Map Critique: Ancestry in the U.S.

 

        The map above takes an interesting look at ancestry in the U.S.  It is a choropleth map of every county in the country, showing the most people who claimed a common ancestry.  But just because a map is interesting doesn’t mean it is faultless.  For instance, the title “Largest Ancestry: 2000” doesn’t specify the region the map is representing.  The cartographer should have included the country we are seeing and the dimension of the borders, going something like this: “Largest Ancestry in the U.S. by County: 2000”.  Also, the title can easily be confused for the legend title because there are two other maps in the banner, making it seem like it is describing those instead of the main one.

            Otherwise, the cartographer did a great job communicating the data with text.  There is a suitable legend with a high amount of detail; subtitles are included by map type (state vs. county); and source information is written in two locations.  State names and major cities could have been added to help readers less familiar with U.S. geography.  The font size is good, though it appears small and crammed in places because there is so much information in the legend.  I would have removed the “other” categories since we see them only once on the map and it would help reduce clutter.

Data on the map comes from the U.S. census, where ancestry claims were quantitively calculated by county.  What we see on the map is the greatest number of people in each county claiming a common ancestry (Jerreat, 2013).  Just to be clear, the choropleth only reflects the primary ancestry of the population of each county; ancestry that ranked second, third, and fourth had nothing to do with what is shown on the map.

While data from the U.S. Census is highly reliable, there a couple issues at hand.  This article was published by the Daily Mail U.K., which has a low credibility rating according to Media Bias/Fact Check (2016).  This by itself doesn’t render the data inaccurate, but it is more likely to make the reader question what they are seeing.  Secondly, since the data is taken from the 2000 census, it poses a problem because there have been two others since then (2010, 2020); and after 2000, the census did not poll for ethnicity.  Since the map cannot be updated to reflect the current census, some counties are likely showing the wrong color in today’s world.  The third and biggest problem is that both links for the data source on the map are broken.  Readers cannot trace data to broken links; they are left having to look up the information themselves, and wondering if it is the same as the cartographer’s.  The article was written in 2013 and either needs to be removed, updated after a new survey, or rewritten from an historical perspective.

            A flaw in the map that may lead to an ecological fallacy is that it doesn’t show other high ranked ancestries in each county, which often may have several that are close to being the primary one.  For instance, in King County, WA, German was the top reported ethnicity at 292,504 (U.S. Census), but there were three others with over 100,000: English (209,263), Irish (192,778), and Norwegian (105,042).  The map gives the illusion that counties like these are dominated by one ancestry when only about 15% of the population is being represented.  To fix the problem, I would take the data a step further and include the percentage of the highest ancestry on each color spectrum.  If one county has a dominant ethnicity (over 50%), the represented color will be much darker than one where the leading figure is only 15%.  This would help to reduce the impression that Germans appear to be the leading ancestry by a wide margin in our country.

            The map is so versatile with color that few would notice any patterns in the cartographer’s choice of using them.  However, a closer look reveals something that is almost scandalous: the colors that stand out the most represent the most discriminated racial groups in our country.  Perhaps coincidentally, African Americans own the darkest color on the choropleth, a loud purple.  Mexican and Native Americans are pink and orange respectively, which isn’t so suggestive.  But most of the colors representing white or European ancestry are in the range of blue to green to light purple, falling in line with the light blue of neighboring countries on the map, which allows them to blend in more than the others.  To be more conscious of race, I would have altered the color scheme to look more random when making a map like this.

            The main message of the map is that America’s reputation of being a melting pot holds firm geographically, but there are many other possible conclusions to be drawn.  Though German appears to dominate the map, most of the counties where it is leading are rural areas with low population levels.  Complementary data that would help illustrate this point is population density.  One can also surmise that Germans were more likely to continue migrating west after they entered the country, along with the Dutch, Irish, and Norwegian immigrants.  Southern European immigrants, including the French and Italians, appear to have been more likely to stay in their regions.  Urban areas on the map tend to have surprises that add a unique flavor of ethnicity to the map, such as Miami (Cuban) and San Francisco (Chinese).  Complementary data that would help to analyze this might involve migration patterns; are certain ethnicities represented more because they migrate more?  Finally, it is fascinating how there is a belt of people in the south who identify as American but not anywhere else in the country.  Perhaps these areas have people who feel more patriotic since they don’t identify as much with their ancestor culture.

            All these messages make the map a fun one to digest.  Anyone in the U.S. who knows where their county is can look it up and ponder how accurate it is.  In my county it says German is the leader, which may have changed in the last 20 years as there are more Asian and Indian Americans now.  Not only would complementary data showing migration patterns demonstrate how populations on the map developed historically, but it would predict their trajectory for the future as well.  That way the result for counties like mine would make more sense.

