4 ms·

Does this feel backwards to anyone else? States with small populations have inflated sizes. States with large populations are tiny and thus look insignificant.

by rlpb 14y ago

specialist 14y ago
You're thinking of the size weighted electoral college map. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/ This map depicts how the USA might look today if the state boundaries were balanced for population. Redistricting of the states, if you will.
eCa 14y ago
> Keep in mind that this is an art project, not a serious proposal, so take it easy with the emails about the sacred soil of Texas. (From the original source.)
- protomyth 14y ago
  and using the name Ogallala.......
Swizec 14y ago
You can look at it as a map of population density. Each state contains the same amount of people. I think it's fairly interesting and nicely shows that most of the US is practically empty.
- Ingaz 14y ago
  Almost every (large) country is practically empty. Japan - 4/5 of territory is inhabitable. China - the same. Russia - Siberia is almost inhabited.
  - sophacles 14y ago
    Um, I think you may not be a native english speaker, so just a semantic note here: inhabit breaks the "in" prefix convention (or the "in" is not a prefix) in that the meaning of "inhabit" is "to live there". So an "inhabitable place" is on where people could live. If you mean "a place where people can't live", the correct term is "uninhabitable". Note - the word "habitable" means the same thing as "inhabitable". It is just one of those confusing English language things, where all rules are more "guidelines" than hard rules, and there are exceptions to the exceptions. Another word that follows a similar pattern: flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Namely "easy to burn or start on fire". So I think that to support the empty statement in your first sentence, your second sentence should read: Japan - 4/5 of territory is uninhabitable. China - the same. Russia - Siberia is almost uninhabited. edit - The statement "Siberia is almost inhabited" is also a funny/sarcastic way of saying "Siberia is almost uninhabited".
    - Ingaz 14y ago
      Thank you! I'm Russian. And I was unsure when I wrote "inhabitable". I'm glad that HN-readers can understand what I wrote in my Runglish. (I suppose it's the same as when I reading Japanese VNs thru online translators)
    - Swizec 14y ago
      As a non-native English speaker, your semantics are incorrect. There is a nuance. Habitable is an adjective and means it supports life (usually of humans). Inhabitable is an adjective form of the verb "to inhabit" and deals with one's intention. So habitable means something supports life and inhabitable means intending to live there is viable, possibly with some modifications to the environment to make it habitable. Just a minor nitpick.
      - akavi 14y ago
        As a native speaker, I'm going to push back on the nuance you suggest, and say that that distinction certainly does not exist in my idiolect. Which jibes with a quick dictionary check. Neither word connotes intention, as far as I can tell.
    - 14y ago

Does this feel backwards to anyone else? States with small populations have inflated sizes. States with large populations are tiny and thus look insignificant.

by rlpb 14y ago

Does this feel backwards to anyone else? States with small populations have inflated sizes. States with large populations are tiny and thus look insignificant.

specialist 14y ago

You're thinking of the size weighted electoral college map. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/ This map depicts how the USA might look today if the state boundaries were balanced for population. Redistricting of the states, if you will.

eCa 14y ago

> Keep in mind that this is an art project, not a serious proposal, so take it easy with the emails about the sacred soil of Texas. (From the original source.)

protomyth 14y ago
and using the name Ogallala.......

Swizec 14y ago

You can look at it as a map of population density. Each state contains the same amount of people. I think it's fairly interesting and nicely shows that most of the US is practically empty.

Ingaz 14y ago
Almost every (large) country is practically empty. Japan - 4/5 of territory is inhabitable. China - the same. Russia - Siberia is almost inhabited.
- sophacles 14y ago
  Um, I think you may not be a native english speaker, so just a semantic note here: inhabit breaks the "in" prefix convention (or the "in" is not a prefix) in that the meaning of "inhabit" is "to live there". So an "inhabitable place" is on where people could live. If you mean "a place where people can't live", the correct term is "uninhabitable". Note - the word "habitable" means the same thing as "inhabitable". It is just one of those confusing English language things, where all rules are more "guidelines" than hard rules, and there are exceptions to the exceptions. Another word that follows a similar pattern: flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Namely "easy to burn or start on fire". So I think that to support the empty statement in your first sentence, your second sentence should read: Japan - 4/5 of territory is uninhabitable. China - the same. Russia - Siberia is almost uninhabited. edit - The statement "Siberia is almost inhabited" is also a funny/sarcastic way of saying "Siberia is almost uninhabited".
  - Ingaz 14y ago
    Thank you! I'm Russian. And I was unsure when I wrote "inhabitable". I'm glad that HN-readers can understand what I wrote in my Runglish. (I suppose it's the same as when I reading Japanese VNs thru online translators)
  - Swizec 14y ago
    As a non-native English speaker, your semantics are incorrect. There is a nuance. Habitable is an adjective and means it supports life (usually of humans). Inhabitable is an adjective form of the verb "to inhabit" and deals with one's intention. So habitable means something supports life and inhabitable means intending to live there is viable, possibly with some modifications to the environment to make it habitable. Just a minor nitpick.
    - akavi 14y ago
      As a native speaker, I'm going to push back on the nuance you suggest, and say that that distinction certainly does not exist in my idiolect. Which jibes with a quick dictionary check. Neither word connotes intention, as far as I can tell.
  - 14y ago