Saved by Vicente Futscher and
Should This Be a Map or 500 Maps?
Maps have long been a part of human society. They are valuable tools to pass on knowledge. Still, in using maps, abstractions, and models, we must always be wise to their limitations. They are, by definition, reductions of something far more complex. There is always at least an element of subjectivity, and we need to remember that they are created
... See moreRhiannon Beaubien • The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts
Consider the cartographer: Maps are not purely objective creations. They reflect the values, standards, and limitations of their creators.
Rhiannon Beaubien • The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts
One to One: On maps, cartography and our relationship with geographical enquiry over time stretching from ancient Babylon to GIS software. With increasingly sophisticated tools to build maps, "we have the means to comprehend the future.
"We are each at the centre of our own map... We are all innate mapmakers... maps [are the] mediators between an in... See more
"We are each at the centre of our own map... We are all innate mapmakers... maps [are the] mediators between an in... See more
Weidenfeld & Nicolson • You Are Here: A Brief Guide to the World
Jay Matthews added
The first, and most obvious thing, is that they are visual. If I was going to move a piece on a map then I could point to where it was and where it needed to go. Navigation was visual but that was normal. Except, I realised it wasn’t. When people stopped me in their cars to find their way to the nearest petrol station — this was 2004 and GPS was st... See more
Simon Wardley • Highlights From medium.com
cássius carvalho and added
Medieval and Renaissance mapmakers famously demarcated the edges of the discovered world with mythical sea creatures that embodied the limits of exploration and knowledge. As historian Chet Van Duzer argues, those monsters represented a variety of epistemological orientations. They served as “interfaces between the known and unknown,” possible port... See more
Shannon Mattern • How to Map Nothing
Keely Adler added
What’s missing from our map? Everything else. The forest has been made legible to lumber production. In the process, the entire ecological web of trees, shrubs, birds, bugs, moss, soil microbiota are stripped away. They didn’t fit into our map.
By the second generation of planting, there is a noticeable decline in forest health. Within one century: ... See more
By the second generation of planting, there is a noticeable decline in forest health. Within one century: ... See more
Gordon Brander • Soulbinding Like a State
("JP") added
In order to use a map or model as accurately as possible, we should take three important considerations into account: Reality is the ultimate update. Consider the cartographer. Maps can influence territories.
Rhiannon Beaubien • The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts
Specifically, in his own words:2 1. A map may have a structure similar or dissimilar to the structure of the territory. The London underground map is super useful to travelers. The train drivers don’t use it at all! Maps describe a territory in a useful way, but with a specific purpose. They cannot be everything to everyone. 2. Two similar structur
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