On the origion of mapping

     I must admit that upon starting this project on maps mediating, I was not entirely impressed. I had not yet come to the realization of how interesting maps really are or how they influence how we think. The notion of a 'map' in and of itself is a novel idea and one that parts of the world do not regard as necessary. In the interests of not wasting your precious time rambling about the alterations and complications of maps throughout history, I'll give a brief example.
     In the sixth century BC, the Greeks had developed a greater understanding of geometry (Pythagoras) and come to the conclusion that the earth was spherical rather than flat. This was expounded upon in later centuries by calculating (ridiculously accurately I might add) the circumference of the earth (Eratosthenes) and dividing this circumference into the 360 degrees of a circle - e.g. longitude (Ptolemy - not the Egyptian king though, he was later). In essence, the Greeks asserted map making as a mathematical science rather than a social one. This has profound effects on the world today. For example, the divisions of Africa and East Asia by Europeans were done in a mathematical manner relying on degrees of Latitude and Longitude, rather than taking into account the social realities on the ground. A huge collection of social issues could be discussed as a result of this, but I'll give an example devoid of most of these issues. Take, for example, the country of Egypt. Now, Egypt's western border is a line that is nearly exactly that of 25 degrees east. Most of the population, however, lives within 10 miles of the Nile river (excluding those settlements in on the Sinai) as this is really the only arable land. The rest of Egypt is for all intents and purposes a wasteland that only belongs to Egypt because it is on the Eastern side of 25 degrees East.
     So yes, I have found myself enjoying this topic - rather more than makes me comfortable, actually - and it has opened up for me possibilities for ulterior explanations in other disciplines like history. If you want to learn a bit more about maps, I'd suggest Klinghoffer's The Power of Projections. In it, he describes many of the important changes in map making over the course of human history and how this has impacted and been impacted by global affairs.

The importance of where...

     And so the Mediated Culture class has entered the real work portion and it is time to jot down the first few things of future importance. Before that, however, I should probably comment on media my massive new media usage as a whole. In essence, nothing has really changed. In the course of a day, I have signed up for and personalized several different pages including one for RSS feeds and Twitter. On the first, I have an understanding of how it could be useful, but the problem comes in finding things that update with information you want to see. Even then, it simply acts as a tidal wave of titles that, as of yet, has not tickled my fancy. Then there is twitter... I don't exactly know what to say about it except that I think it's completely worthless. The act of following is, when you think about it, just a little bit stalkerish. Even then, how do I choose who to follow? I mean, I could do the usual and find some run of the mill celebrity like everyone else, but why should I CARE what they say? Why should my attention be focused on them when it could be better served on the people around me, my local community? Anyway, that's my little rant. As you can probably tell, internet mediation is not going seamlessly. I'm just waiting for that cognitive shift that will make it seem alright.

     And now for something completely different...
     well, not really completely different...
     So, it's project time. Given are a loose set of guidelines with the eventual goal of making an ethnography over some facet of mediation. While initial brainstorming was set up in the fashion of locations of interest, the group I joined decided to take a different track. I mean, at the very least, the location of my interest is separated from me by approximately 2000 years, give or take 500. (aka, Ancient Rome) I went in feeling that such an interest would be rather singular in a class of people focused on modern cultures and trends. It might also be hard to find some Romans to talk with about their media experiences, other than sifting through the primary sources - and that would really just fall under the purview of history anyway. The sad truth is, I do not have access to a TARDIS.
     Anyway, back on track... project -> group -> ideas. IDEAS! Right.
After a great deal of large group discussion and brainstorming, the group settled on the intriguing idea of how maps mediate our culture. It's something that the class has touched on already; the concept of the census coming to New Guinea changing the way people lived and organized their communities in order to match western style maps and logs etc. Or at least, how these communities were burned to force such an outcome that was later simply disregarded. Still, the topic has some fruit yet to bear, and I believe the general emphasis is going to lean more toward the United States side of the ocean. How we as a culture are influenced by our predisposition to think of maps in a top down picture of roads. The details, though, are still a bit sketchy and I am not as of yet sure how and ethnography will be able to form from these roots, but these things come with time and I'm sure that many changes will occur in the plan before the final product.

Taking my first steps into a larger world...

     So, this being my first blog I figure that I may as well follow suit with what I know to be a typical blog post. This is the "hey I don't know what's going on and I'm talking about everything and am really interested in this new technology and really hope that it can connect me in meaningful ways that I am not able to accomplish on my own..." etc. Honestly, I don't know what's going on but with a bit of time I hope to discover what this 'mediated culture' that we live in is all about. While we're being honest, I may as well point out that this endeavor was only begun to fulfill class requirements - those same requirements being to immerse myself in this mediated culture in order to understand it. I intend to do this, but I do not know what the consequences of this intention. Here goes...
     As of right now, my disposition before this immersion, I am not a fan. The obsessions over social media are, to me, a rather excessive waste of time and show our weakness as a culture. People know when some 'celebrity' makes a load of poor choices but never meet their neighbors. Circles of interpersonal relationships are distant, fragmented, and provide no benefit at all for the people involved. Why, then, does it continue? What is the draw of obsessively following a person who has never met you, never cares to meet you, will probably never meet you, and almost assuredly would not bat an eyelash if you were to suddenly vanish off of the face of the earth?
     Also, really, how many people are going to care what you think? As this is part of a class assignment, I know that there will be a number of people with access to these words, but how many will take the time to read them? How many would find them interesting enough to come back in the future? All this, and I even KNOW that people will see it. What if I started this independently and left the substance to flow out into cyberspace? Sure, people are joined all the time in a complex web, the culture would not exist otherwise, but what about all those people who are left out or looked over? How many of them are there? And then, coming back to the old point, why should we even care?
     As for this project...

• Best case scenario: I discover what it is I have been missing, join a great and new community, and experience life in a new way, etc. Typical best case scenario stuff.
• Worst case scenario: I become so engrossed and confused in the participation in this experience that I lose all grip on reality slowly becoming insane. You know, typical outlandish worst case scenario stuff.
• Likely scenario: I learn some things, I do some things, I change some things, and waste a whole bunch of time in the process that would, more than likely, be spent wasting my time doing other things.

     Allons-y