Since this article gave you everything except the one thing you want to see, here’s what the Equal Earth projection looks like
YSK There's a campaign to replace the distorted Mercator world map with the fairer Equal-Earth projection
Submitted 1 month ago by drmoose@lemmy.world to youshouldknow@lemmy.world
Comments
realitista@lemmus.org 1 month ago
volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
Yes, it is an awful website with an awful promotion video. Sizing the countries down but not connecting them and not showing you the world map as it would look like in total is absolutely not furthering the cause. I’m so mad I’m not sure I even want to sign the petition to be honest. Granted, my school atlas did not have the mercator projection.
skisnow@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
What really disappoints me about that site is the button that reads “Download the Correct Map”. They destroyed all their credibility with one word.
Enkrod@feddit.org 5 weeks ago
Yeh, I mean I can see how using Mercator is subconsciously strengthening colonialist thinking, but to imply that the angles-stable area-distorted map that was much more convenient for naval navigation, was specifically chosen to misrepresent the size of the global south world is borderline paranoid.
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Damn Russia is still that big? I thought the distortion played a large part in its size on the original map.
AA5B@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, but now it’s tiny compared to Antarctica
BangCrash@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Greenland’s not that big is it?
PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes it’s still quite big, but not nearly as big as Australia (as Mercator would suggest). On a globe it is quite obvious, but who has a globe at home in 2025…
cerement@slrpnk.net 1 month ago
still not as aesthetic as Waterman butterfly projection
(and relevant XKCD)
Lodespawn@aussie.zone 1 month ago
I didn’t think I’d ever have a favourite map but here we are.
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 1 month ago
That projection shows how vast the Pacific is
roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
It’s almost two entire sections. With just a little of North America, Asia, and Antarctica. No other body is water or land mass comes anywhere near that.
And if you still don’t think that’s vast enough, maybe a lifetime of bad projections have given you a distorted view of the Pacific’s size. Mercator and Mercator like projections definitely make the Pacific look much too large near the poles.
craigers@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Came here to make sure that xkcd got posted. Well done.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 month ago
This will never happen as long as Big Greenland holds the strings of power in the cartography world.
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 1 month ago
And they’re very big. Have you looked at a map lately? Do you expect tiny little Africa to stand up to that?
sunbeam60@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
It’s time the U.S. deals with big Greenland once and for Oil.
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 1 month ago
By signing the petition you take a stand against a false narrative that downplays Africa’s vast size and diversity as the second-largest continent, reducing its perceived importance in global politics and economics. You can correct the narrative.
I’ll be real here, I have no idea what these people are talking about. The way Africa looked on maps has never had any bearing on my or probably anyone’s thinking of how important the country is in global politics or economics. If someone thinks “country looks small so they must be unimportant,” they are either a child or a fool. Or both.
drmoose@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I somewhat agree, Africa never looked small imo. However Russia, Greenland, Canada etc are so comically oversized that it absolutely makes a difference imo.
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Its a distorted representation of what the Earth looks like, and regardless of the way the sphere of our Earth is displayed on a 2D plane, it will always be distorted.
I don’t see any tangible benefit from changing what has already worked and is globally accepted for many decades. It seems kinda nitpicky, or like these people are clout chasing or something.
sanguinepar@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The way Africa looked on maps has never had any bearing on my or probably anyone’s thinking of how important the country is in global politics or economics.
Africa isn’t a country though, it’s a continent. And one possible impact of the continent being represented much smaller than it really is, is people thinking of Africa as a country
victorz@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The fact that you say Africa is a country kind of speaks against your argument here, wouldn’t you say?
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I mean continent, it was a mistake.
lime@feddit.nu 1 month ago
it’s a pretty common talking point.
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 1 month ago
it’s a pretty common talking point.
Not common enough, apparently.
I have never in my life ever heard anyone equate the size of a country on a map to its importance to global politics and economics. And I am old enough to remember when you had to hang up the phone before you could use the internet.
logi@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Faithfully projecting a globe onto a flat surface is impossible and all projections have to balance a number of compromises. Mercator retains compass directions and the shapes of land masses but entirely sacrifices relative scale between equatorial regions and polar regions. This makes it great for navigating a 17th century vessel. Other projections strike a different balance, like this one, and sacrifice compass direction and land mass shapes in order to perfectly retain scale. On this map, my little Arctic island looks like someone stepped on it.
