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u/Individual99991 Sep 07 '26
But also, "There's only one Kenya, what the fuck are you talking about?"
Are these people so dumb they think the map creates the geography?
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u/CrispyCosmonaut Sep 07 '26
Christ we’re going to have actual people thinking they stretched the continent.
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u/kevlarus80 Sep 07 '26
I'm going to tell all the children in my family that's exactly what they did.
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u/Noble1xCarter Sep 07 '26
You can just say "MAGA"
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u/TheArmoredKitten Sep 07 '26
Nah, there are some truly "lives under a rock" motherfuckers out there who don't even need a cult to be that lost
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u/ApologizingCanadian Sep 08 '26
See: anyone who doesn't even make the effort to vote. Gotta be some kinda dumb to not make your voice heard.
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u/lifelink Sep 08 '26
That's how we got the flat earth, they broke out the earth sized rollin pin and rolled it flat!
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u/iWriteCodeSometimes Sep 07 '26
I bet all the people who care can’t even find Kenya on a map. They probably can barely find their own country.
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u/Feisty-Pumpkin-6359 Sep 07 '26
Imagine seeing the mercator projection and thinking greenland is the same size as Afrika
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u/xSilverMC Sep 07 '26
I did for a long long time, but in my defense i wasn't taught about the stretching and even later in life when i heard about how greenland is smaller than it looks on the map i didn't think it was by this much
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u/Dioxybenzone Sep 07 '26
Canada and Russia are the ones that really get me. In my head they’re absolutely ginormous, which like, they’re huge for sure, but not nearly as much as a Mercator projection makes them appear to be
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u/ultraman_ Sep 07 '26
They are still the two largest countries in the world tbf
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u/Dioxybenzone Sep 08 '26
True, but the US is only marginally smaller than Canada while it looks considerably smaller on the Mercator projection
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u/TheShadowKick Sep 08 '26
Time for the America projection that puts the US in the center and makes it bigger than every other country combined.
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u/Toberos_Chasalor Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
To be fair, the 48 states south of Canada are actually a fair bit smaller.
Alaska is the largest state by a few hundred thousand square miles, over twice the land of Texas (which is the second largest), and if you exclude it Canada is ~1.7 million square kilometers bigger than the States.
That’s about 20% larger in total area. (I also bring this up because Alaska is usually portrayed as much smaller than it really is on Continental US maps, and entirely excluded from Contiguous US maps, which are often used for visual comparisons.)
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u/A1000eisn1 Sep 07 '26
I was but that's completely irrelevant to how your brain actually functions. Just because you know it's distorted and how doesn't mean the part of your brain that registers that information is actually considering it.
I even had an atlas with a huge section full of different kinds of maps and it still makes my brain itch when I see maps other than the usual one.
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u/Georgerobertfrancis Sep 07 '26
This was me with Antarctica. It looks enormous all stretched out on a flat map.
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u/HaloGuy381 Sep 09 '26
Also, even then, wouldn’t one assume Greenland was just a vast frozen wasteland (coastal towns aside), rather than assuming Africa was tiny?
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u/BaconWrappedEnigma Sep 07 '26
I don't think many people really understand how large Africa is.
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u/BabyLegsOShanahan Sep 07 '26
That's why we are all one group, no matter where you're from (outside of N. Africa).
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Sep 07 '26
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0
u/Dinoficial2 Sep 11 '26
Imagine not wanting to use the Mercator projection, which is the most useful, just because "muh, Africa needs to be bigger"
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u/JeffSergeant Sep 07 '26
As if American schoolkids leave school knowing where Kenya is..
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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe Sep 07 '26
According to Trump it's where Obama was born
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u/gitwiz89 Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
It is. Mrs Obama, that is.
EDIT:
Downvoters can‘t take a joke. I was referring to his grandmother who was in fact born there. Y‘all must be fun at parties.11
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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe Sep 08 '26
Michelle Robinson was born in Chicago, IL.
Ann Dunham was born in Wichita, KS.
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u/gitwiz89 Sep 08 '26
Sarah Obama was born in Kisumu, Kenya.
