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YSK There's a campaign to replace the distorted Mercator world map with the fairer Equal-Earth projection

⁨441⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨drmoose@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨youshouldknow@lemmy.world⁩

https://correctthemap.org/

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Comments

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  • realitista@lemmus.org ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Since this article gave you everything except the one thing you want to see, here’s what the Equal Earth projection looks like

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    • volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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      • skisnow@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ 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.

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    • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Damn Russia is still that big? I thought the distortion played a large part in its size on the original map.

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      • AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yeah, but now it’s tiny compared to Antarctica

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    • BangCrash@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Greenland’s not that big is it?

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      • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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…

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  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This will never happen as long as Big Greenland holds the strings of power in the cartography world.

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    • sunbeam60@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      It’s time the U.S. deals with big Greenland once and for Oil.

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    • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      And they’re very big. Have you looked at a map lately? Do you expect tiny little Africa to stand up to that?

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  • oxysis@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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

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    • teft@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Fuck that. Let's go for the euler spiral.

      Image

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      • T156@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        It seems like the kind of thing that would give rise to the ~ Earth movement

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      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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? 🤔

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    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      In color

      Image

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    • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      We could also have made Mercator maps of varying position, but that might not center Europe.

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  • zululove@lemmy.ml ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This is so dumb what do you mean replace you have a phone and can look up different versions as u please

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    • GlassHalfHopeful@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      They’re speaking of the standard and default in most map representations.

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  • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    CMV: this movement only matters to stupid people, and does not qualify as something “I should know”.

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    • skisnow@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ 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…

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    • jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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      • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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  • LetMeShowYouAThing@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.”

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      • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Nah they all use the Azimuthal Equidistant Projection

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  • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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    • skisnow@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ 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.

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  • cerement@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    still not as aesthetic as Waterman butterfly projection

    (and relevant XKCD)

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    • Lodespawn@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      I didn’t think I’d ever have a favourite map but here we are.

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    • BlueEther@no.lastname.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      That projection shows how vast the Pacific is

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      • roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

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  • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

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    • drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

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      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

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    • sanguinepar@lemmy.world ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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

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      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I meant continent. My bad.

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    • victorz@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The fact that you say Africa is a country kind of speaks against your argument here, wouldn’t you say?

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      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I mean continent, it was a mistake.

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    • lime@feddit.nu ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      it’s a pretty common talking point.

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      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

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  • logi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

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  • nymnympseudonym@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    DYMAXION MAP OR GTFO

    Image

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    • stickly@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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

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  • aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Not a single link there to technical details about the projection.

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    • Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      equal-earth.com/equal-earth-projection.html

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    • can@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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

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  • samc@feddit.uk ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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?

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    • volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ 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.

      Honestly, at least in school you should use a globe to begin with. It is the best projection there is. I’m also pretty sure there are online “globes” that you can turn any way you want. Using a 2D projection is mostly unnecessary in education.

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      • PixxlMan@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        A globe isn’t a projection at all, it’s the real deal. Projection occurs when you take that 3D surface and map it to a 2D surface.

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    • squaresinger@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      But also, kinda funny how this project is very specifically about fairness for Africa. Why not include south America in there too?

      Have you looked at the projections in question?

      Mercator enlarges everything closer to the poles while making everything closer to the equator smaller. It does not matter which continent it is, since it follows the same formula worldwide. That means, Europe, North America, Greenland, the south end of South America, South Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica are enlarged, and Central America, northern South America, most of Africa, India, South Asia and Ocenania are depicted smaller.

      The Equal Earth projection makes sure that each square kilometer of land takes up the same space on the map, no matter where it is.

      So this enlarges all regions closer to the equator (as listed above) and shrinks all that are closer to the poles.

      So obviously it does benefit most regions of South America and frankly, I’m quite surprised that you’d think it wouldn’t.

      In fact, it would be quite difficult to make a projection that would specifically enlarge Africa while shrinking South America. (Certainly possible, but difficult)

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      • samc@feddit.uk ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I was referring to the text at the bottom of the press release:

        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.

