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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

#231

Post by InSteady »

kortilla wrote: post #224
XorNot wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the equator in the Mercator projection is the closest to "true size"...which means that the wealthier nations, well above that, are in fact exacerbated in apparent land mass. I like this site[1] for showing the true size of countries on a standard projection. Look at how much the US actually changes in size when you move it's latitude even a little. Like it or not, the perception of scale of a problem is link…

Nobody looks at a map before saying “most of the world is experiencing X”. This is a fantasy straw man.

No one claimed people do this. You have created a straw man-ception. Our awareness of the world is informed by distorted maps, even if it only impacts us subconsciously.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#232

Post by ksec »

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)…

I wonder if Projection of Earth is the wrong way to do a map for average person. Where we dont use it for navigation.

I want relative size of everything to be mostly correct. But I could take Africa being 5-10% smaller simply because of its relative size.

All while the East and West of Cities to be accurate. i.e ALL of continental South America lies east of the state of Michigan.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#233

Post by ggm »

To hijack discussion, here's another quirk of mapping: Border disputes can be uplifted into state law. Google adjusts how it renders maps into IN economy IPs because its illegal to show maps about Kashmir which imply Pakistan's claims over the territory are legitimate.

I've had to adjust slide-ware for use in the Indian subcontinent.

A different kind of "distortion" but very real.

Projections can be complicated. I value mapping tools which let you re-center a global map off 0° Longitude. I also value maps which manage to fit all of the Pac-rim island economies into some kind of view: No way is land mass or distance to scale, to usefully show this region.

If you believe maps, Hawaii is almost as big as Alaska and just offshore of the Catalina Islands. It also seems to have a very squared-off moat, maybe its a border wall...

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#234

Post by kortilla »

InSteady wrote: post #231
kortilla wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody looks at a map before saying “most of the world is experiencing X”. This is a fantasy straw man.

No one claimed people do this. You have created a straw man-ception. Our awareness of the world is informed by distorted maps, even if it only impacts us subconsciously.

No it’s not. Nobody cares about Greenland despite it being larger than all of Europe on the projection.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#235

Post by fifafifi »

kortilla wrote: post #234
InSteady wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one claimed people do this. You have created a straw man-ception. Our awareness of the world is informed by distorted maps, even if it only impacts us subconsciously.

No it’s not. Nobody cares about Greenland despite it being larger than all of Europe on the projection.

[flagged]

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#236

Post by rocqua »

bit_flipper wrote: post #82

This article doesn't touch on the actual reasons why Mercator is still in widespread use: * It was the first widespread projection because of its practical use for nautical navigation (where it is still the best projection available), so it was easy for map makers to sell for non-nautical uses, even after "better" projections became available. And inertia is a hard thing to overcome for something considered somewhat…

No map shown to a driver at the detail level of navigating intersections should have to care about projections much. At that small a scale earth is approximately flat, and any half decent projection should have minimal distortions of any kind.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#238

Post by fifafifi »

frankfrankfrank wrote: post #209
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)…

I think that obsession you are referring to is part of a far larger mental illness that is coursing through European minds and cultures; the constant, compulsive obsession with trying to find the most obscure and ridiculous reasons, causes, and excuses for how brown people are Noble Savage victims and Europeans must hate themselves. This time the reason why Europeans must hate and destroy themselves is … spins the wh…

[dead]

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#239

Post by fifafifi »

cpuguy83 wrote: post #220
NoRelToEmber wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unilaterally? If they want to use maps that center Asia in their education and work, who is stopping them? In fact I'd wager they start their education by learning about the geography of Asia first. I'm puzzled by this demonization of simply observing the world from the perspective of one's own culture. Blaming Europeans for putting Europe in the center of their maps is like blaming Italians for teaching Italian in s…

Saying there is a bias is not an accusation of wrong doing or "demonization".

It's crazy how populists and misinformation agents have successfully convinced people that any mention of a potential bias is an "woke" attack on their whole personality and world view.

Re: Maps distort how we see the world

#240

Post by fifafifi »

ralusek wrote: post #142
randcraw wrote: post #10

There was a memorable scene from "The West Wing" on the biases imposed by most map projections, in particular, how Mercator makes North America look huge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqC3FNNOaI

This clip is always hilarious to me. Smugly declares "it's where you've been living this whole time," as he stands in front of a projection that is just as flawed, as all projections are, as the Mercator. The only priority of that map projection is attempting to account for the accurate area of landmasses, sacrificing correct shape of landmasses, as well as a ton of navigational utility. A globe is the only correct p…

A globe is not a map projection.

With a globe you can only see part of Earth at once.

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