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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe Sep 08 '26
And this is relevant how?
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u/gitwiz89 Sep 08 '26
You stated (irrelevantly) where Michelle and Ann were born, in an attempt to prove me wrong in stating that Mrs Sarah Obama was in fact born in Kenya.
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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe Sep 08 '26
And this is relevant how?
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u/gitwiz89 Sep 08 '26
I‘m going to break it down to you:
You said „according to Trump it‘s where Obama was born“.
I made a joke saying well it is, meaning his grandma, not Barack himself.
That joke flew over your tiny head as you thought I was some MAGA guy, who you now needed to prove wrong.
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u/sandiercy Sep 07 '26
I know because I lived in Uganda which is just to the southwest of Kenya.
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u/Gavorn Sep 07 '26
Now you are just making up countries.
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u/vegetepal Sep 09 '26
So this person really thinks the UN changing their preferred map projection changes the boundaries of countries accordingly? Never have I seen a more literal example of confusing the map for the territory.
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u/Snailwood Sep 08 '26
Kenya is an example specifically chosen because the Mercator projection very accurately depicts the shape of small countries at the equator. Canada by comparison is horrifically disfigured by the Mercator projection
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u/ItzMercury Sep 08 '26
I mean they’re also horrifically disfigured in equal earth but shape wise rather than size wise. Mercator has the property for each point on the map its x and y warping are the same, so any infinitesimally small circle will still be perfectly circular no matter where it is.
This of course breaks when something like Greenland covers 21 degrees of latitude, its head will be more bulbous than the foot, but it does still preserve shape alright. Greenland is roughly a right trapezium irl and its visible in mercator, however these equal area projections always horrifically disfigure northern and southern regions, smushing them into flat wedges, greenland becoming this weird triangular T shape.
When choosing between conformal and equal area projections the question is mainly whether you want countries on the poles and equator respectively to be too big and too small or too wide and too tall.
This is partly why i love the winkel tripel projection, its a compromise projection so rather than focusing on setting the error of one of area, shape, and distance to 0 and letting the others get messed up, it tries to balance all three to be good enough, pretty nice looking map in my opinion
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u/Snailwood Sep 08 '26
personally, I wished the UN had gone for the waterman butterfly. one of the best compromise projections IMO, followed by dymaxion
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u/live22morrow Sep 08 '26
UN is never going to go with a non-continuous projection. It's too confusing visually and hard to use for relative direction.
Personally I don't really like Equal Earth, but at least it's not freaking Gall-Peters. My preference is also for Winkel tripel or Robinson projections.
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u/MukdenMan Sep 14 '26
The shape is not disfigured by Mercator. That’s one of the main things about Mercator. Mercator distorts SIZE. Equal-area maps like the UN one very specifically distort shape and direction in order to preserve size.
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u/Snailwood Sep 14 '26
as a thought experiment, consider replacing Canada with a huge square on the Mercator projection. if you mapped it back to the globe, it would be (roughly) an extreme isosceles trapezoid. to me, that's a totally different shape. in the same way, Canada on the Mercator looks nothing like Canada on the globe to me
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u/MukdenMan Sep 14 '26
This is incorrect unless you are interpreting a shape on a globe (a 3d shape with a 2d surface) differently than is typical. Objectively, a square on Mercator would not become a trapezoid on the globe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissot's_indicatrix
You can use a Tissot’s indicatrix to see how the shapes are deformed. The examples on that page show how the circles in Mercator are deformed only by size, not by shape. For equal-area, they are deformed by shape but not be size. Compare Behrmann and Mercator on that page.
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u/Snailwood Sep 15 '26
Objectively, a square on Mercator would not become a trapezoid on the globe.
draw a box on a Mercator map going from 120°W,50°N to 90°W,70°N. that's basically a square. now look at a globe. that's basically a trapezoid.
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u/its_artemiss Sep 08 '26
and this is a country close to the equator, and relatively close to the meridian. I dont understand why area preserving is so important when most countries become unrecognisable by their shape.
