[jwparkerjr]

You see the number 10,000 frequently in the Bible. I heard it explained once that when you see that number it doesn’t really mean ten thousand, but rather the biggest number you can imagine. They had a much more limited grasp of large numbers in those days and the 10,000 was meant to mean too numerous to count. I think the ‘flames 1,000 feet high” is used the same way. They don’t know exactly how high the flames are but they are certainly the highest they’ve ever seen so they must be a ‘thousand feet’.

I am not being critical of them, they really have no way of knowing the height, but I find it neat that that’s so often the number they use.

A thousand feet is a lot more than most people realize, especially when it’s a thousand feet up! Very few cities have buildings that tall, most TV towers aren’t much more than that.

[BagCamAddict]

I’m sure you’re right. Like you said, 1000 feet is ALOT more than people realize. I just wish the media would be required to take some classes in the difference between specifics, generalities, estimates, ballpark figures, round numbers, accuracy, order of magnitude, etc.

Words have meaning. Numbers have meaning. They should understand those basic things if they are in the communication business. At the least, they could say “I have no idea how high those flames are, but it looks like it’s over 1000 feet to me!” At least that gives the listener the sense that (a) it’s not an accurate number, and (b) “it sure is high!”