this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2026
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Mildly Interesting
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Every map projection has some inaccuracies and thing that they're good and bad at. The Mercator is good at preserving shape and distance, which used to be quite important for navigating around the world, which was important for colonization. Other maps have accurate size but inaccurate shapes. The Mercator projection isn't the worst, but less suited for the needs of today. We should all probably just use globes. The UN should also use globes.
A globe cannot always be used so it's best if we find a replacement for the Mercator projection, i do agree we need to use globes more often though
Good luck keeping a globe in the glove box.
Just gotta inflate it...
You still use paper maps while driving inside of your own country? Free navigation software is ubiquitous. Noone cares about the projection used there, as long as it signals turns and lanes correctly, and long distance most countries have something called "signs" which tell you where the road you are on goes.