        It seems to single out Africa because this campaign is led by Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa. I just thought it was amusing that the campaign text mentions Africa repeatedly but only indirectly mentions south america when referring to the global south.

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    • mmmm@sopuli.xyz ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Why not include south America in there too?

      Almost nobody here gives a flying fuck about education quality. If we were to talk about education injustices we could argue about how the USA stole the name of the continent for theirs and you people don’t seem to like that talk…

      But in all seriousness I guess we as Latin America/South America don’t have that sense of unity as Africa does. We are absurdly diverse and I think it has taken a toll in our sense of identity

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      • WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        If we were to talk about education injustices we could argue about how the USA stole the name of the continent for theirs and how most of the world went along with that, and you people don’t seem to like that talk…

        I propose that Brazil go for the option of maximum chaos. Brazil should formally change its official name to Os Estados Unidos da América. Ain’t no rule that says two nations can’t have the same name.

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      • lemmyknow@lemmy.today ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        South America/Latin America, unite! Become strong, and don’t let the US make of themselves the continent. Where’s LatAm’s (Sudamerica’s?) version of the EU?

        I for one enjoy this modern “shared” culture in hispanic countries. Or at least what I perceive to be so. LatAm artists getting awards at Music Awards in Spain is poggers, and the collaborations between artists of different countries as well. Also the radio station being available in several countries as well. Afaik, Brazilians seem to not be very familiar with other lusophone countries’ culture as much, though it seems the contrary might be true. I imagine Brazilians also don’t be familiar with other LatAm countries’ music and culture either, but Idk. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

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  • Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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?

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    • kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      If it’s already distorted, switching to a different distortion that’s area-preserving can still be an improvement.

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      • Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Hm… personally, I think it’s very situational, but generally I feel like a more accurate shape is more important than size. I especially feel like it would be important for children who are just learning the map.

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  • RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’m in the one and only line of work where Mercator makes sense, and even I hate Mercator.

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    • realitista@lemmus.org ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Which line of work is that? You just gonna leave us hanging?

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      • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        16th century sailor.

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      • RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Shipping and petroleum - got an old Ikea Mercator map behind me for quick looks and estimations.

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    • Agosagror@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      what line of work?

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      • RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Shipping and petroleum - got an old Ikea Mercator map behind me for quick looks and estimations.

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  • outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Fuck this. We can do better worse

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  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Obligatory West Wing Gall-Peters Projection link

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  • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I believe in Winkel-Tripel supremacy

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  • aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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!

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  • gloktawasright@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I like the AuthaGraph map myself, but I’m happy to see an wqual area projection being proposed!

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    • PoisonedPrisonPanda@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      wow. thats cool

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  • Gork@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I kinda like the Winkel Triple or Kavrayskiy VII projections. They look a bit more natural compared to the Mercator.

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  • CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I laugh every time.

    You could not bitch about a more pointless subject.

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    • drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Brave take with your comment history public lmao

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      • CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        You’ve changed the world today. You’ve made it a better place.

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  • TheGuyTM3@lemmy.ml ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    For me, Peter’s projection will always be in second place behind simply using a globe: keeps cardinal directions, easy to find precise coordinates with a ruler, correct continent significance while only using straight lines, simple, and easy to use.

    Peeps always says i’m evil because everything is distorded on it but i don’t care about distortion, I just want something rectangular and accurate.

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  • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Mercator? I barely even know her!

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  • mrmule@sh.itjust.works ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This map messed with my head. I was in a bar in Southern Greenland and they had this on the wall!

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    • victorz@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Love that actually. Any map focusing on relevant parts will be more accurate to those parts.

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  • cheese_greater@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Now I need to watch a video on how globes are made

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  • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Those distances get exaggerated up on the poles though. What about that other one that looks like a bunch of orange slices?

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  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Oh it’s called “equal earth projection”?

    Great. That means Trump will double down on the Mercator and it’ll be like the metric bullshit all over again.

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  • bdonvr@thelemmy.club ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    It’s not a bad compromise projection honestly. Why not?

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  • drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The slider is very revealing. Hard to believe that were still using Mercator projection when its so incredibly deceiving even if you actually know the real sizes.

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