I think we all know it intuitively. But I don't really know why. But the bigger something is, the more importance we place on it. It's that way with most everything.
Mostly people think nothing of stepping on an ant or swatting a fly. Especially if they were in your house. Kill them! Now you may say that's because they are a nuisance, but would you do the same if a bird accidentally flew inside your screen porch? No, you likely would leave the door open and try to shoo them out. What's the difference? Because size matters.
Being only 5 ft 8 1/2 inches (I rounded up to 5'9'' on my driver's license), that is before age shrunk me further, I'm well aware of the bias of size. I think Randy Neumann was right when he penned the song, "short people". I think he knew what he was talking about when he said "short people have no reason to live". After all, we're a lot like ants. Taller people get more attention. Size matters!
What's that got to do with a travel blog? Because the same holds true in all my travels. The most impressive things, those that have the greatest wow factor, are the biggest things.
I've mentioned before the three most impressive sites I've visited in the world. Among other places I mentioned it in this post:
Those three are:
The Grand Canyon
Iguazu Falls
Great Wall of China
Why those three? In great part because of size. Now I've seen Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and that is likely bigger than Iguazu, but it's so spread out and you can't get up close to it like you can at Devil's Throat in Iguazu. So Iguazu seems bigger.
What would you rather see?
Now I loved my trip to Khun Korn waterfalls, but can it compare to this?:
This is why Iguazu is so impressive. It does the same thing as Khun Korn, it's just much bigger.
When I visited the Secret Garden inside the Garden of Morning Calm in South Korea, I was greatly enchanted by the old wall that encompassed it:
But, can it compare to this?:
Of course there's no comparison. But why? Is the Great Wall any more enchanting? No. It's just much, much bigger. Size matters.
I've seen many gorges in my travels. All are impressive. But none compare to this:
Nothing is more Grand than the Grand Canyon.
It's this way even with plants. These flowers are beautiful:
As beautiful as they are, I'd much rather be immersed in this:
What about the animal world? Who is impressed with a mouse or a rat? No one, that's who! But what about this rodent:
I don't know about you, but the Capybara, the largest rodent in the world, impresses me.
Unless it's a pimple or a tumor, we want bigger. Bigger things impress us more. I personally, don't know what it is about size that matters. I'm actually most intrigued by the smallest of things in the quantum realm. Things that we can't see are by far the most mysterious part of our universe. But you can't be visually wowed by sub atomic particles, only mentally.
I know from my travels that bigger things impress more. Be it a hole in the ground or a mountain, it doesn't matter. I just don't know the reason. Unless it's gold, does bigger really have more value?