erroneous map of the world?

[soleil]

not sure if this has any truth....vid is exerpt from a tv show called west wing.

http://www.upworthy.com/we-have-been-mislead-by-an-erroneous-map-of-the-world-for-500-years?g=2&c=ufb2

[Robin]

not sure if this has any truth....vid is exerpt from a tv show called west wing.

http://www.upworthy.com/we-have-been-mislead-by-an-erroneous-map-of-the-world-for-500-years?g=2&c=ufb2

This is absolutely true. My geology professor a few years ago lectured extensively on this.

Very interesting stuff!

¤=[Post Update]=¤

I'd argue that this is how most Americans put the rest of the world on a map:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/world-accordign-to-USA.jpg

[RMorgan]

Hey sway,

There are several kinds of cartographic projections, for several purposes.

Translating a spherical shape (Earth) to a plane (Map) is a hard task.

Some projections are focused on simplest geometry, where distances along meridians are conserved. They are good for navigation purposes. Like this one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Equirectangular_projection_SW.jpg

Other kinds of projections are focused on achieving an equal area, for better visualization purposes. Like this one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Hobo%E2%80%93Dyer_projection_SW.jpg

Of course, some people argue that the smaller representation of Africa, the bigger representation of Europe or even the fact that the north is visually placed above the south in standard maps is some sort of psychological operation to give more importance to some regions of the world. I have no formed opinion about that, though. It could very well be true, or not.

Here's a comprehensive list of cartographic projections:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections

More information about map projections:

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/mapping/a_projections.html

Raf.

[Flash]

Lol i was looking for something like to put on the Aussie thread of jacovesk yesterday. Now personal conversation with someone from Tenessee on the pool side:

Her: you have an accent, where are you from?

Me: Montreal

Her: where is that

Me: quebec and seeing her face in an interrogation shape i added Canada. Face shape remains in interrogation format so i added. North of United States.

Her: oh! Whivh language do you speak with your daughter?

Me: French. I add There is 6 million french in the state ( knowing it is a province but assuming she will no know) of Quebec north of New York state and Vermont

Her: which religion you are?

Me: caught off guard since i practice none and seeing my daughter having a ball with hers, no wanting to stop it, i felt back on my childhood and answered catholic. I saw her face change and added well, it is christian

While icwas in Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, i met a geography teacher who was working in customer service of a hotel. She had lost her job ( this was before 2009) because rhe state of Florida had taken off geography from the schools curriculum.

This tells the rest of the world importance in American public representatives, and most probably of the average American.

RMorgan, we are not talking of size misrepresentation here but of world interpretation, limited one. Why do you think they are takin geography off school curriculum? And world history? When you know where people live, what they do and history, those people leave anonimity, events start making sense forcthecreal cabals targets and the populace becomes harder to manage and fool. They start asking questions.

[Hervé]

The map in question:


https://upworthy-production.s3.amazonaws.com/nugget/4fbe8344ce3ef000030023c9/attachments/True_Size_Of_Africa.png

[Ellisa]

Missed out again!

[mosquito]

...
Her: you have an accent, where are you from?

Me: Montreal....

Hilarious !

When I lived in South Africa, 2 of my friends went on a car trip across the USA. When they came back, they told me about one man they'd met who though South Africa was in Florida !

I used to take the story with a pinch of salt, I mean - who could be so monumentally stupid that they don't know where South Africa is ?? (The clue's in the name folks). But then a few years ago, I was listening to a set of tapes by a famous American motivational speaker (might have been Napoleon Hill, I can't remember). Anyway, he mentioned that when he was touring in Australia he met a couple in Tasmania. They were talking about the legendary American ignorance of the world, and recounted a tale about a man they'd met while visiting the USA. On learning they were from Australia, his response was along the lines of .... "Oh, that's in California, isn't it ?" Obviously being rather bemused by this, they asked him why he thought that..... "Well, during the war, my son was stationed in Australia, and whenever I received mail from him, it was post-marked San Francisco". My friends' story immediately became more believable !!

(There's another post somewhere about an American map which shows empty space between the main part of the US and Alaska - Canada being non-existent.)

As Raf says, there are problems inherent in making a 2D map of a sphere. I'm not so sure we should necessarily read anything into it, most countries/cultures are wont to put themselves at the centre. Here's an example from this part of the world (sorry, I can only link to it, as I don't seem to be able to upload images to Avalon at the moment) .. Africa is even more distorted, as are the Americas. But at least the Pacific islands are reasonably accurate !

http://vicsocotra.com/2011_stories/01-29-11-mcg.jpg

[Ellisa]

Yay! Right in the centre!

I have no idea how to post pictures, but there is a map around showing the world with the Southern Hemisphere at the "top", and the Northern Hemisphere at the "bottom". After all, the world is a sphere and a sphere has no top or bottom.

[Ultima Thule]

I remember once sitting next to the most lovely american woman in an aeroplane. Off course the question came up where she was from. She told the name of the city, I asked where it was, she replied near the rockies(perhaps), I took out the map in the brochure and showed it to her. As seconds passed by, I realized she didn't know where the rockies are, so I pointed them out. We never still establish the location though. I then asked how many citizens there were, she answered "a lot".

By no means I wish to demean her, she was absolutely lovely person. It does suit this thread though as an example of how important decent education is - not perhaps as an absolute thing, but to help keep the world map in balance. The most educated person can be absolute a**e and the most uneducated person may be adorable and wise beyond belief.

Ut

[Flash]

Ultima, you are nice because you are not a Canadian. We always are an empty spot when maps comes from the US. Furthemore, they name themselves Americans. How come? i am American too, I live on the continent. Up north, from the USA, there is only Alaska.... I am half kidding of course, but only half. But when I was working with US companies that had offices in Canada, they would always make their planning based on the US map, literally they would show us their planning without a Canada to the North. This was ridiculous.

[conk]

Ever see the Jay Leno segment where he asks random questions of people on the street? One question was, "can you name a country that is bounded by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans"? no one could could do it!