How Maps LIE To You

Summary

This video script delves into the rich history of maps, highlighting their evolution from the ancient cattle halyuk cave painting to modern digital representations. It underscores the potential for maps to mislead, using examples like the 2019 Australian wildfires and historical inaccuracies like the Mountains of Kong. The script critiques common map distortions, such as the Mercator projection's size inaccuracies and the misleading U.S. election maps by land area. It also touches on the importance of accurate mapping for infrastructure and the persistent challenge of representing a spherical Earth on a flat surface, concluding with a call to invest in personal growth through healthy habits, supported by the Fabulous app.

Takeaways

• 🗺️ Maps have been a fundamental part of human culture for thousands of years, with the oldest known map dating back to 6200 BCE.
• 🔥 In June 2019, a misleading 3D map of Australia's wildfires went viral, illustrating how easily map misinformation can spread online.
• 🌐 Maps can be a source of both accurate information and disinformation, as seen with the Australian wildfire map and other examples.
• 📊 Maps can mislead through the use of statistics, such as a GIF map showing popular baby names in U.S. states that didn't account for changes in popularity over time.
• 📶 Cell phone coverage maps often overstate actual coverage, with the FCC finding significant discrepancies between claimed and actual coverage.
• 🏛️ Historically, governments have also released misleading maps, such as those used for U.S. presidential election results that don't accurately represent vote distributions.
• 🌍 The common Mercator projection map distorts the size of countries, particularly those far from the equator, leading to misconceptions about the Earth's geography.
• 🗾 Maps can be deliberately inaccurate to be more helpful, like the London Tube map, which prioritizes usability over geographical accuracy.
• 🌐 The orientation of maps with north at the top is a matter of perspective and not an absolute truth, as there is no 'top' or 'bottom' to the Earth in space.
• 🌏 Historical maps have included虚构地理特征，如'Mountains of Kong'和'Island of California'，这些错误持续了数百年才被纠正。

Q & A

What is the oldest map on record, and when was it created?

The oldest map on record is the Çatalhöyük cave painting in Konya, Turkey, believed to have been created around 6200 BCE, roughly a millennium before the advent of written language.

What happened with the map of Australian fires in 2019, and why was it controversial?

In 2019, a 3D image created by artist Anthony Hearsay depicting areas affected by fires in Australia was mistakenly shared online as a NASA satellite photo. This misinformation spread quickly, including a viral tweet by Rihanna. Although the map accurately showed fire-affected regions, it was never intended to be a satellite photo.

Why can maps, even if technically correct, still be misleading?

Maps can be misleading if the data is misinterpreted or lacks context. For example, a map showing the most popular baby names in the U.S. might lead to an incorrect understanding of trends by not accounting for how quickly other names dropped in popularity.

What did the 2019 FCC study reveal about cellular data coverage maps?

The 2019 FCC study found that telecom companies significantly exaggerated their cellular coverage, with some companies only providing coverage in 45% of the areas they claimed, even though maps suggested much broader coverage.

How are voting maps of U.S. elections often misleading?

Voting maps that show U.S. counties painted in solid red or blue are misleading because they don’t reflect the actual population distribution or close election margins. These maps often exaggerate the scale of wins or losses by using land area rather than representing the votes of people.

What are some examples of geographical features that appeared on maps but never existed?

Examples include the Mountains of Kong, which appeared on maps of Africa for nearly 100 years, and the Mexican island of Bermeja, which was only confirmed not to exist in 2009, after appearing on maps since 1539.

What is the 'Island of California,' and why was it incorrectly represented on maps?

The 'Island of California' is a famous historical error where the Baja Peninsula was mistakenly shown as an island. Despite being known as a peninsula by the 1530s, maps continued to depict it as an island until the mid-19th century.

Why is the map of the London Tube system geographically inaccurate?

The London Tube map is inaccurate because it prioritizes simplicity and ease of use over geographical accuracy. Curves in the River Thames and distances between stops are misrepresented to make the map more readable and navigable for commuters.

What is the main issue with the Mercator projection map?

The Mercator projection distorts land sizes, especially near the poles, making northern regions appear much larger than they are. While originally designed for navigation, it creates a misleading view of the world’s geography.

Why is it incorrect to assume that north is 'up' on world maps?

Maps often show north as 'up,' but in reality, there is no top or bottom in space. This is just a perspective we’ve become used to, but an alternative orientation with south at the top is equally valid.

