- [Narrator] These days it's natural to feel a bit lost.
Everyone seems to be looking for a sense
for where they stand in the world.
A reference point on which to ground ourselves.
A mental map.
When we think of our mental maps
of the actual world, however,
that is, our intuitive sense for the shape
and relative position of places on the planet,
it may surprise you to learn that they're a bit off.
Many peoples mental maps of Earth, in fact,
share the same, fairly significant errors.
Relative positions, sizes,
and even the existence of minor locations
may be totally off-base.
The good news is, it's not your fault.
One reason for a skewed mental picture of the world
is our brains taking shortcuts.
Our minds try to simplify the layout
of highly detailed things.
Such as, the locations of cities
and countries around the world.
But these shortcuts may not always be accurate.
Take, for example, South America.
Many may think it's located more
or less directly south of North America,
with Chile corresponding roughly to California.
If you flew straight south from Los Angeles, however,
you wouldn't hit land again until Antarctica.
In reality, all of continental South America
is located east of Florida.
In this way, North and South America
could also be accurately named
west and east America, respectively.
These mental misconceptions aren't limited to the Americas.
Do you think of Africa as being largely
in the Southern Hemisphere?
Perhaps it's similar latitudes as South America?
In fact, the vast majority of Africa
is north of the equator.
I bet you never realized
that Disney World in Orlando, Florida
is closer to the equator
than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
Europe is also much further north than many people realize.
A line drawn west out of London, England
would never touch the 48 contiguous states.
Paris is actually further north than Montreal.
Barcelona is around the same latitude as Chicago.
Our mental image of Europe being further south
than it actually is, may have to do with its weather.
Europe has what's called a Mediterranean climate.
The result of warm air crossing the Atlantic
via the Gulf Stream.
This means that many European cities
have climates that those of us in the Americas
associate with lower latitudes.
When we think about the weather in say, Venice,
we don't expect it to be located
further north than Toronto, but it is.
A skewed sense of the world
isn't just our brain's fault for taking shortcuts.
Every map you've ever seen
has been, in some way, distorted from reality.
For instance, many of us grew up
with maps in school that showed Greenland
to be about the same size as South America.
In reality, however, South America
is more than eight times larger than Greenland.
Similarly, most maps make it impossible
to see that Brazil is larger
than the contiguous United States,
and only slightly smaller than Canada.
Or that Alaska is actually smaller than Libya.
Now, how is it possible that maps can be so misleading?
The answer lies in the impossibility of representing
a three-dimensional object, the Earth,
in only two-dimensions, a map.
While a globe can accurately represent
relative positions, sizes,
and distances on the Earth's surface without issue,
compromises must be made
when trying to flatten an orb into a map.
Cartographers, people who make maps,
have developed various methods
of depicting the round Earth
on a flat surface called projections.
Each of these projections represents the earth accurately,
in some way, while distorting the planet in others.
For instance, one of the most common projections
is the Mercator projection.
Introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator.
Mercator maps are found in classrooms around the world,
and it's even the projection used by Google maps.
Mercator's goal in developing his projection
was to aid in navigation.
Any angle on the globe is the same angle on a Mercator map,
which assured navigators
that they were heading towards their intended destination
in the days before GPS.
As a result, however, the relative sizes and shapes
of continents on Mercator maps are distorted.
Especially for land nearer to the poles.
As you move further away from the equator,
the Mercator projection shows land taking up more area
than it actually does on Earth.
This is why Antarctica looks so large,
while in reality being the third smallest continent.
As a result, Mercator projections
tend to portray northern countries, such as those in Europe,
as being larger than they actually are.
Remember how north London actually is?
Some scholars maintain that these countries magnification
has contributed to imperialist mindset.
Essentially allowing small European countries
to inflate their position on the world.
While the Mercator is one of the most commonly found around
and of the world,
it is far from the only projection available.
Each, like the Mercator,
has it's own benefits and drawbacks.
None is considered more correct than any other.
They're all trying to solve the same impossible problem.
Converting something from three-dimensions to two.
The only representation of Earth
that doesn't make any comprises, a globe.
Apart from mental shortcuts and distorted projections,
there's another reason why your mental map may be false.
You've been intentionally lied to.
Before satellites were taking high resolution photos
of all the Earth's surfaces 24-hours a day,
making a map was a painstaking job.
If you spent a ton of time and resources making a map,
you needed ways to ensure people wouldn't copy your work
and sell it themselves as their own map.
One way to do this was
by putting intentional errors in maps called trap streets.
For instance, if you were mapping your hometown
and included a made up street, nothing serious,
maybe just a fictional cul-de-sac in the corner of town,
and that same fake cul-de-sac
appeared in a competitor's map,
you could be confident they had stolen your map.
According to the grandson of the former president and CEO,
Thomas Brothers Maps would put fake streets
of people's kids' names, pets' names in little cul-de-sacs,
and that was one way we would be able to keep the copyright.
One of the most common descriptions of map making
is that it is both an art and a science.
Historians hypothesize that human consciousness
has always had an impulse to try to cognitively map
and relate to our physical surroundings,
and while human brains
may instinctively have an impulse to map,
the practice is by no means an innate skill,
leading to many distortions
in how we mentally believe the world is laid out.
It's important to keep in mind how,
just like the projections of globes onto maps,
the way we view our surroundings
is only one of many valid interpretations.
Sometimes, when you feel lost in the world,
changing perspectives may be just what you need
to find your way.
(upbeat piano music)