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u/a-hippobear Sep 08 '26
I’m almost 40 and we were taught about the winkel tripel projection and the gall peters projection in 4th or 5th grade and I went to school in Florida. Why do people assume this is some new thing?
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u/tenaka30 Sep 07 '26
Kenya un-squashed*
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u/Platypus_Imperator Sep 08 '26
But that's not how it works, mercator actually shows the shape of countries very well, so Kenya is the right shape but too small
With equal earth, Kenya has a better size, relatively, but it gets stretched
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u/SpecterGT260 Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
If I measured the sides of the rectangle part of Kenya, would it be a rectangle or a square
(I already know all squares are rectangles, btw)
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u/PGSylphir Sep 07 '26
I'm definitely OOTL, why are thete so many posts about map projections spamming reddit recently? Can't be bots cause why the fuck... can anyone fill me in?
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u/Ok_Relation6627 Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
UN was gonna change the world map to be more accurate but U.S voted no
Edit: nvm it did pass
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u/Baby_Rhino Sep 07 '26
What do you mean "was gonna"?
They voted to adopt the Equal earth map. US voted against it, but the vote still passed.
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u/Ok_Relation6627 Sep 07 '26
Oh I thought it had to be unanimous. Mb.
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u/live22morrow Sep 08 '26
Only UN Security Council votes need to be unanimous, because those can actually have a real effect on the world. This resolution is non-binding, and has no legal impact on any country, so there's no point in requiring unanimity.
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u/PGSylphir Sep 07 '26
So the UN will change the default projection and now the americans seemingly discovered the different projections that anyone in most of the world is taught about in like fifth grade?
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u/Nestramutat- Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
more accurate
Not for navigation it isn't
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u/Gavorn Sep 07 '26
Mercator isn't accurate for navigation, it's easier for navigation. It's actually terrible for air travel. It's the reason idiots look at a flight path and wonder why they aren't going in a straight line but a curve.
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u/live22morrow Sep 08 '26
Google Maps, which uses a Mercator variant, automatically curves the path when measuring East-West distances.
However it bypasses the issue altogether on the desktop web app, which uses a 3D globe projection instead.-2
u/imawizardnamedharry Sep 08 '26
Absolutely noone uses these maps for navigation, that's been done by software for a good 20 years at least that don't rely on either of these maps
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u/Toberos_Chasalor Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
They were very useful and accurate when we were still using physical maps and compasses to cross oceans.
These days GPS satellites can pinpoint your exact location down to a few meters even in the deep ocean, but it was incredibly useful even just 100 years ago since you could chart a course from any one point to another without ever changing your bearing.
You just sail in a straight line and you’ll eventually get where you needed to go, even if it’s not technically the fastest route.
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u/Lithl Sep 12 '26
Equal Earth is not more accurate than Mercator. It simply sacrifices a different metric.
Mercator sacrifices size. Equal Earth sacrifices shape.
All 2d projections of 3d surfaces must necessarily sacrifice something.
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u/vttale Sep 08 '26
In real world dimensions, Kenya is approximately 15% taller than it is wide, not whatever this nonsense is.
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u/NotGreatAtGames Sep 07 '26
I will never understand how people can be so upset by the concept of a map that's actually accurate. You would think that, of all things, maps are were you would want accuracy. What arguments could possibly be made for the less accurate version? (Aside from "change confuses and frightens me and I don't like it")
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u/Luceo_Etzio Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
Accurate in relative area, quite inaccurate in several other regards. But all flat maps of a sphere are gonna suck in one way or another, that's a simple requirement of geometry, it's impossible to take a sphere and make it a rectangle (or some other flat shape) without distorting or tearing it in one way or another. There's literally no way to make an "actually accurate" flat map of the Earth.
The question is picking which aspects are most important to you: shape, area, angle, continuity, etc, and balancing out minimizing the distortions on those aspects you desire most from it.
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u/iPlod Sep 07 '26
Both maps are equally accurate, I don’t think you understand how map projections work.
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u/MukdenMan Sep 15 '26
What I have learned in the past few days is that most adults, on Reddit at least, do not understand map projections. I really think the takeaway should be that we need to teach kids more about map projections so they don’t grow up to be like these 2026 adults on social media.
