Showing posts with label globe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label globe. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Will Miss #14 - (literal) global perspective shift (reflection)


I read recently on a content aggregation site that the globe icon graphics on Facebook are different if you live in another part of the world. That is, the globe is turned around such that the map does not show the Americas, but focuses on Asia. Frankly, I think this is something that should be done even in the West. Rather than constantly show us the earth with America centered on the map, it would do us good to see other countries in the center. In a subtle way, this might help people remember that the rest of the world is equally important, and, in a more overt way, it might help them learn more geography (or at least encourage them to learn more).

I notice how things are America-centric while i'm in America, just as they were Japan-centric when I was in Japan. I wonder when I'll stop noticing and it'll all blend into the blur of subtle education about the U.S. being the center of the world and I definitely will miss the little mental adjustment that seeing a different perspective gave me when I lived in Japan.