My take:
A map is just a flat representation of the world. It is really just an incredibly oversimplified projection of a three-dimensional world onto a flat two-dimenional plane. It doesn't give you much accurate information about the real world. It is VERY symbolic. I know when I am reading a history book it helps to think something like "OK, then Rommel went this way and up the coast and then he stopped and went inland" and I can picture in my head this flat-map representation of where Libya and the Mediterranean coast are, for example. Very simplified.
Knowing the locations of places on a map adds to our understanding of the world only a little bit. If one is interested in the history of Israel in the 20th century it would help to know where Israel, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan in relationship to each other are. It seems that we often don't think it through to its conclusion of how incredibly varied any particular terrain is and how vast the distances really are.
Since knowledge is comparative, knowing the locations of countries on a map will generally put you one up on most people you talk to but it is really only the simplest sort of information. Since knowledge is valued to a certain degree in our society, knowing it is better than not not knowing it.
It's like thinking of an atom as little + signs and N signs inside of a ball surrounded by little pill shaped objects [electrons] that are circling around with - signs on them. It's a lot easier than trying to picture the real thing but not very accurate.
Last edited by Colin at Apr 1 2003, 10:48 AM
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