this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
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Mercator wasn’t created in order to increase importance of the northern hemisphere, but to allow for directional rhumb lines to be drawn for shipping. For its intended purpose of navigation, it does an excellent job.
It may not be the intended purpose but I certainly does change how the world is seen by everyone using it to warp the mind's eye to how the world actually physically is.
Edit: Does it do an excellent job for navigational purposes if you are shipping from Japan to Brazil or it it only excellent for shipping from the northern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere?
Do you seriously think that the geometrical properties of the projection change below the equator? You need to learn this thing called geometry.
It works for any shipping lines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection