Western disinformation….

    by Silent-Challenge5710

    36 Comments

    1. TheBlueHedgehog302 on

      Theres a few really good videos on youtube explaining why this happens when making a map.

    2. In case anyone is missing the facepalm here, the 6400 km line is incorrect. That distance is actually closer to 8900 km.

    3. alwaysboopthesnoot on

      You show them The West Wing episode S2 Ep 16, with the scene about Mercator vs. Peters projection maps, with the discussion about why this looks the way it does on flat maps that were designed for fitting globes. 

    4. EmperorGrinnar on

      So many people using big math words and concepts, and I’m just over here doing a Steve Brule cuts.

    5. i_am_13th_panic on

      You show them a globe? When I was in school they were literally in every classroom.

    6. Leprechaun-of-chaos on

      As the globe is a sphere (a 3D object) transferring it perfectly to a 2D plane is impossible, therefore cartographers are forced to choose between shape and size, the general consensus is that shape is the most important

    7. MeepersToast on

      Get a bag of oranges and start unwrapping. If you want to get fancy, get a sharpie and draw the earth or latitude lines on an orange. Even better, take a peeled orange, lay it on a piece of paper, and fill in the gaps between the peeled parts so it looks more like a projection

    8. changelingcd on

      There are so many corrected and alternative projections online: show them to your kids. Look up AuthaGraph or Behrmann projection and go from there. Also, those numbers are wrong.

    9. maddenmcfadden on

      i mean, I’m all for teaching children critical thinking skills, but I’m against spreading your stupidity to them in the process.

    10. Lord_of_Seven_Kings on

      The comment about making European and North American nations bigger to seem more important is true though. That is very much a thing that happens. It’s the same reason the UK is at the centre of maps, because, justified through GMT, the UK being at the centre reinforces its importance and status over everyone else. At this point it’s mostly a tradition thing than a political statement, except that during the Cold War the map exaggerated the “distance” between the USA and the USSR by disconnecting over the Bering Strait.

    11. Perfect example of echo chambers. At some point you can’t blame the ignorant, because that is all they know.

    12. Maybe_not_a_chicken on

      He’s not wrong

      There’s a reason why most maps are centred on Europe and that Africa and Australia are the ones that are made smaller.

    13. So many here just going with “projection” ,”peel an orange”

      But ironically, without likely realising it, she’s actually right. The projection we known as the common image of
      the world *does* give more prominence to the northern hemisphere, especially European countries.

      It quite literally is influenced by the geopolitics at the era of navigation.

      Africa is literally smaller than it should be because of Europeans at the time.

      It’s not just “hur dur, try and draw a globe on paper”

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