Bad Map Projection: Interrupted Spheres

Title text: During the most recent glacial maximum, it's believed that land bridges extended from the surfaces and connected several of the spheres together.

Explanation

This is the ninth comic in the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections

CRAPPED

Bad Map Projection: Interrupted Spheres

Title text: During the most recent glacial maximum, it's believed that land bridges extended from the surfaces and connected several of the spheres together.

Explanation

This is the ninth comic in the Bad Map Projections series displaying Bad Map Projection #194: Interrupted Spheres. It follows 2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia, released nine and a half months prior.

There is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation depends on what the map is used for. As was mentioned in 977: Map Projections, a wisecrack to this dilemma is to use a globe - which maps the world onto a sphere, thus minimizing distortion by using roughly the same shape as the world itself. This "map projection" goes a step past the wisecrack and proceeds straight into absurdity, by projecting each continent onto a sphere. This bends entirely too far in the other direction to the dilemma; whereas a typical map projection adds distortion by trying to show the (curved) planet on a flat surface, this "map projection" adds distortion by showing the (relatively flat) continents on a much more sharply-curved sphere than the planet they are actually part of.

The title text refers to land bridges, narrow bits of land between larger landmasses. When glaciers covered much of the Earth, the water locked up in the glaciers meant that sea levels were lower, as well as the overlying icepacks being higher, and things like the Bering land bridge spanned areas between continents that are currently ocean. Randall suggests that these formed connections in the gaps between the spheres. This implies the absurd idea that the projection reflects an underlying reality where the continents actually exist on separate spheres, rather than this simply being an attempt at a "better" way to display Earth's landmasses. In this situation the land of the 'bridges' would reach like spires, vertically upwards from the surface of each sphere, until they descend down onto their counterpart neighbouring sphere.

Transcript

[This comic depicts seven circles each representing globes. Above these circles there is the following text:]

Bad map projection #194:

Interrupted spheres

To avoid the distortion inherent to a single flat world map, each continent is projected onto its own globe.

[Each of the seven globes has one continent of Earth projected on to it, with a label of said areas name. The globes are arranged in position so their landmasses lies roughly where they would be on a standard map with North America in the upper left and Australia in the lower right part of the picture. The labels on the seven spheres in the three columns they form from left to right are:]

North America

South America

Europe

Africa

Asia

Antarctica

Australia

Trivia

In this comic Randall indicates that he believes there are seven continents. This is up for debate, especially with Europe being considered part of the larger Eurasian continent, rather than distinct from Asia, and whether the Americas are two continents or one, temporarily joined via the Caribbean oceanic plate. See for instance CGP Grey's What are Continents? video for a discussion. (Grey concludes that there are five, in his opinion.)

Several borders between countries are missing, those being the borders between Romania and Bulgaria, Bulgaria and Greece, Albania and Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, Egypt and Sudan, and between Thailand and Malaysia. The border of Kashmir, a disputed territory between Pakistan, India, and China, is done in dashed lines. Although it is implied each continent is projected onto its own globe by itself, a part of the coast of North Africa is visible on the Europe globe.

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Discussion

Where's Greenland? SubtrEM (talk) 20:00, 30 July 2025 (UTC)

It is on the backside of North America globe of course. --Kynde (talk) 07:49, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

My first edit! Hope it's ok! Jkusa.jr 08:12, 30 July 2025 (UTC)

Wait, maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like there's actually a good map idea here? If you made proper globes centered on each continent.... Does this exist? 2601:241:8002:3E0:CE5:D9D:CF64:76FD 21:36, 30 July 2025 (UTC)

Well... that is what a globe is. You just turn it until it is on the continent you wish and look from the right angel ;-) Drawing a globe on a paper does nothing to remove the distortion from normal flat maps. --Kynde (talk) 07:49, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

Google "globus polski", somebody already came up with this kind of joke in the communist Poland 2A00:F41:80A5:A62:0:59:BA67:7B01 02:43, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Not sure what the joke is! Another dis of the concept of continents? 2A09:BAC3:9C1B:1955:0:0:286:B1 22:01, 30 July 2025 (UTC)

It is a bad map projection. That is a joke in it self. Another way to badly draw a map, that is the ongoing joke. Of course there is also the silly joke in the title text like the Earth is actually spread over 7 spheres. --Kynde (talk) 07:50, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

The thing is, attempts to translate a full sphere to a flat map requires various compromises (e.g. points that are close in real life may appear far apart on the map). Translating subsets of a full sphere out onto their own complete spheres technically requires the opposite type of compromises (e.g. points that are far apart in real life are now very close...). And add to that inevitable choice of angular and area distortions. 82.132.244.235 10:12, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

It sometimes does feel as if a lot of people around the world were living on different planets, so we might as well go all out with the concept. Makes sense to me. PaulEberhardt (talk) 11:59, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

Yet another map that ignores/erases New Zeeland. -- ProfKrueger (talk) 01:28, 31 July 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

No it doesn't ignore it. Just like Greenland is on the other side of the globe in North America so is NZ on the other side of Australias globe. You cannot either see Sydney or Tasmania or LA or other Western states in the US. In Europe you cannot see most of Scandinavia (although the important part is there ... Denmark ;-) and Madagascar is also left our near Africa as is the entire middle east and most of Russia. --Kynde (talk) 07:49, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

Thought Randall was becoming political leaving out N.Korea, Middle east, and Russia; then noticed the colossal China...--Darth Vader (talk) 09:42, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

He also shows, the soon to be dictator ruled country, US, so he is not having any problems showing those kind of countries :-p --Kynde (talk) 19:49, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

What are those islands that I see in the center of the Antarctica globe? 67.82.132.47 13:15, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

