10.07.2005

This is an interesting observation (via spatially adjusted).

Does a map constrain your interaction with the world? That is, if you were in a place, would you look around yourself more, and notice things for what they are more, if you didn't have a map? Do maps just create concerns about exactly where you are and where to go next? And does it really matter? Put another way, does a map affect your being in the world (Heidegger language for those keeping score).

I think your answers to this will depend on what your understanding of maps is. If you believe maps are an "interface" or "mirror" on the world, and are therefore secondary to the primary reality of brute fact, then I'd bet you do think this matters (and wouldn't you probably have Heidegger on your side?).

If on the other hand you think maps are creative stories we tell about ourselves and not degraded versions of reality then we need more maps that are more creative (like the maps in the You Are Here book by Katherine Harmon).

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