Outlines

00:00

🗺️ The Evolution and Misinterpretation of Maps

This paragraph delves into the historical significance of maps, highlighting the ancient origins exemplified by the Cattle Halyuk cave painting in Turkey, dating back to 6200 BCE. It underscores how maps have evolved to guide humanity but also discusses their potential to disseminate misinformation. A case study is presented on a 3D map of Australia's wildfires created by Anthony Hearsay, which, despite being relatively accurate, was widely misinterpreted when shared without context, leading to widespread misinformation. The paragraph emphasizes the need for due diligence in interpreting maps and the role of social media in amplifying misrepresentations.

05:02

👶 The Misleading Nature of Map Data

Paragraph 2 critiques the representation of data on maps, using the example of a GIF map showing popular baby names in U.S. states over time. It points out that while the map is technically correct, it can lead to misunderstandings due to the way data is visualized. The paragraph also discusses the inaccuracies in cellular coverage maps, as revealed by an FCC study that found significant discrepancies between what telecom companies claimed and actual coverage. The discussion extends to the political realm, examining how election maps can be deceptive, particularly in terms of vote distribution and population density, and concludes with a reflection on the historical persistence of fictional geographic features on maps, such as the Mountains of Kong and the Island of Bermeja.

10:05

🌐 The Bias and Inaccuracy of Common Map Projections

This section challenges the accuracy of commonly used map projections, particularly the Mercator projection, which was designed for navigation rather than geographic accuracy. It discusses the historical context and the distortions introduced by this projection, such as the exaggerated size of Greenland compared to Africa. The paragraph also addresses the cultural and political implications of these distortions, including their use in propaganda. Furthermore, it touches on the concept of map orientation, questioning the conventional 'north-up' approach and suggesting that it's more about perspective than objective truth, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of the geographical representations on maps.

15:06

📱 Promoting Healthy Habits with Technology

The final paragraph shifts focus to the application of technology in fostering healthy habits through an app called Fabulous. It describes how the app uses behavioral science to help users build and maintain habits, offering both customized habit tracking and curated journeys for specific goals. The summary emphasizes the app's user-friendly approach, which includes daily coaching content and the ability to add unlimited habits with a premium membership. The paragraph concludes with a promotional offer for the first 100 users, linking the app's benefits to both personal improvement and support for the content creator's work.

Keywords

💡Maps

Maps are graphical representations of geographical areas that have been integral to human navigation and understanding of the world for thousands of years. In the video, maps are discussed as tools that can both guide and mislead, highlighting their dual role in conveying accurate information and sometimes perpetuating misconceptions or misinformation.

💡Misinformation

Misinformation refers to the spread of false or inaccurate information, which can occur intentionally or unintentionally. The video emphasizes how maps can become a source of misinformation when they are misinterpreted or misrepresented, as exemplified by the 3D image of Australia's wildfires that was mistakenly attributed to a NASA satellite image.

💡Cattle Halyuk Cave Painting

The Cattle Halyuk Cave Painting in Kanye, Turkey, is mentioned as one of the oldest known maps, dating back to around 6200 BCE. This prehistoric map underscores the long-standing human need to represent and understand the world visually, setting the stage for the development of more sophisticated cartography over time.

💡Anthony Hearsay

Anthony Hearsay is an artist and designer highlighted in the video for creating a compelling 3D image of Australia during the 2019-2020 bushfires. His work, while accurate within its context, became a case study for how maps can be misinterpreted when taken out of their original context, leading to widespread misinformation.

💡Baby Names Map

The 'Baby Names Map' is a specific type of map discussed in the video that shows the popularity of baby names across U.S. states over time. This map is used to illustrate how data visualization can be misleading if not properly understood, as the popularity of names like 'Ashley' can be misrepresented when viewed solely through the lens of this map.

💡Cell Phone Coverage Maps

Cell phone coverage maps are a focus of the video as they often overstate the actual coverage provided by telecom companies. The video references an FCC study that revealed a significant discrepancy between what these maps claim and the real-world availability of cellular data, highlighting the importance of accurate mapping for infrastructure investment and public access to technology.

💡Mercator Projection

The Mercator Projection is a map projection that was originally designed for navigation and is now widely used in classrooms and everyday life. The video points out its distortions, such as the exaggerated size of Greenland compared to Africa, to illustrate how certain map projections can misrepresent the true size and shape of geographical areas.

