The Way I See It
by chris cunningham
So, I’ve been thinking about something. I see two things differently than most others, and the other I had believed I was in the majority until I did a one person study at lunch and found out he differs with me on that. So I don’t know what to think.
I noticed this when my calendar program at work kept defaulting back to Monday through Sunday as its display. I see it Sunday to Saturday. I’ve been planning a bunch of vacation and kept messing up the days because what I thought should have been Monday was actually Tuesday on this calendar. I finally changed it but I noticed how awkward it felt. Like throwing a ball, or writing left handed. It’s almost painful to look at. So I asked study group 1 how he sees the week. He said Monday to Sunday like the calendar on the computer. !!?? Crap. I still think most people think Sunday to Saturday.
Then I thought of two more instances that I stray from the norm when I think of something with my minds eye. Like, think of a calendar year layed out in a single line. Most people will lay it out January to December. As a specific year. In my head I see it as September to August. Which I attribute to the school years and it has just stuck. Years to me are broken down as 1996/1997, 2000/2001. But… if the calendar is laid out in a grid, as in a 3×4 pattern I see it as January to December. It breaks the chain.
The other one that I see differently is the world map. Think of the world map…. Most people when they first think of a world map think of it as Europe centric and split the Pacific ocean. I see it as Pacific centric and split the Atlantic. Which probably has a lot to do with my location but I know most people see it was Europe centric. The rarer case being the map we had in school which was North and South America centric. Which is useful for teaching trade routes but that’s about it.
So there ya go. My week is Sunday to Saturday not Monday to Sunday. My calendar year goes from September to August not January to December, and the world map is Pacific centric not Europe centric.
On top of all this I finished Beowulf yesterday, which means it gives me time to think about important stuff like this again.
Interestingly packed calendar… been preoccupied or something? :)
My favourite view of the world is the Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion projection. Based on an icosahedron, it can be opened out and viewed in many ways. It can focus on the connections between the land masses or the oceans and can overcome some of the problems and distortions you can encounter with some of the projections shown above. On a political and emotional level looking at this map is very interesting when considering one’s view of the world and one’s place within it.
some examples are here:
http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/summer03articles/summer03gifs/p7p4-lg.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Fuller_projection.svg
there are also nice versions with satellite imagery.
There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a wiki entry for an overview, but as he has done such a lot of great stuff, have a look at the Institute’s website :
http://www.bfi.org/our_programs/who_is_buckminster_fuller/design_science/dymaxion_map
xxx
Shouldn’t the bottom calendar start September 2006? cos otherwise that would be a weird view of time… Too many Robert Zemekis movies for you i think
I suppose you think the earth revolves around the sun too, don’t you?
one more for the sunday to saturday camp. that’s how MY computer at work lays it out so i go with it. can’t buy in to the splitting the year up though. that is just plain odd. i bet buying calendars drives you nuts. as for viewing the map, i prefer a globe. =)
Glad to see you’re not wasting your hard earned free time :). Congrats on finishing Beowulf!!!