{"id":457,"date":"2015-02-23T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T02:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/?p=457"},"modified":"2015-02-23T21:54:38","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T02:54:38","slug":"the-issue-of-authoritative-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/2015\/02\/23\/the-issue-of-authoritative-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"The Issue of Authoritative Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

In\u00a0Cartographies of Time<\/em>, Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton illustrate how easy visualization of data can facilitate a deeper understanding of its meaning. \u00a0They take care to introduce and detail multiple different different data recording systems from the last several centuries, explaining the nuances and distinctions among each of them. \u00a0The evolution of these charts helps illustrate the relative importance of chronology as\u00a0a field of study. \u00a0It seems, however, that while these charts are immensely detailed and intricate, today’s charts are considerably less so. \u00a0A timeline is no longer a revolutionary new method of visualization but more likely a homework assignment for a second grader. \u00a0These charts have grown simpler over time, resulting in the standard line graph, something that was previously innovative but is now mundane. \u00a0This lack of detail and intricacy points to an argument that Mark Monmonier makes in his book\u00a0How to Lie with Maps<\/em>, that exclusion of data and distortion of reality in a chart is necessary to get the most important points across.<\/p>\n

A message that both books present is that simplicity is an important aspect of data visualization. \u00a0Clarity is key. \u00a0Unfortunately, the act of simplifying allows for the possibility of manipulation, which Monmonier details in his accounts of political propaganda maps. Monmonier alludes to the point that simplification of maps is dangerous because people trust them. \u00a0Maps are often awarded more authority than they deserve. \u00a0Take, for example, the following map:<\/p>\n

\"bbc-chinas-territorial-waters\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This map means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and\u00a0is a frequent source of international tensions. \u00a0The 9 dashed line (China’s claimed territory in the South China Sea, in red) was originally published in 1947 by the Koumintang, not the Chinese Communist Party. \u00a0In 1949 when the Koumintang fled to Taiwan and the CCP founded the People’s Republic of China, the CCP conveniently adopted this map as their own despite it having been created\u00a0by the Koumintang, who also maintain claims to the area. \u00a0The CCP continues to insist upon their right to claim the entire South China Sea to this day, despite the fact that this violates mutually agreed upon\u00a0international law. \u00a0Some might find this map to be completely legitimate while others find it outrageous. \u00a0It stands as an example of how lines drawn on a picture of the earth can represent something so incredibly significant as national sovereignty, and how oversimplification of maps can have potentially dangerous ramifications, especially when those\u00a0maps carry authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In\u00a0Cartographies of Time, Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton illustrate how easy visualization of data can facilitate a deeper understanding of its meaning. \u00a0They take care to introduce and detail multiple different different data recording systems from the last several centuries, explaining the nuances and distinctions among each of them. \u00a0The evolution of these charts helps … Continue reading The Issue of Authoritative Maps<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-group-5","category-readers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig210\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}