Mind Map Mind Game?

I'm not one for conspiracy theories. I want to make that clear right from the off. And I know next to nothing about map projections, except to say it's a complicated subject. Even after spending an hour or so reading up on map projections in Wikipedia, it's all still pretty much a mystery.

But my research, although superficial, left me in no doubt even the map makers themselves have problems drawing up a map. Maps, it would seem, are full of compromises. Here's a little quote from Wikipedia:

"Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface [of the earth] in some fashion. Depending on the purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore different map projections exist in order to preserve some properties of the sphere-like body at the expense of other properties."

So what's all this mind map, mind game business? Perception, in a word. Let me explain.

Every night, after the main BBC national news, we get the UK weather forecast. And, of course, a map is used. No problems there. Or is there?

Notice how, when the weather man or woman zooms in for a more detailed close-up, Wales, for example, appears about the size of Scotland? And Devon and Cornwall almost completely fill the screen? London and the Home Counties appear gargantuan!

It's all down to the map's projection, I hear the BBC say. The map has built-in distortion, the sort you'd get if you were up in space and actually looking down on Britain at a lowish angle. Scotland, to the north, would appear smaller as it disappeared into the distance. And, of course, the BBC would be quite right.

But here's the rub. Imagine a viewer in London looking at the weather map day after day, for months, even years, on end. The south of Britain looms large. Scotland always appears much smaller than it actually is. And each time, the perception is reinforced that the one is 'greater' or 'more significant' than the other.

We're talking subliminal here, certainly subconscious, where the distortion becomes completely accepted as the true reflection of reality. Nobody gives it a second thought. The mind map becomes as fixed as the image of the Houses of Parliament or Buckingham Palace.

Trouble is, the subconscious can trickle through and affect the conscious mind in all sorts of ways, with all kinds of consequences real and imagined.

Mind game? I told you I didn't believe in conspiracy theories. The BBC could fix the problem in an instant given the talented software programmers and technicians it surely has.

So what would the satellite view look like from an Edinburgh perspective? Imagine a zoomed-in Fife filling the whole of the television screen, with London appearing no larger than a postage stamp!

I don't think so.