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Maps distort how we see the world

unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com

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Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#61

Post by NoRelToEmber »

luxurytent wrote: post #50

The overlay of Canada on Europe is always a fun one. We moan so much here (perhaps rightfully so) about lack of public transit and reasonable infrastructure to get around, but we're also comparing a population of (just recently hit!) 40,000 and ~700,000. Orders of magnitude larger, but roughly same land area. This is why I am hugely in support of increased immigration into Canada, housing crisis aside (it'll resolve…

> Orders of magnitude larger, but roughly same land area.

You should compare the populated area, not the entire landmass. That there exist vast unpopulated frozen tundras nominally within Canadian borders does not hinder public transport any more than Siberia hindered building the Moscow metro.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#63

Post by drewcoo »

kibwen wrote: post #23

Preserving the relative proportions of the continents while also emphasizing how the continents nearly form one giant supercontinent is why I prefer the Dymaxion projection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map It works by projecting the earth onto an icosahedron (a D20) and then unfolding it. Distortion is fairly low and roughly equal across all the continents; here's a graphic that demonstrates the relative d…

Dymaxion map: one island, one ocean.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#64

Post by trhfhxggf »

stephenboyd wrote: post #39

It isn't just the projections that distort our perception. North being up and south being down is so ubiquitous that it seems like Earth (and the Solar System) has a top side and a bottom side. But that's just a convention. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160614-maps-have-north-...

Well, if you define up and down as the axis perpendicular to the ecliptic, there is an up and down in the solar system.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#65

Post by mhb »

luxurytent wrote: post #50

The overlay of Canada on Europe is always a fun one. We moan so much here (perhaps rightfully so) about lack of public transit and reasonable infrastructure to get around, but we're also comparing a population of (just recently hit!) 40,000 and ~700,000. Orders of magnitude larger, but roughly same land area. This is why I am hugely in support of increased immigration into Canada, housing crisis aside (it'll resolve…

> This is why I am hugely in support of increased immigration into Canada

I suspect the US has a few states that are willing to help.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#66

Post by the_af »

eddythompson80 wrote: post #52
jgeada wrote: post #24

Every flat map projection distorts something, so every projection has to optimize some parameter and trade off other utility. I'm constantly amazed at how hung up people are on apparent size of countries. If size is your thing, use some other projection! Mercator is and remains popular because it preserves local angles and shapes, which makes it simple use this projection to navigate by rhumb lines (compass headings)…

> Every flat map projection distorts something, so every projection has to optimize some parameter and trade off other utility. I'm constantly amazed at how hung up people are on apparent size of countries. If size is your thing, use some other projection! That's the point of the post. The trade-offs between different projections are rarely discussed, considered or even mentioned outside very small cohorts because th…

> Get a non-Mercator projection map and put it in your dinner room, and then see how many of your guests will comment about "so.. why is this map weird? It doesn't look right?" then tell them "every flat map projection distorts [...]"

This is actually a pretty cool conversation topic during dinner. I would take the opportunity to show off. It doesn't have to be a downside. "Hey, did you know that [interesting stuff]...?".

If your guests are the kind of people who get irritated instead of awed by cool explanations about the world, I admit then you have a problem.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#67

Post by AlbertCory »

When I was in Google Maps, a popular interview question was "what's your favorite projection? (don't say Mercator)" I didn't get asked that one, fortunately.

Whenever I see one of those "the Earth from space" photos, I always think, "Wow, Africa is really big."

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#69

Post by idatum »

interroboink wrote: post #33

I have a poster of a South-up map[1], which is fun to look at and wiggle those expectations in my mind from time to time. Hobo-Dyer[2] is also an interesting projection. [1] https://www.mapsinternational.com/upside-down-political-worl... (just an example; you can find others) [2] https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19343348

Makes me wonder why South isn't intuitively "up" for folks in the Southern Hemisphere.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#70

Post by jtakkala »

luxurytent wrote: post #50

The overlay of Canada on Europe is always a fun one. We moan so much here (perhaps rightfully so) about lack of public transit and reasonable infrastructure to get around, but we're also comparing a population of (just recently hit!) 40,000 and ~700,000. Orders of magnitude larger, but roughly same land area. This is why I am hugely in support of increased immigration into Canada, housing crisis aside (it'll resolve…

The size of Canada really isn’t a valid excuse for Canada’s poor public transit, nor is Canada’s population.

Notjustbikes posted a good video rebutting this argument a few days ago: https://youtu.be/REni8Oi1QJQ

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