 

Sources:

Jerreat, Jessica.  (2013, September 1).  The Map That Shows Where America Came From.  Daily Mail U.K.  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2408591/American-ethnicity-map-shows-melting-pot-ethnicities-make-USA-today.html

Media Bias/Fact Check.  (2016, July 9).  Daily Mail- Bias and Credibility.  https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/daily-mail/

U.S. Census.  (2010).  King County.  https://ofm.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/legacy/pop/census2000/dp58/co/033.pdf

Pillage and Genocide: A Broad Picture of American History

    One of the points Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz  makes in "An Indigenous People's History of the United States" is that without the indigenous, the North American continent could not have been habitable. The first indigenous settlers made slow gains in domesticating the continent when humans first arrived over the Bering Strait land bridge 12,000 years ago. This demonstration included locating water sources, carving paths, facilitating migration and trade, clearing thick forest, and burning undergrowth, all which the Europeans took for granted when they first arrived to undermine the "ungodly savages", whom they basically stole an entire infrastructure from, rendering 10,000 years at toiling the land meaningless. No gratitude was ever mentioned either; all we repaid them with was a devilish genocide, which wasn't even a word until the 1940s. How could these foolish Calvinists live with themselves? We are still dealing with their backwards logic to this day, as we still invade countries under the false bravado of saving them, aggravating the indigenous all across the world.
    She's also correct that we have an inflated conception of our constitution that kind of serves to replace a mythological origin story. The founding fathers are deemed holy saviors whose brilliances are unparalleled. We can't shake the amendments that are no longer functional in modern times- specifically the right to bear arms- because it violates the mythology of our founding. We revolutionized the nation-state by becoming the first nation founded by laws. But even law is not perfect when it becomes over-idealized, since we end up living in the past when we cling to it too much. For instance, there was no law against genocide in our infant centuries, so we don't have to take any accountability for violating an international one that is current. You won't find anything about genocide in our Constitution, but you probably would if a new one were to be drawn up. The genocide of the indigenous who made it so easy for Europeans to colonize the Americas is hardly no different from any other campaign, though not quite as brutal as the Nazi concentration camps or the Russian progroms. Indeed, this brutality is what gave an opportunity for the word to become common, but that is a moot point. Genocide is genocide, no matter what historical period it is.

Quantum Chaos: Decoding the Matrix

    I've come to understand Chaos Theory a bit more with the help of Quantum Theory. Connecting both of these difficult theories bridges the gap between them, a relationship I have not found in any popular science book or article yet. The key is the matrix variable, which shows that the position of an electron in the atom activated by quanta (moving from one level of energy to the next) has a probability of the arrangement, not as a certainty, which unfortunately means we cannot predict where it will be.  What we see as reality is only the most probable arrangement of light as a consequence of the matrix.
    The question arises about the hidden values of this matrix, the ones we don't see and are less likely to predict. They all exist simultaneously which means the math is showing a higher dimension in the calculation. Each value of the matrix that we cannot see may exist in what mystics call the astral, spiritual, or dream realms, of which there are infinite varieties; and that is why a particle can also be thought of as a wave, with a continuous calculus, not just as a particle. We only see it as a particle when we observe it. 
    Interestingly this could explain several mysteries in physics such as what dark matter is (all the particle probabilities that did not surface?), and why the body loses weight after it dies. It explains why dreams, hallucinations, and vision quests are so distorted from the realistic versions of what we actually see: because the improbability of the hidden matrices opens the door to an infinite variety of convoluted planes of existence.
    That's where Chaos Theory comes in. God does play dice, as Einstein once asked. Sometimes, the particle that shows up in physical reality is one of the least probable- not always, but at least enough to put an unpredictable spin on a supposedly deterministic universe. This is precisely why the universe is not deterministic. We cannot predict where the correct value of the matrix that will appear, only the probability that it will follow a deterministic path- the most likely one. Chaos results from those rare occasions when a low probability value emerges, or a collection of them. With a collection of them, it is more likely that something we were confident at predicting changes course, like the weather.
    Greater minds than mine are certainly more equipped to solve these riddles. But based on what I know about science; what I've studied and what I've pondered philosophically; and my experiences with altered states; it seems quantum theory is best understood as a portal to describing all the other universes that may occur when matrix values are filtered out. And yes, there is such infinite complexity in this perspective that it hurts my brain and probably yours too. I'm imagining the total collection of universes as a magnetic field, with the most improbable ones being outliers on the field where it is weakest, while the most probable are congested in the center where it's strongest.