IMO a balanced projection will compromise on all the nice properties a projection can have, and if that isn’t acceptable, then get a globe.
theherk@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
This is such a garbage take. There is no way to “show our world as it truly is” in two dimensions. I’m all about showing other projects and orientations. Classrooms should have “upside down” maps and Albert maps for example. But we should also teach that each projection has benefits and drawbacks. I was taught that decades ago. Have we stopped?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 weeks ago
The way the world’s going, the next accepted projection will be depicted on the backs of four elephants atop a turtle.
rumba@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
Bring on the Wizzards
I do hope we get the luggage…
lemmy_nightmare@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Wait a minute. I have seen this exact visual somewhere
rumba@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
Africans: You know, 14th century mercator maps are horribly disproportionate over 1/2 the map and are the maps of reference for most online apps, software and textbooks. There are better projections that balance location for actual land mass, we should probably use those.
lemmy: garbage take.
theherk@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
There aren’t better maps. Only maps with different tradeoffs. ALL 2d maps of spheres are disproportionate.
BehavioralClam@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Its the same take that’s applied to any party seen as a “status quo”. Your boss, the CEO, police, the state, movies, everything is “projected” to show something that it isn’t to subtly manipulate the basis of your decisions.
theherk@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
What? Map projections are not projected to manipulate you psychologically. They are projected to manipulate a three dimensional object onto a two dimensional surface.
drmoose@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
99% of people dont know that there other projections. I dare you to ask people which map projection is their favorite.
Ideally yes we should stick to standard and make sure everyone knows thay there are many variants and none of them perfectly represent the sphere were on but thats not happening.
theherk@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I don’t believe that 99% figure for a second. Unless geography is removed from all curricula worldwide. Even still, that ignorance would not signify what this movement implies. It is a useful map; end of story. If the movement were, “We should increase public knowledge of geography and how projections work,” fine. But it isn’t.
aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com 1 month ago
Not a single link there to technical details about the projection.
can@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
You can get this with a few clicks
Equal Earth is an equal-area (equivalent) projection. Shapes, directions, angles, and distances are distorted and stretched north-south in tropical and mid-latitude areas. Nearer the poles, features are compressed in the north-south direction. Distortion values are symmetric across the equator and the central meridian.
and there’s a paper but the link requires access
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 1 month ago
i think the best solution (besides globes which are impractical on screens/posters) is having no standard, expose kids in school to 3 or 4 different projections so they learn there’s no standard and all protections are as valid and all with drawbacks and advantages.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
You’ve unlocked a weird memory. The Windows CD version of Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego did exactly that. It had that map screen where you’d pick where to chase the bad guy, and they used different map projections. I can find screenshots of the game showcasing a Mercator, Robinson and Goode Homolosine projections. And it’s not different editions of the game, it would change between missions.
skisnow@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Yeah I had a Peters Projection map when I was young and there wasn’t any big deal over it, somehow I just assumed everyone did.
DampCanary@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I don’t get it,
from my memory of geography class in 5th to 8th grade, in elementary, we extensively learned about all kinds of maps, and projections, so teaching kids 3-4 is huge downgrade.IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
didn’t mean only teach 3-4, just to not regularly use one projection. use a handful so no one instinctively learns to accept one.
even though you learned a lot of maps, it’s likely most maps you used when not learning about different projections were the same.
teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
CMV: this movement only matters to stupid people, and does not qualify as something “I should know”.
jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
maybe a little abrasive in tone but i don’t totally disagree, this is kind of fucking dumb and i don’t understand why im seeing this everywhere rn.
mercator hasn’t been ubiquitous in decades and when it is used today there’s usually an actual reasoning, however valid one decides it to be.
what the fuck are these people talking about?
a campaign for this? what, are we going to campaign to cease the use of subway maps next because they give a dishonest sense of size and scale of metros?
this feels like weird distraction bait from things that actually matter.
teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
Yeah, I’m open to any valid arguments for why it would matter, but I haven’t seen any. People who think land size should correspond to representation are…to be more diplomatic: not making any effort to think things through.
skisnow@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
I’ll split this into two:
only matters to stupid people
People who are interested in geography, geometry, cartography, political science, geopolitics, culture, cognitive biases, ethnocentrism… generally not a low IQ cohort.
and does not qualify as something “I should know”
Ironically this might be true, just not for reasons that are flattering to you…
teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
People who are interested in geography, geometry, cartography, political science, geopolitics, culture, cognitive biases, ethnocentrism
I maintain that none of those people are the ones interested in this movement, and if you believe they are, you haven’t spent any time thinking about it. Again, I’m looking for any actual legitimate argument in support of it. A condescending argument from hypothetical authority isn’t going to cut it.
LetMeShowYouAThing@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
The Mercator projection was great for navigating oceans, baring remain correct. There are thousands of other map projections that do a better job preserving size, shape, directions, and distances. Any projection will be a tradeoff between these.
