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This map is not upside down

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Re: This map is not upside down

#263
post #110

Earlier 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.

They’re becoming developed like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

Re: This map is not upside down

#265
post #110

Earlier 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.

Do you live in a white western country?

If so, do you have a plan for emigrating?

If you've no plan, why not?

Re: This map is not upside down

#266
The main concern when making maps is not philosophical but practical. The usual orientation responds to the simple fact that two thirds of Earth’s land is in the Northern hemisphere.

European and American maps place the Atlantic in the middle, because it minimises the distortions to those regions and makes them more visible. Asian maps put the Pacific in the middle for the same reason.

Reading the article, I am reminded of the medieval maps that put Jerusalem in the center, with Asia at the top and the Mediterranean flowing down from it. A spiritual map.

Perhaps what the article is describing is also a spiritual map in its own way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_and_O_map

Re: This map is not upside down

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

China has had massive economic growth in recent years, but were undisputedly a developing country prior to that growth. They may deserve to be reclassified now, although their GDP per capita is still much lower than the US.

Only because their population is so huge. Their Dollar GDP is about 2/3 that of the USA and is 4.5x that of Japan. In a sense it’s set of highly developed urban industrial zones that also has a massive underdeveloped rural area.

Re: This map is not upside down

#268
post #233
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, I was quite old by the time I learned that "Oriental" literally just means "direction of the sunrise". Even more literally "of the rising" ("occidental" meaning "of the falling"). The sun is of course implied here, but the Latin verbs orior and occido more generally indicate rising and falling motions of anyone and anything.

Interestingly “meridional” could mean south in some languages because it was towards the equator… which is funny when it’s used south of the equator.

So again, even more literally, it's "of the midday, of the noon", so "toward the noon, noonwards". And in the northern hemisphere, the noon happens in the direction of the equator, so southward.

Re: This map is not upside down

#270
post #22

Wow look at Australia upside down it looks strikingly resembles USA!

It is almost the same area if you exclude Alaska but considerably closer to the equator. Cat-dog disappears when shown the right way up so I think the Europeans were right to draw their maps upside down.
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