this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
564 points (96.5% liked)
Memes
45151 readers
3172 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Nah, exactly 50% "of the world" is closer to Georgia than Georgia because the dividing line forms two perfect hemispheres. It just doesn't seem like it because more of the world's land area is closer to Georgia.
Well no, Georgia is bigger than Georgia so slightly more of the world is closer to Georgia than Georgia. If we were to shrink both Georgia and Georgia, the two regions would approach perfect hemispheres as Georgia and Georgia both approach a single point.
Well played.
Is it because of the Mercator projection?
I'm just as annoyed by the overuse of the Mercator projection as the next guy, but no, I don't think we can blame it in this particular instance. Consider the similar case of a day/night map, which pretty clearly reads as 50/50 even when it's Mercator:
(Upon further scrutiny comparing these two maps, I think the missing Antarctica might be a factor too.)
Also, relevant XKCD.
That day/night map is not Mercator though
(Nor is the map in OP)
My argument applies to any cylindrical projection.