As far as I know the Mercator projection has mostly fallen out of use in education, and I don’t think there’s any standard that requires it anywhere. So I’m not sure exactly what this is about.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I don’t think there’s any standard that requires it anywhere. So I’m not sure exactly what this is about.
Don’t give the right any ideas. They’ll be on about “geometric purity” or other such nonsense. Or anything but Mercator will just be “woke.”
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
“The woke liberal left wants to changes maps to make America smaller! Cause they hate America! We will stand against this liberal assault on American sovereinty with the new Trump Map, which shows the true size of America compared to every other country! Order your new Trump Map today for 399.98!”
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Nah they all use the Azimuthal Equidistant Projection
BehavioralClam@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
yeah, most of the world already moved on from it, but its still being used in many texts and countries.
Nalivai@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It’s a bit hard to find out where it actually originated from and who’s behind it. Judjing by their social media handlers, it’s a marketing agency Hello Makeda. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t trust marketing agencies to be good judges on geographical projects.
BehavioralClam@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
They are only using the cause to promote their brand social responsibility probably. In any case, the issue with the distorted view of the map that ideologically and politically benefited one side has been known for decades, and most of the countries that were colonies now use the correct one.
nymnympseudonym@lemmy.world 1 month ago
DYMAXION MAP OR GTFO
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 5 weeks ago
Each region on a dymaxion map is absolutely fine though, it’s just when you put it all together it becomes god awful.
A butterfly map is a better compromise if you need a world map.
nymnympseudonym@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
If you have a physical Dymaxion Map, you make each vertex a hinge so you can swing to connect the bits you want to be adjacent for the purpose at hand.
stickly@lemmy.world 1 month ago
This looks like when you see a weird, unflattering picture of a celebrity. Earth just woke up and hasn’t put its makeup on and you put it on blast like this
Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Okay… but doesn’t this just introduce the issue of flat maps distorting anything to the east or west of center in a different way?
samc@feddit.uk 1 month ago
Firstly, I do think that projections which enlarge Europe and north America relative to the global south are a problem and every curriculum should include education about how this happens and what the world really looks like.
But also, kinda funny how this project is very specifically about fairness for Africa. Why not include south America in there too?
bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Why does the map on the website need that draggable divider when both versions show both types of projection?
zululove@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
This is so dumb what do you mean replace you have a phone and can look up different versions as u please
Tbird83ii@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Just want to point out… their “equal” and “correct” map is missing New Zealand…
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Obligatory West Wing Gall-Peters Projection link
RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m in the one and only line of work where Mercator makes sense, and even I hate Mercator.
Rooty@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Mercator distorts landmass to fit the grid, so it is good for navigation, simply draw a straight line between two points and follow it. Also, the plea on that site is just…weird. Africa is not taken seriously because it is displayed too small on maps - what? It is a large, chunky continent that can be compressed without too much detail loss - Europe, not so much.
Gork@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
I kinda like the Winkel Triple or Kavrayskiy VII projections. They look a bit more natural compared to the Mercator.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
none of this matters, because we all know the earth is flat. Just because other planets are round, doesn’t mean the earth is!
gloktawasright@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I like the AuthaGraph map myself, but I’m happy to see an wqual area projection being proposed!
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I laugh every time.
You could not bitch about a more pointless subject.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Mercator? I barely even know her!
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Fuck this. We can do
betterworseShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
I believe in Winkel-Tripel supremacy
damnedfurry@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It’s now trivial, in 2025, to depict the world as a 3D shape, this is coming a few decades after it matters, imo.
Sarcasmo220@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Whatever map that uses Eurasia rather than pretend Europe is it’s own continent is fine by me
oxysis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
I mean the problem with any projection of earth onto a 2d simplified shape surface is that it will be inherently distorted. The Mercator projection is scaled properly towards the equator but has to scale upwards more and more toward the poles to be able to fit the given area.
Even their own map, which for some reason isn’t shown in either the video or on the main page, isn’t accurate either. It’s better but is also warped in its own way, it would be nice if they had a little blurb that says something to that effect.
Here’s the actual map projection they are pushing for; equal-earth.com/equal-earth-projection.html
teft@piefed.social 1 month ago
Fuck that. Let's go for the euler spiral.
Image
T156@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It seems like the kind of thing that would give rise to the
~Earth movementViking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
I mean, I’m not exactly thrilled about it erasing my country… Did a cartographer from New Zealand make this as an act of revenge? 🤔
Jakule17@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I hope someone travels Antarctic to Alaska on this map
CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
In color
Image
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
We could also have made Mercator maps of varying position, but that might not center Europe.