Matt making has been one of mankind's
most important collaborative projects
maps form the foundation of agriculture
trade science and long-distance
communication they inspired myths
religions even identities the stories
behind every society 70,000 years ago
the age of exploration began our
ancestors began to hunt and gather
spreading from Africa to Europe Asia in
the Pacific now we have GPS satellites
smartphones and autonomous drones criss
crossing the globe digitally mapping our
world while it might feel that every
point on the grid has been documented
and the age of exploration has come to
an end why are we then still getting
lost from point A to point B most maps
operate in two dimensions the physical
and the social think about how we give
directions take the second turn over the
small bridge and look for a two-story
yellow house at the end of the road yet
we assign places with numbers street
names what we have gained in organizing
our world has created a loss and
community driven knowledge a knowledge
that people across the world can only
really know by being on the ground
unlike GPS coordinates the addresses
that define our world are social
constructs and as such can be in exact
if the supermarket became a strip mall
that one address could become 10 zoning
and development can scramble the
symmetry of the best-laid grids
despite the impressive technology we
have the loss of tribal and community
knowledge is a challenge that
compromises the accuracy of digital maps
it's a problem that only people with
intimate knowledge of the terrain can
fix like the travelers who drive those
roads every day in some cases there is
no fixed address at all in these
scenarios we must think beyond physical
and social mapping to remain flexible to
mobile lifestyles whether they are a
nomad a globe-trotting entrepreneur or a
political refugee as the people of the
world become more mobile more connected
and more interdependent it's clear that
charting the world is far from complete
and the new age of exploration may be
just beginning