Geoscience Reference
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probably can not treat them with scientific exactness from the beginning.
Perhaps it is necessary to use a partly intuitive (“hazy”) approach and hope
that we later on can analyse them with higher degree of precision.
To go further to the plans of METAMAPPING and of cartographic
INFORMATION ANALYSES are far easier but demands a lot of heavy
systematic work. A precondition is, however, that the questions of differ-
ent types of cartographic products occurring at identical coordinates in the
“CLASSIFICATION” plane are solved.
Further “exploratory” efforts are necessary when dealing with the planes
“CREATING and EXPERIENCING MAPS” and “MENTAL MAPS”. A
possible way is to ask cartographer to recall, contemplate and afterwards
describe the process when they created or studied cartographic artefacts.
These efforts may be rewarding not only for winning insight to the nature
of maps and mapping. The author of these lines wrote in several occasions
introductory notes to atlases, books and even a doctoral thesis describing
that kind of personal experiences, those “inner sights”. The reactions to
these notes were not only the most frequent but also the strongest, warmest
and most inspiring in whole his professional life. This is not only a ques-
tion of personal inspiration and satisfaction. It is also an indication that
here is a something deeply rooted in the minds of not only professionals
but also of surprisingly many people outside their ranks. It is worth deeper
exploration. It would be regrettable, if the fact that they can not be treated
by scientific exactness from the beginning would prevent us to follow this
difficult but probably rewarding track.
This paper is a tentative study. It is developed as a would-be part of the
(hopefully) coming revised and partly rewritten version of the author´s
“Human Cartography” from 1987. The re-writing of the topic is in pro-
gress. The ideas, sketched here will - once more hopefully - be further
developed and integrated in the topic. The time is, however, most limited.
If the ideas and ways of thinking presented here have real fruit-bearing
capacity, a younger generation may develop it further. If not they will fade
away.
