them into position in the spiral. The story of the "miracle" of the mysterious carpenter who appears out of nowhere I'd have simply attributed to bullshit cooked up by the clerics or plain exaggeration of the truth to flog the church's value as a shrine. But clearly there was no "miracle" involved. Knowing how rickety the staircase actually is, it's even less of a "miracle".

[PeZook]

Typical. Stories like these are dime-a-dozen all around the place in Poland. Nearly every old church has one, and you wouldn't be able to count the amount of "Once upon a time <evil men> were trying to destroy the <holy relic> but then <miracle> and they ran away/were struck dead/were blinded/repented" stories. And they are nearly the same everywhere you hear them.

Of course, it's completely impossible that it was simply the work of a genius carpenter. No sir, humans are too stupid to build innovative architectural constructs.

[Adrian Laguna]

I looked at the picture of the staircase. My reaction: "That's it? Is that the miracle?" Seriously, if I'd seen it with my own eyes I'd have thought nothing of it. It's a spiral staircase, whooptee-doo. I was expecting something that looked like it couldn't possibly stand on its own and was three stories tall.

[Adrian Laguna]

CHEAPO EDIT - That is not to say it's not a nice staircase. But it's not any more a miracle than the impressive gigantic cathedrals they have in Europe.

[PeZook]

CHEAPO EDIT - That is not to say it's not a nice staircase. But it's not any more a miracle than the impressive gigantic cathedrals they have in Europe.

I can bet my ass that every single one of these cathedrals has a similar legend. You could probably just swap the names and places between them, and you wouldn't be able to tell one from another.

[Plekhanov]

Of all the bullshit in that article this bit stood out to me:

The church, is cautious about spreading rumors of supernatural intervention,

Because as we all know religious bodies never make unsubstantiated claims of ‘supernatural intervention’ and that certainly isn’t their main activity

[Adrian Laguna]

Actually, what the article means is that the Church tries to avoid screaming "miracle!" at every other incident of good fortune. It really cheapens to act to have miracles, supposedly great wondrous things, happen twice a week. Instead, they try to find things with enough ambiguity to them to convince the layman. Even if people don't accept that the staircase should not exist, the little story can be convincing. A master carpenter who appears seemingly out of nowhere, builds a beautiful staircase (with lumber conjured out of thin air), and then just leaves without asking for any sort of payment... it certainly sounds miraculous if you want to believe.

[Sriad]

Of all the bullshit in that article this bit stood out to me:

The church, is cautious about spreading rumors of supernatural intervention,

Because as we all know religious bodies never make unsubstantiated claims of ‘supernatural intervention’ and that certainly isn’t their main activity

I dunno, thought this was funnier:

"...sturdy spiral staircase using NO NAILS and NO CENTER SUPPORT. He had done it in a very small space, making two complete 360 turns with mysteriously perfect (how did he do it with the tools he had?) curves, and using pegs to hold the 33 steps together."

HE USED PEGS INSTEAD OF NAILS!!! IT IS A MIRACLE!!!!!

[Turin]

Actually, what the article means is that the Church tries to avoid screaming "miracle!" at every other incident of good fortune. It really cheapens to act to have miracles, supposedly great wondrous things, happen twice a week.

That may be the official line of the Catholic Church, but in my experience that doesn't stop priests and lay Catholics (or other Christians for that matter) from confidently expressing their opinion that any bit of good fortune is "God's will."

[PainRack]

HE USED PEGS INSTEAD OF NAILS!!! IT IS A MIRACLE!!!!!

Obviously God is Chinese then, since they been using that to build their bridges for centuries...........

*Looks at board owner*... Oh.My.God.

(This message has been brought to you by the Disciples of Wong)
:D:D:D:D