It goes without saying that the United States is a pretty big country. And, as such, there's ample opportunity to spot differences and variation on a slew of variables across the entire map.
Like, you probably never really needed to know how thick light pollution is across the US, but, hey, now you know that it’s the eastern part that’s very intense, and the western part is more or less not as polluted.
And there is definitely a small contingent of people who benefit from this information—researchers, people who want to move states—it’s also there to make you look cool at parties with all that trivia you now know
All jokes aside, it’s useful to know where you’re going to live: what’s the crime rate there, how natural is the landscape, how populated it is—all of these factors are nice to know since you are deciding on moving there permanently.
But if that example is too specific, then maybe consider this: if you own a car, it’s likely that you use navigation on the regular. Apps like Google Maps and Waze have made it possible for people to have a bit more comfort in the car as at least you know where you’re going and why it’s taking you an extra 14 minutes to get there (darned traffic jams).
But seeing that arrow in your navigation is one thing. There’s an entire surrounding everywhere you go—knowing what’s around us brings us comfort and safety. And you never know when a beautiful lake will be sitting right next to where you keep passing by, but never look beyond that patch of trees that disguise it, making you think it’s just more forest there. Maybe taking a bicycle might help fix that problem. But check your map first!
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Another argument for the importance of maps is the idea of seeing where you’re going, where you are, and where you’ve been. It doesn’t really have to be a literal geographical map at this point, but a literal one might work too—just think of Google Maps Timeline.
If you’re unaware, Google Maps Timeline is a monthly service by Google that sends you recaps of where you’ve been over the past month, showing how many countries, cities and places you’ve visited in retrospect.
Outside their practicality, maps also ground us in reality. That can be either a good or bad thing depending on a number of factors, but there’s the idea that maps remind us we all live on the same planet. Sure, there's a great divide among nations and countries in terms of social, economic and climate factors. But we’re all in this together—we’re all citizens of this world. And that’s what folks ought to focus on.
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Some might argue that maps help us stay curious. Just like a change of scenery can help us gain some perspective and learn something about ourselves and others, i.e. travel, the idea of looking at a map and plotting your next adventure might just inspire an extra bit of curiosity and make you think “hey, I’ve never heard of this place.”