"Well, personally, I've never been exposed to other projections until 28 years…" That is vanishingly unlikely. These are projections you have practically certa

"Well, personally, I've never been exposed to other projections until 28 years…" That is vanishingly unlikely. These are projections you have practically certainly seen: https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=84#Robinson https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=... https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=189#Winkel%20tripel https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=... https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=69#Mollweide https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=... https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=159#orthographic https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=... And many others. Also, people often mistake any rectangular projection for Mercator. I have even seen this happen in academic literature.