💡Political Maps

Political maps, such as those showing the results of U.S. presidential elections, are discussed in the video as examples of how maps can be misleading if they do not accurately represent data. The video explains how maps that color entire counties based on the winning candidate can give a false impression of landslide victories or overwhelming support.

💡Fake Geographic Features

Fake geographic features like the Mountains of Kong, the Island of Bermeja, and the historical misconception of California as an island are mentioned to show how inaccuracies can persist on maps for centuries. These examples serve to caution viewers about the reliability of map data and the importance of verifying geographical information.

💡Orientation of Maps

The orientation of maps is a concept discussed in the video, challenging the conventional notion that 'north is up' on maps. The video introduces the idea that maps are a matter of perspective and that there is no inherent 'top' or 'bottom' to the Earth, suggesting that maps are subjective representations of reality.

Highlights

Maps have been a crucial part of human experience for thousands of years, with the oldest known map dating back to 6200 BCE.

Maps can be a source of misinformation, as they can be misinterpreted or misrepresented when shared without context.

In June 2019, a 3D image of Australia showing wildfire damage was shared widely but was miscaptioned as a NASA satellite photo, leading to misinformation.

A map showing popular baby names in U.S. states can lead to misunderstandings due to the way data is presented.

Cell phone coverage maps provided by telecom companies are often exaggerated and do not accurately represent actual coverage.

Voting maps after the 2016 U.S. presidential election were misleading as they showed a 'sea of red' but did not accurately represent the close vote counts.

Historically, maps have included虚构地理特征, such as the Mountains of Kong, which were believed to be real for over a century.

The island of California was a historical misconception that persisted on maps for centuries despite being geographically inaccurate.

The London Tube map is intentionally inaccurate to be more helpful for navigation, showing connections rather than geographical accuracy.

The Mercator projection map is widely used but distorts the size of countries, especially those far from the equator.

Maps inherently show a partial truth and can be misleading if not interpreted with the necessary context and understanding.

The orientation of maps with north at the top is a matter of perspective and not an absolute truth, as space has no top or bottom.

