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The True Size of Africa (2015)

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Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#61

Post by samatman »

layoutIfNeeded wrote: post #52
torstenvl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there are rumors that a former Vice Presidential candidate thinks Africa is a country Rumors, not facts. One candidate, not "a lot of Americans." Irony is making sweeping generalizations while ostensibly pushing back on generalizations.

A candidate and a president (who’s a Yale and Harvard alumnus): “ One of the most famous blunders made by former U.S. President George W. Bush was, “Africa is a nation that suffers from terrible disease.” President Bush, like many others, misconstrued the fact that Africa is not a country, but a continent.” https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2018/11/23/africa-not-a-co... But surely, it must be a coincidence! :)

Joe Biden recently said "white supremacists and Nazi f*gs" while giving a speech.

Should we conclude that he was referring to homosexual Nazis with a slur? Or did he mis-speak.

GWB was a rich source of flubs and boners. Deciding that this one means Americans think Africa is a country is a big ol' [citation needed].

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#64

Post by monocasa »

t0mas88 wrote: post #60
dnautics wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think america is diverse, and shockingly homogenous given its diversity. For example, chinatown in NYC does not seem particularly different from chinatown in SF. Yes, the midwest calmer and the south is friendlier, the east is more uptight and the west is more chillaxed, and the cuisine is different in different parts of the country, but these are pretty much details at the edges. Everyone speaks english, the low-e…

To me (an outsider from Europe) the US doesn't feel homogenous at all. Compare New York to Taxas or California to South Carolina and they feel as much as different as for example Germany and Spain. With the only difference being that all US states share the English language and Europe has different languages, but even that difference is slowly reducing. For example the French, famous for not speaking English 20 years…

Eh, the difference between those all will have more to do with population density than their location. Rural New York feels more like rural South Carolina than it does NYC.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#65

Post by tomrod »

layoutIfNeeded wrote: post #24
mikestew wrote: post #4

The edited title is incorrect, in that it is a comparison with countries . How big is Africa compared to Asia? Okay, there’s one comparison with Europe (scroll down). Otherwise it’s a matter of how many countries one could cram in there. Of course, Africa already has a bunch of countries, so I guess I just didn’t get it. Comparing to, say, North America or something would be a better visualization for me.

I think a lot of Americans think that Africa is a country.

Coming from a background most would consider rough and tumble in the US, this is true.

However, you're missing a bit part of it. Americans don't understand governance models very well. Provinces are to counties and states are to small countries. What does federal map to? Mental model says next one up - continent.

I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#66

Post by kcb »

t0mas88 wrote: post #60
dnautics wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think america is diverse, and shockingly homogenous given its diversity. For example, chinatown in NYC does not seem particularly different from chinatown in SF. Yes, the midwest calmer and the south is friendlier, the east is more uptight and the west is more chillaxed, and the cuisine is different in different parts of the country, but these are pretty much details at the edges. Everyone speaks english, the low-e…

To me (an outsider from Europe) the US doesn't feel homogenous at all. Compare New York to Taxas or California to South Carolina and they feel as much as different as for example Germany and Spain. With the only difference being that all US states share the English language and Europe has different languages, but even that difference is slowly reducing. For example the French, famous for not speaking English 20 years…

I think you may be comparing "apples to oranges" within the US. When you say New York that includes a lot more than New York City. I'm from New York City but have never really felt out of place in Austin, San Francisco, LA, Denver, etc. But far upstate New York would be a different story.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#67

Post by DevKoala »

init wrote: post #35

Africa has 54 countries, thousands of languages and 1.2 billion people. As an African, whenever I see this map I'm more astonished by how densely populated Europe and India are, how big and populated China is and how homogeneous the US is compared to its size.

In which sense is the USA homogenous?

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#68

Post by samatman »

sandworm101 wrote: post #18
jlos wrote: post #13

Why isn't Canada or Russia, the two largest countries by land mass, included?

Canada is tricky because of all the islands in the north. It isnt a solid blob. Russia is tricky becuase it is so long. I dont think it and the US would nest nicely inside the africa outline. And we cannot ever have a map without thr USA center stage. Also with russia, exactly which boarder should we use? It's probably better to just not enter into that debate.

> Also with russia, exactly which boarder should we use?

I assure you no one was thinking about that. They would just take whatever they got from punching "Russia" into the GIS database.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#69

Post by scythe »

There are three basic choices you have with a rectangular map:

- Mercator, which preserves shape and direction, but not size

- Gall equal-area etc, which preserves size and direction, but not shape

- AuthaGraph, which preserves size and shape, but not direction

No rectangular map will ever be satisfactory, but maybe putting all three together would make a good display?

And then there's my stupid projection (a rip-off of August epicycloidal): https://postimg.cc/N5nZ18CF

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#70

Post by dang »

Past related threads. Others?

The size of Africa, in perspective (photo) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7492708 - March 2014 (1 comment)

True size of Africa - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7249832 - Feb 2014 (31 comments)

The True Size of Africa - Misleading Maps - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6226458 - Aug 2013 (101 comments)

The True Size of Africa (2010) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5790504 - May 2013 (44 comments)

The True Size of Africa (infographic) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1865958 - Nov 2010 (2 comments)

The True Size of Africa - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1789769 - Oct 2010 (1 comment)

The True Size of Africa - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1780004 - Oct 2010 (38 comments)

Strange Maps: Did you realize Africa is this big? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=366692 - Nov 2008 (51 comments)

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