Thinking about Thinking

All Maps Flat Out Lie and Bullshit & 5 Reasons Why This is Important

Illustration by Author

All maps flat-out lie. Maps Bullshit. Plain truth.

Here are 5 reasons why this is important.

1. Maps like people lie in many ways.

A common way that maps lie is through selective omission. Certain information is left out of, or off the map intentionally or unintentionally. This can be done to simplify the map, highlight certain features, or serve a particular agenda.

2. Maps like people project in many ways.

Maps lie through projection, such as representing the three-dimensional, spherical surface of the Earth in a two-dimensional space (a map).

Different projections produce significantly different shapes and sizes of land masses. This can lead to exaggeration or distortion of certain areas (like people), particularly in maps of polar regions or maps of large areas like continents.

3. Maps are Metaphors.

Every time I look at a map I become a bullshittee: a receiver and potential believer of Bullshit.

Alfred Korzybski, a Polish-American scientist and philosopher said in the 1930s “the map is not…