Charity

    To give is our most divine privilege. To give without saying it's from you is divinity tenfold. To give to someone who is hungry when you are just as hungry yourself is divinity thousand fold. To give when you are sacrificed; bruised and bloodied; stretched to the limits of pain by the one who needs you; that is an infinite divinity. Give freely without expecting something back, you will experience the purest joy.        Seldom does something we receive bring more joy than something we have given, unless we are still children mired in our possessions. Yet when you receive, act as if it is the greatest joy, and always except what is coming your way, even if it is too much. Those who want to give you something are finding charity in themselves, with you as the benefactor; do not reject their appeal to divinity.
    Discretion must also be taken when giving. If you give something useless, that is only seen as an obligation, you do more harm to the receiver than you realize, for your relationship will seem less important to them. You wouldn't give a bone to your cat, or a guitar to a piano player. Just because you like something doesn't mean they will. Why make a steak for a vegetarian? Always have their needs in mind when you give, what you think they'll want. And if you are too ignorant about someone to know what they need, either get to know them better or give nothing but your attention.
    When you think you have nothing to give, get creative. Never wait until you have a lot of money to give a lot, or the opportunity may never come, you may just be making excuses to yourself. Give something immaterial instead, like your smile, your energy, your muscles, your labor, your cooking- there are a great number of things to give that are not material. A similar excuse is being too busy. The things you truly value are what you spend the most time on, so if it is not charity then don't pretend you are a saint.

Map Critique: Wildlife Corridors of North America

 

The map above is a selection from National Geographic magazine’s September 2022 edition.  While I enjoy reading their maps, a close examination of this map reveals many problems and others the magazine has published.  Its title “Free to Roam” is strikingly lacking in clarity.  I would have kept this headline, but added some context to the map, such as “Free to Roam: Wildlife Corridors in North America”.  This is a title that not only grabs the reader’s attention but specifies what the map is about.  Perhaps the magazine was trying to avoid redundancy in the context of the article surrounding it, yet if we are seeing the map by itself, the only thing that helps to determine what it’s about is the scale at the bottom left, showing modeled flows of wildlife.

            Textually, the map can be difficult to read due to the choice of using a white font on a background that features very light colors where the corridors are.  I’d go with a different color scheme altogether, as there are many dark areas on the land that approach the same darkness as lakes, rivers, and oceans, which only works if the reader is someone who knows the geography of North America well.  I’d go with brown or green for land areas with no corridors, keeping it relatively dark; and changing from white to red where the corridors are.  Adjusting these colors would make the white font more legible.  Also, the captions have some interesting information, but they may be too small to read- a common issue in their magazines.  I would shorten them to become more succinct and make the font slightly larger.

            Sources for the data can be found in the bottom right corner of the map.  They are the Wilderness Society and USGS, which are reputable sources.  The problem is the map fails to report how the data was calculated by these organizations.  There isn’t even information in the article that points to their data collection methods.  The casual reader might see USGS in the sources and think it’s a legitimate map, but without any reference to the real data it is hard to take seriously as an academic source.  The cartographers could have been biased, making wildlife mobility seem like a bigger problem than it really is to raise more concern from their readers and keep them buying their magazines.  But I believe they used the right sources; they just weren’t transparent enough in how these models were calculated.

            Another problem with the data is that its one-dimensionality makes it subject to an ecological fallacy.  One might assume from the map that areas heavily populated by humans have less wildlife movement, which makes sense from the standpoint of urban areas impeding migrations.  However, if we look more carefully at the map, we can see that areas directly east of the Rockies are severely limited to migrating animals, conflicting with the assumption about urban density.  Adding more data to the map would help clarify this disparity: particularly population density and major transit routes.  Since population density east of the Rockies is low, it could mean that intercontinental transit routes are blocking animals from migrating.  Prolific farmland in the area could also be contributing to the problem.  Adding a layer of farmland might help show this relationship, but that could make the map appear messy with the other layers.  An insert or a separate map showing all the farmland on the Great Plains in comparison to wildlife corridors would be helpful in analyzing that.  Such a relationship would suggest that if corridors need to be engineered, they shouldn’t just consist of overpasses on freeways, highways and railroads, but pathways through farmland as well.

As stated above, I’d go with a different color scheme because the extreme brightness doesn’t contrast well with the extreme darkness.  To better differentiate land from water, I’d use green and blue respectively, then use a spectrum of red for the corridors.  Not only would this make everything more legible, but it would help readers locate areas.  Even the borders are white (I’d change them to black) on this map, making them blend in with some of the corridors.  Since the colors on this map are in shades of black and white, it actually works well for a color-blind audience, though a color printer might have difficulty printing every shade.

The cartographers seek to promote wildlife mobility awareness and do a fairly good job at it.  The bright colors and the headline grab our attention, just as the cavity in the middle of the continent raises our concern.  There is so much greater mobility in Canada and Mexico that it makes the reader wonder if U.S. policies are causing these disruptions.  Based on the map and its captions, the message is that as migration patterns are deteriorating, human engineered wildlife corridors are increasing.  The only counter is that it also states how the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border blocks mobility, which isn’t just a political statement; an endangered species can cross a freeway at the right moment, but a wall limits its movement entirely.  Complementary data could include conservation efforts that show how much a government works to conserve their environment compared to others.

