Here's a map I put together https://northerngesture.com
This map is not upside down
151–160 of 540 posts
Re: This map is not upside down
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is similar to the modern car GPS question → do you always have the little arrow pointing up in the middle and the map rotates, or is the map still and the car rotates?
True! When I started driving, I was using the "north is always up" setting as it helped me get a better understanding of where I was in the city. Somehow this was more fun. At some point I switched to the more common setting (I assume) of having the map rotate.
I still have my map as going in the direction I'm going. Being from Europe wind directions don't matter. The roads don't care.
Then the 3d view came out, and that got my preference, and I'm always hoping one day the clouds will represent actual weather.
Anyway, the first car I got when moving to the USA got one of those direction things in the mirror, and I actually started to force myself to think in those terms. It removes a lot of ambiguity when explaining things, for example: you then turn left is more ambiguous than you then turn West.
Re: This map is not upside down
#153Here's a map I put together https://northerngesture.com
> The notion that north should always be up and east at the right was established by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD). "Perhaps this was because the better-known places in his world were in the northern hemisphere, and on a flat map these were most convenient for study if they were in the upper right-hand corner," historian Daniel Boorstin opines. Mapmakers haven't always followed Ptolemy; during the Middle Ages, Boorstin notes, maps often had east on top--whence the expression "to orient."
Re: This map is not upside down
#154> Psychologically, we tend to view things nearer the top as ‘good’ and those lower as ‘bad.’ This, of course, is the point of the article. It was so predictable that it made me wonder: who is telling me that top is good and lower is bad? The articles themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South
Such grouping is based on dubious theories. For example, China is classified as a "developing economy" (red), even though it is one of only three countries with the independent capability to send humans into Earth's orbit using its own launch systems and spacecraft.
Re: This map is not upside down
#155In Japan, physical maps like in parks and city information booths are oriented to be aligned with the actual geography. Meaning, north on the map points to actual north. Made me think of how much more accurate the end to end process of putting up that map has to be vs. maps oriented by "north is up". Just imagine the map needs to be moved by 10m and rotated around for some last minute restructuring of the park before…
This is similar to the modern car GPS question → do you always have the little arrow pointing up in the middle and the map rotates, or is the map still and the car rotates?
Arrow points up, map is displayed with a slight perspective.
If there is no perspective, then at the very least, the car is about halfway between the middle of the screen and the bottom of it. I care far more about what's in front of me than what's behind me.
What I really hate is that the nav in my Tesla will typically show a perspective view while navigating, but as I approach a turn, it changes to a top-down view and zooms in, often to the point where the actual turn is no longer even on the screen, so I don't know where I'm actually supposed to go anymore.
Re: This map is not upside down
#156Here's a map I put together https://northerngesture.com
> The notion that north should always be up and east at the right was established by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD). "Perhaps this was because the better-known places in his world were in the northern hemisphere, and on a flat map these were most convenient for study if they were in the upper right-hand corner," historian Daniel Boorstin opines. Mapmakers haven't always followed Ptolemy; during the Middl…
Strange. “Upper Egypt” is the southern part of Egypt and “Lower Egypt” is the northern part. The source of the Nile (to the south of Egypt) was the key reference point to ancient Egyptians.
I searched, and Ptolemy was a Greek who lived in Egypt, not an ethnic Egyptian.
Re: This map is not upside down
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
First time seeing this and it feels so offensive. I'm somewhat okay with the term developed and developing countries, though not too much [1]. But this just feels discriminatory. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factfulness
What are "developing" countries developing into? Nice white western ones like the global north? Nope. That one is the worst of the choices.
> What are "developing" countries developing into? Nice white western ones like the global north? Nope. That one is the worst of the choices.
The way to think about it is along economic, social, and infra/tech dimensions, and are not coupled to culture or ethnicity (your "white western").
Specifically, developing countries:
- Economic: low income, underdeveloped industry
- Social: lower quality of life, limited access to basic services (jobs, food, clean water, education, healthcare, housing)
- Infra/tech: poor infrastructure, limited access to technology
Furthermore, the following countries in Europe ("white") can be considered developing: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, etc. while Japan is not developing (and not "white western").
Some countries have a high HDI (e.g. in Africa you can think of Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Botswana, etc.) but can still be considered developing on other dimensions.
In the Middle East, counties like Qatar, UAE, Israel, Kuwait, and Bahrain can be considered developed (and not "white western").
Re: This map is not upside down
#15890% of the world's population and 68% of the land mass being in the northen hemisphere is probably a good enough reason to put north up top on a map.
If it’s at the bottom and you put it on a table, more of the land is closer to you and therefore easier to read. Its all arbitrary, and we can all make up random minor pro/cons all we like but it don’t change that.
> more of the land is closer to you and therefore easier to read.
As most people age, that gets less true. The optimum placement ends up being around an arms length away, so being away from the edge could help.
But if you're showing the whole world, typically the details aren't that important, so it's mostly arbitrary.
Re: This map is not upside down
#159I guess they didn't come from a land down under after all.
Re: This map is not upside down
#16090% of the world's population lives in the northern hemisphere[1]. It would be a deliberately weird design choice to make a globe (which is almost always viewed from above) with the northern hemisphere n bottom. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hemisphere
Weirdness isn't the issue. It would be literally much harder to see the bottom side (which is where most cities and humans are located, as you mention) unless you make the globes easy enough to lift, or tall enough to go above most people's heads. I fail to see how that would be better UI.