How would you know if you never got into it? Sounds ignorant to me
Comment on american culture
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I never got into geography, tbh. It’s not actually that useful for anything.
DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 1 month ago
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Thats fair, but it’s not even used for chartering and navigating, so what is it good for?
To clarify, though, when I say “geography” I’m referring to borders for countries, states, and counties on a large scale. Thinks like USGS terrain data and coordinate grids aren’t included.
DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 1 month ago
Geography is very broad. See en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography
teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
yes it is. you learn how the world works. what gets exported from where. where the refugees come from and to, and why. what conflicts there are, where, and why.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Sounds pretty violent.
teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
yes, you dont need to know about the history of the weather and why it happens to understand that it will be raining tomorrow. But, i think it’s kinda relevant to know how and why to understand what side of a conflict to support.
geography also helps you understand the claims politicians make and to see if they’re bs
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The actual physical location, which side of an imaginary line a person was born on, should absolutely mean fuck all when deciding who to side with.
TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 1 month ago
In my geography class, we were taught about how weather and climate happens. Geography has as much influence on it as physics. So whenever someone points out why it is so cold if there is global warming, I teach them that warming temperatures fuels warm high pressure areas, which pushes out colder low pressure area. For example, if the American East Coast is experiencing extremely cold temperatures, the other side of the Atlantic would be experiencing warmer but rainy intense storms because the high pressure area is pushing the colder low pressure area to the US East Coast. As you can see, extreme weathers will only get worse because of climate change as the world gets warmer.
But I think the most practical everyday geography knowledge for people is knowing why the taste of tap water sucks. Just know that areas with limestone bedrocks have water that taste better. Limestone is full of calcium and other minerals, and filters groundwater quite well unlike in areas that have igneous rocks such as basalt or granite.
I don’t want to sound like I’m pontificating but I believe it’s important to have as much general knowledge as possible because you never know when those knowledge might have practical utility one day. But on the one hand, yeah there are more immediate practical concerns that requires more specific knowledge. Knowing about Jupiter will not fix a pipe leak in your kitchen. It’s about having the balance and knowing when to use seemingly useless knowledge, and what knowledge you need to use for more practical cases. Overall though, it’s better to have broad knowledge as it makes you less impervious to misinformation.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Well I learned about the atmosphere in science classes and I learned math in Physics, and Meteorology should be a completely distinct subject from just naming municipal districts on a map.
teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
geography also teaches you how the weather affects the earth via erosion, which lets you predict if it’s a good idea to build a house somewhere (not really relevant in 2034 though)
also, you’re confusing geography with topography