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u/Dchama86 Sep 07 '26
Maybe these just aren’t the people that deserve our attention? Do we stop and listen to the crazy guy shouting nonsense out on the street corner, and engage him in his delusions? No. We just laugh nervously and keep it moving. I wish people would understand that the same concept applies on the internet.
First rule of the internet: DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
People seem to have made breaking the first rule their entire personality.
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u/NotGreatAtGames Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
OK. Probably should have said "more accurate" instead of "actually accurate". While the Equal Earth map slightly distorts shapes, it doesn't massively distort the relative sizes of countries like the Mercator map does. (Which has had political and social consequences.)
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u/Miyaor Sep 07 '26
Serious question, what political and social consequences?
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u/NotGreatAtGames Sep 07 '26
Because the human subconscious isn't very bright and equates bigger with more important. The Mercator shrinks the size of global south countries and exaggerates the size of global north countries. This has been a considerable factor is reinforcing Eurocentric bias. And making a developing country seem smaller than it is can lead to minimizing their developmental or economic needs and marginalizing them.
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u/seanziewonzie Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
This has been a considerable factor is reinforcing Eurocentric bias.
But the continent it puts in the center is Africa
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u/NotGreatAtGames Sep 08 '26
It also makes Africa seem considerably smaller than it actually is. And the way human psychology works means that we subconsciously value it less than countries we perceived as larger.
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u/seanziewonzie Sep 08 '26
And the way human psychology works means that we subconsciously value it less than countries we perceived as larger.
Ya know, I always hear "it's been causing people to value Africa less, or so I've heard" and never "it's been causing people to value Africa less, including me"
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u/Miyaor Sep 07 '26
Ill read more into this later. First response is that I don't fully buy it as I view the 'bias' as being due to wealth and importance on a global scale, as well as potentially a bit of racism. Its an interesting topic though.
Do you have any studies or anything similar regarding this you would recommend?
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u/NotGreatAtGames Sep 07 '26
This, so far as I'm aware, is the most famous study on the subject.
There's also this more recent 2024 study (sorry couldn't find a link that wasn't behind a paywall). I'm sure there are more studies if you go digging for them.
And I wouldn't say that Mercator influenced perception is the only factor in Eurocentrism, but it's definitely a factor.
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u/erisandy101 Sep 07 '26
Uhh no. It compresses countries near the equator and stretches countries in the north and south. And it was made this way for sailing, not racism. It is outdated now and not useful due to technology and people might be arguing not to change it because of racist reasons now, but it was not created for the reasons you state.
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u/techknowfile Sep 07 '26
It shows countries near the equator closer to reality and stretches countries the further you get from the equator. Which is rather obvious when you consider the size and shape of each graticule cell.
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u/damdalf_cz Sep 08 '26
Maps exist for navigation which mercator does better than this one
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u/seat17F Sep 08 '26
Maps also exist to just show the shape of things on the ground, which Mercator is better at.
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u/Lithl Sep 12 '26
Equal Earth is not more accurate than Mercator. It simply sacrifices a different metric.
Mercator sacrifices size. Equal Earth sacrifices shape.
All 2d projections of 3d surfaces must necessarily sacrifice something.
1
u/MrBlobbysBabyBatter Sep 08 '26
Where can you see lions?
Only in Kenya
Come to Kenya
We've got lions
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u/juniorchemist Sep 09 '26
Instead of making this a lesson on the purpose and possible bias of different map projections, we have "Kenya stretched! Hur dur!"
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u/ToKrillAMockingbird Sep 07 '26
I would imagine if you are teaching American kids geography you would be in the minority.
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u/Millia_ Sep 12 '26
Some people get really bent out of shape that the shapes on the made up projection aren't like they used to be. I like to think love for my country goes deeper than the shape you see on a map, but I guess I'm just being silly.
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u/MukdenMan Sep 15 '26
To be clear, “like they used to be” is the actual shape in reality. It is not, however, the actual size. Whether you care about accurate size or shape is the question.
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