Transcripts

maps have always been a huge part of the

human experience now for thousands of

years the oldest map on record is the

cattle halyuk cave painting in kanye

turkey it's believed that this image was

created sometime around 6200 bce which

is roughly around an entire millennium

before the advent of written language

and ever since then maps have been

around to help guide us to wherever we

need to go and in many ways they

determine how we think about the world

around us but as it turns out maps can

also be a massive source of miss and

disinformation including my own that you

see on this channel from time to time so

as with everything in life you need to

do your own due diligence and here are a

bunch of examples why back in june of

2019 an unprecedentedly long fire season

began in australia lack of soil moisture

as well as an uncommonly long dry season

led to what became a long and terrible

10 months of fires during the height of

these flames an artist and designer

named anthony hearsay created a 3d image

of australia pulling data from nasa

satellites he showed all of the places

within the country that the fires had

hit up to that point and while the image

was quite compelling and relatively

accurate within its intended context the

map nevertheless became a cornerstone

for false information as the image was

spread across the internet as quickly as

the wildfires they depicted a facebook

page dedicated to the news of the

australian fires reposted the photo with

the new caption a 3d image of australia

shot from a nasa satellite this version

of the photo with that caption was then

subsequently shared around 10 000 times

then the apex of this mass spread of

misinformation came when rihanna tweeted

the photo to her at the time 96 million

followers not long after that the image

began being called out as false leading

to both facebook and instagram initially

flagging and taking down the original

post until it was all cleared up by

hearsay that he never actually at any

point claimed that it was a nasa

satellite photo so it's easy to see how

something like this all gets out of hand

the news coming out of australia at the

time seemed so dire while at the same

time the image appeared genuinely

compelling and while it was a somewhat

accurate 3d rendering of the culmination

of all the fires up to that point it was

absolutely not what it was being hailed

as something going viral is a great way

for information to be misinterpreted or

misrepresented back in a 2014 article

for slate bren blatt talked about a

popular gif map that showed which baby

names were most popular in every u.s

state depending on the year but he

points out that while the map is

technically correct the information

given isn't as straightforward as it

appears at first glance for instance the

name ashley is seemingly the most

popular name for girls across the u.s in

the years 1991 and 92. despite that fact

however a child born in 1984 was 8

percent more likely to have been named

ashley than a child born in 1992 in fact

1986 was the year when ashley peaked as

a name within the u.s but the reason why

the 91 and 92 years showed up on the map

is because as ashley dipped in

popularity as a name other names dipped

even quicker so while this map isn't

incorrect it can easily lead to an

incorrect understanding of what was

actually happening at the time now while

some of these maps we've been talking

about involve misleading statistics or

false information that were believed to

be true at the time

cell phone coverage maps are just

another thing entirely if you look at

one of the maps provided by any of the

big telecom companies you might feel

confident in that fee that you're paying

every month most of the companies show a

map largely covered in different shades

of the color of their choice 4g lte and

even 5g is boasted around the majority

of the us but in 2019 the fcc conducted

a study to see if cellular data was

actually available in all of the places

that the larger telecom companies were

claiming there was and as it turns out

it wasn't even close the company with

the highest amount of coverage was still

under 65

of what it claimed on their map with at

least one company having coverage closer

to around just 45

of the area that it claimed the fcc is

doing its best to get the telecom

companies to fall in line because

over-exaggerating about their coverage

actually affects an even larger issue as

technology and society advances it

becomes more and more important for

people to have internet access and

cellular coverage but if there's money

going to be put into infrastructure we

need to actually know where there is

coverage and where there isn't and while

a map that's all different shades of

purple might look nice and make it seem

like the company is ahead of the game

it's really just blocking access to

parts of the country that might actually

need it the most but that's just

business right governments have never

released any confusing or misleading

maps before right of course they have

after the 2016 u.s presidential election

the voting maps that were often shown on

tv and in articles were of the country

divided into red and blue sections based

on which counties voted for which

candidate if you've ever seen a version

of this map before you've seen that it's

essentially just a sea of red across the

country with some blue edges and a few

scattered blue dots floating throughout

the center and while within the lens of

which county voted for which candidate

this map is accurate it's nonetheless

pretty misleading for instance

regardless of which election it is

painting any county a single color is

often highly inaccurate in a pure win or

lose ratio yeah one side lost and one

side won however if a country is only

one by one percent as has been the case

with many counties across the u.s for

the past several presidential elections

than painting that entire county a

single color doesn't truly represent the

entire voter block if one is using the

map to imply a landslide it just isn't

accurate without the peripheral data

coloring in every county in darker or

lighter shades of red or blue would

dramatically help with this accuracy

problem but there's another inaccuracy

inherent within this map as well if one

looks at this map alone without any

outside knowledge at all it might seem

as if almost nobody in the country voted

for blue well almost everyone voted for

red instead in reality however the votes

were much closer than this map suggests

red received 62 million 984 828 votes

while blue received

fifty 65

thousand five hundred fourteen votes

which is well over two million more than

red and the reason why this map fails to

capture that closer spread is because

it's the wrong one to use this is a map

of land while an election map should

really be a map of people for example if

you look at the land map of the united

states you'd see that new york state and

arkansas are roughly the same size but

there's only three million people living

in arkansas while there's more than 19

and a half million people living in new

york that is well over six and a half

times the population of arkansas and

those are just states with similar sizes

it gets even more bonkers when you look

at a comparison of states like new

jersey and wyoming by land mass wyoming

is more than 11 times larger than new

jersey but by population new jersey has

more than 15 times the people of wyoming

in fact tiny but crowded new jersey has

nearly the same amount of people as

