you can say I'm crazy, and that's fair

[veronica_rich]

I have strange things that interest me, in the sense that they don't seem to go with any other interest I may have, or that most people scratch their heads and go "Huh?" when they hear about them. One of my interests is plate tectonics and, by extention, strange images of the planet and how it's represented (I think this relates to a general interest in space, which I've always had, but I digress).

So metalkatt and I were discussing tectonics and she said something about two continental plates moving away from each other resulting in a collision elsewhere, even though the text she was reading didn't acknowledge that part. She mentioned something about people viewing the Atlantic as the center of the world, and that reminded me of something I'd seen a few years ago: An upside-down world globe and map. If you've never seen one, click a linky; for an even more close-up of something familiarish for you Americans, check it out. (Now of course this is only upside-down for me, but I get to that a bit below; be patient *G*)

Then I found a transcript in a discussion forum from an episode of "The West Wing" which reminds me of just one reason I like Aaron Sorkin's writing so much. Basically, it's an episode where someone is pitching to the President's advisors the importance of the kinds of maps used in schools on the thought process of relating to the rest of the world. (Of course, it's not quite that simple, since political drama and conflict make a better story than dry discussion of data, but it's an interesting POV. *G*) It makes some sense if you think about it; here is a typical world map from Rand McNally - kind of old-timey, but what we're used to seeing around North America so far as I know. Ask anyone in marketing/advertising studies about line-of-sight when planning or selling advertising space (newspapers, magazines, billboards, etc.), and they'll tell you the more desirable position is upper left - it's where the eye tends to go first for most people, all images being equal, and so people tend to remember more data from this quadrant than any other. Now, check out what's in the upper left quadrant of that map. *G*

Here's an even more US-centric map of the world. Now IMO, nobody can be blamed for making their country the most noticeable on a map of the world, in what they're teaching in their own schools; hell, go to any mall, and the mall map will have a big red sticker with YOU ARE HERE. It's to orient where you know you are to everywhere else more easily, especially if you're in the middle of things (and isn't everyone on the planet in the middle of things?). But I wonder if this is done everywhere, if other countries have maps drawn that make THEM the center of the world in location and size (if there's any distortion in theirs) for schools and offices and such? metalkatt said as far as she knows, maps such as this are used in Southeast Asian schools.

Those of you in Australia or Norway, or China, etc. - what do you have most often around in your part of the world?

Comments

[beldar.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of the King of Siam's map in "The King and I"

Also, I'm told that Australia is very fond of "bottoms-up" maps and globes (can't imagine why [g])

Being a silly American, I always presumed the very US-centric map was presented that way to cut Eurasia into Europe and Asia. But I can see how that could be regarded differently. The traditional Alaska-in-the-left-corner map is no doubt set from a Western Europe POV, putting the seat of the traditional global seafaring empires in the upper-center; perhaps it's coincidence that it benefits the U.S. for the reasons you give.

[beckyblack]

I remember that scene in The West Wing (well it had Josh in it, my favourite character.) If the one we're most used to was designed primarily for sailors it makes sense that Britain is almost right in the middle! Though I always assumed the basic arrangement with the Americas to the left and Europe and points East to the right was so that it doesn't have a vast amount of not-very-much, i.e. the Pacific, taking up large areas of the map with the land masses chased off to the edges.

[weyrlady.livejournal.com]

All the world maps I saw in Japan had Japan at the center of the map, and Europe broken in half. It was pretty disorienting every time I came across one. Also, I suspect, though I have no proof of this, that Japan was very slightly enlarged on most of them.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hee, we mostly use the 'typical world map' but, as mentioned above, the average Australian is probably more familiar with the 'upside down' map than the average American for obvious reasons *g*

Tangentially, I also think we're more likely to know that Australia is roughly the size of the continental US, which tends to suprise some people, even though it should be obvious.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

A book that I can recommend highly regarding earthquakes is "Earthquakes and Geological Discovery," by Bruce A. Bolt. You can buy it for virtually nothing. It's got stunning graphics. Of course, it's not going to include the most recent earthquakes, but it will give you more than what you might get from a magazine article. I worked with this guy for years.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I will keep this in mind for light reading *G*. Thanks!