Maps Are Arguments
Every projection is a claim about what matters.
A map is not a picture of the world; it’s an argument about it. Every projection decides what deserves to keep its shape, every zoom level decides what exists, and every database schema underneath decides what can even be asked.
I spend my working days on that last layer. When you build a system where space and time are native dimensions instead of columns bolted on, the questions people ask change shape within weeks — because the map stopped arguing against them.
The polar regions taught me this before databases did. On most projections they’re smeared into caricature — Greenland the size of Africa, Antarctica an infinite ribbon. Places I’ve stood, rendered as printing errors. If the map argues that badly about geography I can verify with my own boots, what is it arguing about everything else?