wyoming utah idaho montana north dakota

south dakota and nebraska do all

combined but you can reduce the size

comparison even further if you focus on

just nine counties around america's two

largest cities new york and los angeles

you'll find that the votes cast in just

these nine counties were only 260 000

short of those cast in all seven of

these entire states combined and thus if

you look at a map of the united states

based on where people actually live like

this one you can clearly see a

significantly more even and closer

distribution of votes than the one that

is based only on land and then there's

all the fake stuff that used to be

included on world maps that everybody

just thought was real for hundreds of

years like these strange mountains

you've probably never heard about or

ever seen before called the mountains of

kong they were first referenced in a map

of africa by a scottish explorer back in

1798 and over the next hundred years

until almost the beginning of the 20th

century different maps continued showing

this extensive mountain chain that

simply never existed at all and yet as

recently as

1995 a world atlas still referenced them

being there but the kong mountains

aren't the only mapped geographic

feature that never actually existed

there's also the mexican island of

bermeja which first showed up on a

spanish map back in 1539. the belief

that this imaginary island existed stuck

around for so long that it wasn't until

2009

that the country of mexico officially

announced to the world that it had

finally been determined that the island

of bermeja doesn't actually exist that

is 470 years that some of the world

believed a fake island existed all

because it showed up on one map back in

the 16th century and then of course

there is the island of california the

famous historical misconception that the

baja peninsula region of mexico wasn't

connected to the rest of the north

american mainland a spanish novel from

1510 referred to a magical island named

california and so when hernan cortez and

his men showed up in the 1530s they

decided to name what they believed was

an island california by the end of the

decade however it was actually

discovered that the land was in fact a

peninsula but then for reasons that

aren't really entirely clear nearly a

century later in 1622 maps began showing

the area as an island again and then it

stayed that way across many maps for

another century and a quarter until the

king of spain fernand vi made it clear

that california is not an island and

ordered all new maps to reflect this

however there are still maps all the way

up until 1865

the year when the u.s civil war ended

the continued showing the baja peninsula

as an island and then sometimes maps are

less accurate in order to be more

helpful for example the map for the

london tube is pretty far off from the

area's geographic reality the thames

curves in places on the map where it

doesn't in real life and vice versa

distances between certain stops seem

minuscule on the map but take longer

than the rides between stops that look

closer well-known stops and streets are

listed in geographically incorrect

places depending on if it's above ground

or below and all of this is because of

the simple fact that all of this complex

geographic information needs to all fit

on just a small and easy to read square

map and what's most important on this

kind of map is to show the lines in

places they connect to and end nobody

who needs to know how to get to a

geographic location should be using a

map that is specifically designed for

something else but that's actually what

most of us do with our world maps anyway

the most commonly used world map is

called the mercator projection map named

after the cartographer gerdes mercator

who created it centuries ago back in

1569. now obviously a lot has changed

since 1569 as have a lot of aspects to

the map but the core way that the map

looks at the world has stayed more or

less the same and that's the problem

because the mercator map was never

initially intended to be used as a map

for the common person it was made as a

map for navigators where one could

easily draw straight lines between the

known ports of the world in fact the map

was initially called a new and enlarged

description of the earth with

corrections for use in navigation it's

literally right there in the name but as

the number of people traveling across

the oceans increased over time this map

became more and more widely used it also

helps that the map-made countries in the

northern hemisphere seem much larger in

comparison to those that were in the

southern during the age of colonialism

it was a welcomed way of viewing the

world despite the original intentions of

just being an easy way to draw a line

between two points now in modern times

even if the mercator projection is the

map used in classrooms many of us have

been taught and are aware about the

map's glaringly obvious geographic

issues most infamous of all is the

absurdly large size of greenland which

appears to be roughly the size as the

entire continent of africa despite in

reality only actually being just a tad

smaller than the democratic republic of

the congo in the continent's center

antarctica covers almost the entire

bottom quarter of the map despite being

the third smallest of earth's continents

alaska appears larger than australia

despite being more than four times

smaller in real life and consequently

russia's inflated appearance has been

utilized several times in the u.s before

for propaganda purposes especially

during the cold war to create fear over

the supposed monstrous spread of

communism across the world all of this

distortion is due to the fact that the

projection is a cylindrical map based on

mercator's very specific needs when he

made it the further things are from the

equator the more their size inflates and

there's all sorts of math and science

regarding the hows and whys of the

mercator projection but the bottom line

is as with most world maps it's just

hard to show an accurate portrayal of

things that exist upon a

three-dimensional sphere in real life on

a flat rectangular two-dimensional

picture so while the mercator projection

succeeds at its original designed

intention it fails at mostly everything

else and then of course there is the one

thing that most global maps fail to show

north is not up and south is not down

the earth sits in space and in space

there is no top and there is no bottom

when looking at a map like the mercator

it presents the northern hemisphere

above the southern when the reality is

that that's all just a matter of

perspective north and south are only

directions but there is no top or bottom

to the earth a planet the southern

hemisphere isn't below the northern it's

simply on the other side of the equator

but because it's what most of us have

always known it's easy to understand why

one might consider north to be the top

of the map but as the south up

orientation map shows it's really just

as easy to see it all the other way

around even though to you this

perspective may feel strange it's just

as accurate of a view of earth's

geography as it is the other way around

a map with the north on top isn't lying

to us but it's also not telling us the

full truth because in the end maps are

only that a representation of a partial

truth

but you know what is a full truth the

best investment that you can make

probably isn't in designing a map but

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watching