Lowest Highest Point

Okay, so has this already been beaten to death on this page?  I can't think that it has, from what I just found in the FAQ

Every atlas I've looked at has the lowest highest point in FLORIDA and NOT Delaware.  I refer you to the excessively long link found below as one point of reference.  :)

http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fmac.usgs.gov%2Fmac%2Fisb%2Fpubs%2Fbooklets%2Felvadist%2Felvadist.html

usefully :)

Dave

yeah, they kind of messed up. the Trivial Pursuit card they got it from asked "Which US State has the lowest mean elevation?" Delaware does, at 60 feet, beating out second place Florida's 360.

so the card was correct, they just stated the question wrong (but in a way that kind of made more sense to most people and made for a better improv - "Lowest Mean Elevation" doesn't have nearly the same tone or rhythm to it :)

Interesting - and fascinating that the good people at Trivial Pursuit would suspect people have that sort of information at their fingertips. 

I suppose it makes sense, though - pick a relatively small state that is more flat than not and you've got a good stab.

I have another game called TravelBuff, that quizzes the players knowledge of obscure tourist destinations.  Questions cover several aspects of geography. One of the cards asked, "What is the top industry in Martinique?" or something similar.  The answer given for that question was, "a) The Great Barrier Reef."  The two confusing points were: 1) None of the three questions were mulitple choice and 2) The Great Barrier Reef is 2/3 of the way around the world from Martinique.

Of course, now our generic, "I don't know," answer in "The Great Barrier Reef."  But that belongs in the ingrained responses forum.

Not that it's anything more than trivia, but I think the card actually read Lowest Highest Point.  I have the card somewhere.  I just have to find the right box. :-)

Does lowest mean elevation mean something other than it implies?  My atlas lists Florida's highest point at 345 ft.

Far as I can tell, "lowest highest point" is a comparison of the extremes, with no tricks. 

As far as "mean elevation" goes, I think you can substitute the word "average" for "mean".  So *in general* Delaware would have lower points than florida, but as for absolute highest points, Florida has the lowest. I think we're saying the same thing, but I've been awake too long, so I might be interpreting badly.  My apologies if so.

I haven't looked up figures on mean elevation, but if you come across Delaware vs. Florida figures I would be interested just for fun :)

Having just learned that the question came from a trivia card in the first place, I have nothing useful to add to that end :)

Feeling inspired, I'm going to try to write a differential equation that describes Delaware's topography.  We will not be able to solve for a unique solution to Delaware's topography, but we can see how it behaves.

Sleep would be good right about now.
Dave

yes, that is exactly the point. Delaware is flatter than Florida, on average. but Florida's highest point is lower than Delaware's. the Trivial Pursuit card had it right, Moxy Fruvous got it wrong. but it still made for a great bit on Live Noise.

I recently lent Live Noise to a friend of mine and he went and researched it all. 

He even went to find the Highest Lowest Point in Canada and then the lowest highest points in both the US and Canada

Do you care to share the resutls of his findings with the group? :)

The Highest Lowest point is in Colorado. ;)

I'd think it would be in tibet :)

Hee hee...yeah, it's the really purple area of the topographic globe!

Share his findings?  you bet.

"It looks like the Lowest Highest point is actually in Lakewood Florida @345 feet.  The info I had said that the highest point in Delaware is 442ft at the Ebright Azimuth.  Also...  the Highest Lowest point is in Colorado 3320ft @the arikee river.  In Canada the Lowest highest Point appears to be on PEI @466ft.  And the Highest Lowest point listed is in Alberta @600ft where the salt river flows into NW territories.  There ya are, more info than you ever wanted to know."

That's what I thought.  I was having trouble reconciling Florida's highest point of 345 ft with its mean elevation of 360 ft.  After looking it up, I see that Florida and Louisiana tie for second with a mean elevation of 100ft.  Now it all makes sense.

Whoa...

that's okay. they also say mt washington's in maine :D

its..like..in new hampshire.

New Hapsire's got skiing.

this has got to be a place without f%#$ing skiing!

I can see mt washington from my house... yeah we live on a pretty highly elevated piece of land.

edit. I had a brain fart. it must be from lacys lemon lime brain juice, its sweet go get some! anyway, I can see the WHITE mountains, NOT mount washington. I think. or do I? who can tell?

did you used to be able to see the old man?

heh, nope.

I know FDC (Fruvous Dot Com, for the uninitiated) hasn't exactly been the hotbed of updates lately, but have we forgotten the card in question is already shown there? :)

Front of card (Questions) and Back of card (Answers)

The card itself states "lowest highest elevation." As indicated in the Fruvous FAQ the card itself was in error.

-- Pauley

*sigh*

Well, it's obvious that the collective conscious has not forgotten, but some never knew in the first place.

Me, for one. 

For the purpose of generating discussion, I don't see it as a loss, as I'm sure some folks found out about the highest lowest point, and lowest mean elevation. :)

Good point, Not every one, especially not many of the newer fans, have probably poured over every page on the site. Hell, I haven't, either. but that one stood out in my mind, as an "I know I've seen this..." :)

-- Pauley

I remembered seeing it online, but not where.  I hate being old.

I hate that I heard Live Noise for the first time and in the time b/w that and hearing it again my memory let me play the game again two or three times because I couldn't remember the answer :)

I have no memory for trivia or umm.......