First Chapter of ‘How to Lie with Maps’

This reading was particularly sparkofinsightful, mainly because I really wasn’t aware of how controversial mapmaking was.
I guess that’s kind of the reason the book was made, actually. The author certainly made a very serious case for why we should be more cartographically literate.

However, I’m still having a bit of difficulty applying his level of passion and vigor towards the subject. At the present, I cannot meet him halfway. He presents the subject as an almost conspiracy theory. Even the cover to the book is comically blown out of proportion, and I can’t help but assume that in 1996, when the book was published, the world was a largely different place. I mean, he couldn’t have possibly foreseen the impact of the Internet and the free exchange of information that would rise from it.

I completely agree that in the limited and confined world of the past, bold lies embedded in maps had a grand impact on how people viewed the world. But that level of conspiracy is practically impossible now. The advent of the worldwide web grants us far-seeing eyes, peering ever-watchful onto every horizon.

On top of their availability, the maps themselves have changed. In America, the consumer no longer seeks the borders and terrain, or bountiful rivers.  He studies the spiderweb of streets and the web of roads. These man-made constructs are more tangible, less prone to dispute, and far more difficult to present incorrectly.

These thoughts are based purely on the first chapter alone, though. I know not what exactly I will learn as I read further. Furthermore, I applied his points to modern-day America,  and thus created a very different picture than had I done so to, say, Sahara Africa, or the forests of New Guinea. I’ll undoubtedly have to widen my scope as I continue to read.