The largest is Berkner Island. Mostly trapped in the RF-Ice Shelf, under normal viewing conditions and even many maps, but here represented with the whole of the Weddel Sea as if 'open' all the way through it, and not just featureless ice-sheet over both 'land' and watee. Over on the other side of Palmer's Land, as another notable feature (the characteristic long peninsula), is Alexander Island, and other semi-ilsand masses; up-of-centre on the left, as we see the Antarctic-Globe view. 82.132.245.41 14:12, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

I love this! Bad Map Projection returns, now with all 7 continents on 7 globes. Still better than the Gall-Peters Projection! Strontium (talk) 19:45, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

It seems as if the continents aren't centered on their individual globes. Should they be? These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 01:57, 3 August 2025 (UTC)

Can anything ever be centred on a globe? To my mind, though, the visible bit of the continent is (at least in the centre of the view, before the spherical distortion and wrapping over the 'horizon' of each) positioned as taken from a flat projection (no idea which, without drilling into centre-to-centre distances and angles). Perhaps Randall went for artfully-placed spheres, roughly aligned to his source flat-projection of choice, then 'wrapped them around from where the actual sphere-nearpoint landed.

Also, estimations of where the flat-map centre of the continent lies can be difficult to agree. The exact mid-latitude and mid-longitide between its extremes, or a geometric 'weighted' average (of either the spherical-segment or flat map)? Is that of just the 'mainland' continent, or including all the way out to the remotest islands off the edge of an extended contintal shelf? Or just so that there is roughly equal expectations of land (major island chains counting more than minor peninsulae) hidden behind the western/northern limbs of the sphere as with the counterpart eastern/southern ones. Or just how it's placed so that it's a more aesthetic+recognisable view of the continent than if it was any given mathematically determined geographical centre at the face-on centre of the sphere? So many design/layout choices, and I'm not sure which one I'd choose if I came to doing it myself. I'd probably be more 'logical' than artistic, perhaps find the centre-of-gravity of the mass, but it might not look as good as just 'rolling the marbles around' until it looked neat. Or a bit of dry and precise analysis with artful adjustment, which is what Randall's style seems to be. 82.132.237.7 15:51, 3 August 2025 (UTC)

What does "smartass response" mean? This is a confusing explanation. 2603:800C:1200:596A:AB18:B71B:2BC5:5651 03:34, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

As per the linked previous comic, "A Globe / Yes, you're very clever"... Not how I'd word it, but I can't see how it's not plain enough.

Is this the sole point of your confusion, or is that a more general observation that you tacked on to your initial question? Help us to help you. 82.132.247.119 13:09, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

I made sure to replace it with "wisecrack" since the incomplete description notice called for more formal writing. 2601:300:4083:1C70:F1B:D867:C7C7:F254 06:43, 12 August 2025 (UTC)

The "landbridge" text leads to questions of America being one or two continents, or for that matter Europe, Asia, and Eurasia, as well as Asia/Africa. 88.129.22.189 (talk) 07:57, 1 September 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Overall, that would be a matter of using the Afro-Eurasia/America/Australasia/Antactica version of the map. 92.17.62.87 20:35, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

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</div> series]] displaying Bad Map Projection #194: Interrupted Spheres. It follows 2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia, released nine and a half months prior.

There is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation is sometimes disputed. As was mentioned in 977: Map Projections, a wisecrack to this dilemma is to use a globe - which maps the world onto a sphere, thus minimizing distortion by using roughly the same shape as the world itself. This "map projection" goes a step past the wisecrack and proceeds straight into absurdity, by projecting each continent onto a sphere. This bends entirely too far in the other direction to the dilemma; whereas a typical map projection adds distortion by trying to show the (curved) planet on a flat surface, this "map projection" adds distortion by showing the (relatively flat) continents on a much more sharply-curved sphere than the planet they are actually part of.

The title text refers to land bridges, narrow bits of land between larger landmasses. When glaciers covered much of the Earth, the water locked up in the glaciers meant that sea levels were lower, as well as the overlying icepacks being higher, and things like the Bering land bridge spanned areas between continents that are currently ocean. Randall suggests that these formed connections in the gaps between the spheres. This implies the absurd idea that the projection reflects an underlying reality where the continents actually exist on separate spheres, rather than this simply being an attempt at a "better" way to display Earth's landmasses. In this situation the land of the 'bridges' would reach like spires, vertically upwards from the surface of each sphere, until they descend down onto their counterpart neighbouring sphere.

Transcript

[This comic depicts seven circles each representing globes. Above these circles there is the following text:]

Bad map projection #194:

Interrupted spheres

To avoid the distortion inherent to a single flat world map, each continent is projected onto its own globe.

[Each of the seven globes has some part of the landmasses of Earth projected on to it, with a label of said areas name. The globes are arranged in position so their landmasses lies roughly where they would be on a standard map with North America in the upper left and Australia in the lower right part of the picture. That is except Antarctica which is placed beneath Asia close to but left of Australia. The labels on the seven spheres in the three columns they form from left to right are:]

North America

South America

Europe

Africa

Asia

Antarctica

Australia

Trivia

In this comic Randall indicates that he believes there are seven continents. This is up for debate, especially with Europe being considered part of the larger Eurasian continent, rather than distinct from Asia, and whether the Americas are two continents or one, temporarily joined via the Caribbean oceanic plate. See for instance CGP Grey's What are Continents? video for a discussion. (Grey concludes that there are five, in his opinion.)

Several borders between countries are missing,those being the borders between Romania and Bulgaria, Bulgaria and Greece, Albania and Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, Egypt and Sudan, and between Thailand and Malaysia. Although it is implied each continent is projected onto its own globe by itself, a part of the coast of North Africa is visible on the Europe globe.