Why your mental map of the world is (probably) wrong.
15 Replies to “Honey, I Finished The Internet”
It’s bad enough that NG has gone full SJW, but must it insult the intelligence of its readers as well?
In a similar vein, I just finished reading “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. Other than the AGW nonsense where he falls into one of the mental errors he himself outlines, it’s an excellent read and highlights many of the misconceptions used to prop up numerous activist narratives. It also reinforces much of what I’ve seen in various third and second world nations.
+1
The late Dr. Rosling was a refreshing antidote to the doom and gloom clickbait spewed by the Lame Stream Media and the UN misery spreaders.
Offspring had a fellow student (Brit) who wanted to be sure said offspring was not a “dodgy northerner” (the Brit being from Southampton way). So we checked the various latitudes and – sure enough – Calgary came out between Southampton and London. If the Gulf Stream ever slows down or moves westward, Europe will have a real shock.
Ottawa is 500 miles South of London, England.
One thing that surprised me a few years ago was that Thule, Greenland is 700 km closer to Edmonton than Halifax is.
I had a contact with a fellow ham in Greenland over an amateur radio satellite and I checked on a website to see how far he was from me. I was astonished to find out that he was about 3000 km away.
I suppose I am a bit Eurocentric, being the child of British immigrants. I don’t think of South America as being mainly east of North America but rather North America being further west than South America.
Trivia games contain a lot of these types of questions. Another one that often fools people is: Is Reno, Nevada east or west of Los Angeles? First time playing the game many people would say east when it’s actually west of L.A.
People also don’t realize just how far south Forida is compared to California. The entire state of Florida is below the most southern point in California. Many people believe that because SoCal and Florida have warm climates that they share similar latitudes.
Most people can’t figure out how a street address is supposed to work and that you can find your way from 1st street to 5th street without a bloody GPS hand holding you the rest of the way.
“One, two, five!”
“Three, sir.”
For the longest time, I had in my mind, that Hawaii was on a direct line between Vancouver and Tokyo, even after traveling there once(before the little maps on the screen were in the back of the seat ahead of you)
It’s actually the same latitude as Mexico City, on a direct line between Vancouver and Sydney, Aus.
This reinforces my belief that most people are idiots.
The expression “Almost all of South America is east of Florida” is very incorrect. That means that if I am in Florida and travel east, I will hit the continent of South America.
The truth is that people think South America is directly south of North America. The reality is that it is almost all south east of Florida.
uhuh.
and the first time we visited Hong Kong, the plane went Tranna waaaaaaaay up over Alaska.
could this widespread ignorance be yet *another* failing of da edjukashun cystem?
Which of these is closest to being true?
Baffin Island is half the size of Great Britain.
Baffin Island is about the same size as Great Britain.
Baffin Island is twice the size of Great Britain.
(it’s the last of these, Victoria Island is also larger than Great Britain).
It’s bad enough that NG has gone full SJW, but must it insult the intelligence of its readers as well?
In a similar vein, I just finished reading “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. Other than the AGW nonsense where he falls into one of the mental errors he himself outlines, it’s an excellent read and highlights many of the misconceptions used to prop up numerous activist narratives. It also reinforces much of what I’ve seen in various third and second world nations.
+1
The late Dr. Rosling was a refreshing antidote to the doom and gloom clickbait spewed by the Lame Stream Media and the UN misery spreaders.
Offspring had a fellow student (Brit) who wanted to be sure said offspring was not a “dodgy northerner” (the Brit being from Southampton way). So we checked the various latitudes and – sure enough – Calgary came out between Southampton and London. If the Gulf Stream ever slows down or moves westward, Europe will have a real shock.
Ottawa is 500 miles South of London, England.
One thing that surprised me a few years ago was that Thule, Greenland is 700 km closer to Edmonton than Halifax is.
I had a contact with a fellow ham in Greenland over an amateur radio satellite and I checked on a website to see how far he was from me. I was astonished to find out that he was about 3000 km away.
I suppose I am a bit Eurocentric, being the child of British immigrants. I don’t think of South America as being mainly east of North America but rather North America being further west than South America.
Trivia games contain a lot of these types of questions. Another one that often fools people is: Is Reno, Nevada east or west of Los Angeles? First time playing the game many people would say east when it’s actually west of L.A.
People also don’t realize just how far south Forida is compared to California. The entire state of Florida is below the most southern point in California. Many people believe that because SoCal and Florida have warm climates that they share similar latitudes.
Most people can’t figure out how a street address is supposed to work and that you can find your way from 1st street to 5th street without a bloody GPS hand holding you the rest of the way.
“One, two, five!”
“Three, sir.”
For the longest time, I had in my mind, that Hawaii was on a direct line between Vancouver and Tokyo, even after traveling there once(before the little maps on the screen were in the back of the seat ahead of you)
It’s actually the same latitude as Mexico City, on a direct line between Vancouver and Sydney, Aus.
This reinforces my belief that most people are idiots.
The expression “Almost all of South America is east of Florida” is very incorrect. That means that if I am in Florida and travel east, I will hit the continent of South America.
The truth is that people think South America is directly south of North America. The reality is that it is almost all south east of Florida.
uhuh.
and the first time we visited Hong Kong, the plane went Tranna waaaaaaaay up over Alaska.
could this widespread ignorance be yet *another* failing of da edjukashun cystem?
Which of these is closest to being true?
Baffin Island is half the size of Great Britain.
Baffin Island is about the same size as Great Britain.
Baffin Island is twice the size of Great Britain.
(it’s the last of these, Victoria Island is also larger than Great Britain).