 

Source:

Chwastyk, M., Schnure, M., NGM staff.  Free To Roam.  National Geographic Magazine.  September 2022 ed., 51.

Passion

  Passion is the great engine of human ingenuity. Monuments, art, books, the sheer act of creation; everything worth experiencing was developed through passion. When it is kept in check, passion is the supreme motivator of life. The wise and the informed harness it beautifully, like sparks in a combustion chamber. But when it is abused, done in excess, pursued to the limits of endurance, the flames get fanned and it escapes like wildfire. The foolish and the ignorant are slaves to their passions, always eager to satisfy them, never able to say no. For it is only when we are able to turn away that we are able to transform a passion into something inspirational; something we can't let go of that screams inside us, yearning to get out. It becomes an uncontainable call to action, and only the aware can do something productive with it. An ignorant call to action is terribly destructive; an aware call to action is highly persuasive, admirable, a sermon for the soul.

Libra's Heaven

 Love is the ageless wisdom

 That medicates all grief,

 Laminating fragments of you that

 Gyrate on the spirals of creation.

 To love another, to take them all in,

 To see the good, acccept the bad,

 To feel for them an array of sparks

 Lost to most, perceived by the chosen,

 To understand in them what others cannot,

 To forgive their gravest transgressions,

 Speckle their charming quirks

 On a map of your soul

 Whose destination is happiness,

 Completion, the holiest of states,

 To love, my dearest, is to see them

 In perfect harmony with something you lost,

 The answer, the missing piece

 To witness their being as God intended.

 In faint hollow light the pendulum swings,

 Gadgets of clockwork to split the scene,

 Oscillating glimpses of smiles that sing,

 Reaching the choir uplifted by strings,

 Into oblivion the fulcrum retrieves

 Remembrance of bliss, a body so clean

 To rinse you of folly once thought obscene,

 Creamy skies by delight, your love alight

 On the other side, revolving through night,

 Returning after each flight, momentary fright

 Bedazzled by billowy azurite.

 Balance we must master, to receive the peace,

 We must adapt to their soul like a new land,

 Adapt their differences, slide into the gears,

 Not force their hand in mechanical blunder,

 But naturally through the odysseys of Venus,

 A lone star in that paradise of togetherness,

 Where beams sway to the ticking of hearts,

 Expiring only by the malfunctions of pride, or death.

14 Keys to Happiness

Behold!  In which these are the ingredients needed to live a happy life. I have been miserable before, but a soothing calm has overtaken me the older I grow. First, realize that the happiness of others is often exaggerated in your mind. Do not compare yourself to others. Usually they aren't as happy as you imagine, while some of the people you imagine being miserable are truly content. Second, you must not expect too much from the world and others around you, for it does not revolve around you. You would be more content to serve the others around you, in myriad forms, as being helpful saturates the spirit with wholeness. Third, forgive the ones who have wronged you, no matter how hard it is. You don't know what life is like living in their shoes, and seldom do you know the situation they're in. Sustain judgment for the crass and idiotic. Not until you've lived their life can you fully understand the million little pieces of them. Fourth, find love by marrying well and having children. You are a social being, and nothing will make you feel more connected than family.  Fifth, find God, even if you can't see it. Knowing God will give you purpose. It doesn't have to be a literal being; the rhythm of the universe will suffice. Sixth, make your home well. Nothing reflects inner feeling like the environment around you, so keep it clean and welcoming. Decorate your life with the things that bring you peace and balance. Seventh, moderate your pleasures and passions. Too much of anything will squeeze the succulent juice out. Eighth, be thankful, for often we are unaware how bad our life could be, even on the worst days. Ninth, be a minimalist. You don't need a lot of things to make you happy. The appearance of being happy is not the same as being at it. Tenth, work hard at what gives you a feeling of completeness, at something that you feel no one can do quite like you can. Your contributions are needed; your uniqueness is a soft note on the web of humanity, no matter how many others you touch. Eleventh, be authentic, your true self. Pretending to be someone you're not will drown the soul. Twelfth, find acceptance in the faults of others and especially yourself. Though striving for it may make us happy, perfection can never be achieved. Bad things will happen in this life or the next one. It's how we react to them that makes the difference. Be accountable, assertive, resilient-your self pity won't slow you down and you'll have few regrets. Thirteenth, have respect for all life, human or animal or plant. Treat the person next to you the way you would want them to treat you. Fourteenth, after mastering this list, throw it away. "Very little is actually needed to make us happy", said Marcus Aurelius. Live like this list was second nature, don't think about it too much. Fret not for things out of your reach.