New Google Maps mode allows users to zoom all the way out and view the world as a globe
People come up with crazy conspiracies about all sorts of unbelievable things. Some have more evidence, which makes them a bit more believable while others rely on a lack of refuting information to lend them a sense of legitimacy. Then there are the conspiracy theories that make no sense, have no evidence supporting them, and plenty that proves they’re nonsense. All this and they still have followers and believers. The biggest of this type of crazy-eyed conspiracy theory that plenty of people believe has to be that the earth is flat.
Despite the fact that people have been talking about the earth being round since the 6th century BC; it was accepted as a physical given in the 3rd century BC; was circumnavigated by Magellan in the 16th Century; is now circumnavigated thousands of times every single day; and people have actually gone into space and seen that it is round. Despite all of that people still, say and believe the earth is flat. Lord give us strength!
Well, unsurprisingly, Google, which is one of the most successful companies of the modern age falls on the right side of the flat earth debate. To back up Google’s firm belief that earth is round, it has turned its Google Maps web app into a globe. Don’t worry, everything still works pretty much the same as it always has, but now when you zoom all the way out, you see the map is a spherical globe, just like the real earth, and isn’t flat as if it was a map laid out on a table.
With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland's projection is no longer the size of Africa.
Just zoom all the way out at https://t.co/mIZTya01K3 😎🌍 pic.twitter.com/CIkkS7It8d
— Google Maps (@googlemaps) August 2, 2018
The significant advantage of this move is the improved perspective. Maps have always had a way of ending up political with the global north often portrayed as greater in geographic size than the global south. Other issues include the perspective continents that sit at the poles of the planet. On the flat Google Maps, Greenland looked the same size as Africa, which is way off the truth. The new globe feature shows just how far off that perspective was, and if you don’t believe Google had it wrong for so long, you can check it out, because it still does on the Android version of Google Maps.
This new feature isn’t the biggest update Google has introduced to maps, but it is one of our favorites.
They say that when astronauts see earth from space, it fills them with a serene sense of calm. All the geopolitical and local differences below just melt away, and the astronauts feel a sense of togetherness. We all live together on that big blue beautiful marble that we all call it home. Maybe we should all take some time to just look at the new map Google has given us, turn on the Satellite view and start contemplating all the fantastic things that are going on down there at any given moment. Give it a go, people. You’ve got the whole world in your hands.
