Motro Article Reflection

Ethan Boroughs

1/28/16

In my opinion, the Motro article was really interesting, but more than anything it was frightening. Through explanations and examples from these last few class periods, I’ve understood how there are a variety of ways in which maps can be used to lie. However, this article was an alarming real world example of how actual governmental entities used maps to deceive one another, and effectively steal land away from each other. Another thing I thought was absolutely absurd about the article was the fact that this map was being used in an official diplomatic situation, however the map wasn’t created under the supervision of cartographers. In fact, there were no people in the room that the map was produced in that had any map-making experience whatsoever. Just the thought that this map was purposely drawn poorly and used to deceive an ambassador in an official diplomatic setting gave me great insight to how the topics we discuss in class can and will be applied to real life; whether you’re trying to spot a biased map that’s trying to deceive you, or knowing how to use maps to deceive others for your own gain.