Right? Is there a person above 25 that hasn’t seen the episode (or clip) from The West Wing about map projections at this point?

What is this "the west wing" thing? I'm 44, reasonably educated, and never heard about that.

I'd like to think you're being ironic here, but I suspect you're not, so no: the vast majority of the world is outside the US and has not, in fact, seen an obscure episode of a TV drama about American politics.

For others who haven't, here it is: https://youtu.be/vVX-PrBRtTY

Although the projection it proclaims as superior, Gall-Peters, has grievous flaws of its own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection

I just learned about the equal earth projection, which was apparently invented very recently in 2023. It’s the best looking equal area projection I’ve seen.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Earth_projection

Ah, oops, that should say 2018, not 2023.

As an adult I was shocked to find out how the projection I grew up with altered my perception of my poverty-stricken country. I had no idea for my entire life that it was so much larger than other countries on the map I thought were larger. I doubt I am rare here at all.

And I have no idea what "The West Wing" is. And I doubt I am rare here at all also.

It is a TV show from 1999 that centered on the literal office of the same name that the US President holds court in.

The West Wing is not the President's office, but rather the section that contains The Oval Office, which is President's office, along with other executive offices and rooms, such as the Press Briefing room, the Situation Room, etc.

I'm in my thirties and I've never even heard of that show. I'm from Sweden, by the way.

This is certainly not the first time I’ve seen the topic on HN…

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32532282

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25104787

And it was something we covered in school on the 80s.

It’s an interesting post but not really revelatory.

I've seen this type of post/thread many times, and yet I still learn something new every time.

For example, I'd never noticed until today that so much of Scotland is actually west of England because Great Britain doesn't actually go straight-up north to south but is rather "tilted".

I also didn't know that Papua was so big, before today I wondered how could there be so much linguistic diversity in what I though was a medium sized island.

So I don't mind the geography trivia from time to time.

> For example, I'd never noticed until today that so much of Scotland is actually west of England because Great Britain doesn't actually go straight-up north to south but is rather "tilted".

Even as a Brit this sometimes catches me out. I live near Bournemouth which is approx in the middle of the south coast of England. If I draw a straight line due North, it's only just inside Scotland. ALL of Scotland is west of London.

Unrelatedly, the other amusing fact is that when the ISS goes overhead (256 miles high at perigee), it is much closer to me than Glasgow (450 miles away).