{"id":219,"date":"2010-03-31T16:05:27","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T00:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisabravermoss.wordpress.com\/?p=219"},"modified":"2022-06-10T16:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T16:45:17","slug":"with-geographical-cluelessness-my-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/with-geographical-cluelessness-my-own\/","title":{"rendered":"My Geographical Cluelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we talk about \u201cdistortion\u201d in relation to the world map, we generally mean the Mercator projection.\u00a0 You know, that method of reconciling two-dimensional representation with three-dimensional reality by stretching things out more and more toward the north and south poles.<\/p>\n

But for me, map distortion is a more personal matter.<\/p>\n

Maybe I missed the developmental window during which geography is best absorbed; Berkeley public schools were never known for rigorous drill and practice. \u00a0Or maybe I was born with some devilish cognitive glitch.\u00a0 All I know is, I never seem to get oriented (or, for that matter, occidented).\u00a0 And no, I\u2019m decidedly not<\/em> smarter than a fifth grader.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m one of those people who mix up Libya and Liberia, who intuit Africa and South America as similarly equatorial, who don\u2019t know how the \u2013istan countries all fit together.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually worse than I\u2019m saying, and for most of my life, I\u2019ve felt so embarrassed by my difficulty that at this point, I don\u2019t know how much of it stems from inability, and how much from anxiety over what feels to me like an infinity of ignorance.<\/p>\n

There are excellent articles out there about the importance of geography education, like blogger Mr. D\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s right there on the map!\u201d–<\/p>\n

It’s right there on the map! The importance of Geography in education<\/a><\/p>\n

No explanation, though, of what you\u2019re supposed to do if you\u2019re a functioning adult who\u2019s part of the problem.\u00a0 I mean, we all know what Sarah Palin should do, but what about someone like me?\u00a0 And did I mention my brain is aging?<\/p>\n

Oh, I\u2019ve tried.\u00a0 I mounted a world map in my kitchen, apparently too close to the Teflon (nothing sticks).\u00a0 I\u2019ve traveled, but have trouble retaining what I learn.\u00a0 In my thirties, I made myself sit down and memorize the U.S. map, after which I delighted in my complete mastery over it.\u00a0 But a few weeks later, I was back to square one.\u00a0 Wherever that is.<\/p>\n

Please, no links to those upside-down world maps.<\/p>\n

While a physicist can be forgiven for putting an ice cream cone directly into his pocket\u2014while sports ignorance is almost a badge of honor among classical musicians\u2014geographical cluelessness isn\u2019t remotely cute in a writer.\u00a0 It\u2019s no fun having to stop and check while trying to take in the newspaper, let alone a challenging book.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to absorb and integrate history, and learning can be so slow and painful for me that at times, I\u2019ve wanted to give up reading\u2014kind of ill-advised in my line of work.<\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t I sign up for a remedial geography course years ago?\u00a0 Well, I couldn\u2019t bear calling attention to my difficulty when everyone seemed to view me as a good student.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t admit I was in reality the type that teachers are always up in arms about:\u00a0 They don\u2019t even know the basics!<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way in outreach to illiterate people, but it seems we still have work to do in other areas.\u00a0 What if geography education were grounded in humility (there\u2019s a lot we don\u2019t understand about how people learn<\/em>) rather than hand-wringing and derision?<\/p>\n

Published in The Piedmont Post<\/em>, March 31, 2010<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we talk about \u201cdistortion\u201d in relation to the world map, we generally mean the Mercator projection.\u00a0 You know, that method of reconciling two-dimensional representation with three-dimensional reality by stretching things out more and more toward the north and south poles. But for me, map distortion is a more personal matter. Maybe I missed the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Geographical Cluelessness - Lisa Braver Moss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/with-geographical-cluelessness-my-own\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Geographical Cluelessness - Lisa Braver Moss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we talk about \u201cdistortion\u201d in relation to the world map, we generally mean the Mercator projection.\u00a0 You know, that method of reconciling two-dimensional representation with three-dimensional reality by stretching things out more and more toward the north and south poles. 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