4 ms·

The last unmapped places on Earth

29 points by srikar 11y ago

Amorymeltzer 11y ago
The West Wing clip on maps is still one of the best ways to teach someone about how different our classic maps are from reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY
davidw 11y ago
> “It’s my hypothesis that the reason Europeans are so much more geographically aware than we Americans is that they have these maps that make their surroundings understandable and we don’t,” Being from Oregon myself, and having spent years in Italy, I quickly realized that most people in Italy have no idea where I'm from - and it's not a small place by any means. Even the relatively small population is on par with some smaller European countries. So I don't think it's that Europeans are 'more aware' - it's that they're more aware of Europe. I think it's pretty normal to be mostly aware of your immediate surroundings.
- darklajid 11y ago
  I'm from Germany. Without cheating I wouldn't even be able to guess where Oregon is. But that's still not quite fair, I think. You're kinda expected to know the neighboring countries in Europe, but you have lots of "internal" state as well. The overhead seems (arguably I'm biased) bigger. Yeah, knowing where Denmark, Italy or Norway is might be expected, but then we're comparing "them" (external state, never went there, cannot speak their language) with "us" (Germany has states as well. Would you be able to name them?). In the end I agree with you: I think the premise is flawed.
  - davidw 11y ago
    I know all the regions of Italy and I think I could do a decent job at all the provinces too, something not all Italians could accomplish. I have no clue about the various internal divisions, of, say, Ireland, Norway or the Czech Republic (I have been to Dublin, Oslo and Prague though!). I suspect this is fairly true for most people who live in Europe: they know their own town, region and country better than places farther away. This is fairly normal, and after explaining for about the 100th time that "Oregon is the state above California", I rapidly got over being embarassed about my compatriots' lack of geographical knowledge.
deleted 11y ago
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29 points by srikar 11y ago

The West Wing clip on maps is still one of the best ways to teach someone about how different our classic maps are from reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY

davidw 11y ago

> “It’s my hypothesis that the reason Europeans are so much more geographically aware than we Americans is that they have these maps that make their surroundings understandable and we don’t,” Being from Oregon myself, and having spent years in Italy, I quickly realized that most people in Italy have no idea where I'm from - and it's not a small place by any means. Even the relatively small population is on par with some smaller European countries. So I don't think it's that Europeans are 'more aware' - it's that they're more aware of Europe. I think it's pretty normal to be mostly aware of your immediate surroundings.

darklajid 11y ago
I'm from Germany. Without cheating I wouldn't even be able to guess where Oregon is. But that's still not quite fair, I think. You're kinda expected to know the neighboring countries in Europe, but you have lots of "internal" state as well. The overhead seems (arguably I'm biased) bigger. Yeah, knowing where Denmark, Italy or Norway is might be expected, but then we're comparing "them" (external state, never went there, cannot speak their language) with "us" (Germany has states as well. Would you be able to name them?). In the end I agree with you: I think the premise is flawed.
- davidw 11y ago
  I know all the regions of Italy and I think I could do a decent job at all the provinces too, something not all Italians could accomplish. I have no clue about the various internal divisions, of, say, Ireland, Norway or the Czech Republic (I have been to Dublin, Oslo and Prague though!). I suspect this is fairly true for most people who live in Europe: they know their own town, region and country better than places farther away. This is fairly normal, and after explaining for about the 100th time that "Oregon is the state above California", I rapidly got over being embarassed about my compatriots' lack of geographical knowledge.

deleted 11y ago

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