“That’s another thing we’ve learned from your Nation,” said Mein
Herr, “map-making. But we’ve carried it much further than you.
What do you consider the largest map that would be really
useful?” “About six inches to the mile.” “Only six inches!”
exclaimed Mein Herr. “We very soon got to six yards to the mile.
Then we tried a hundred yards to the mile. And then came the
grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on
the scale of a mile to the mile!” “Have you used it much?” I
enquired. “It has never been spread out, yet,” said Mein Herr:
“the farmers objected: they said it would cover the whole
country, and shut out the sunlight! So we now use the country
itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as
well.” –Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, 1893 Nothing
beats the experience of directly interacting with the outside
world. All five senses are involved: we see, we feel, we smell,
we hear, and we taste our way through our world. However,
sometimes it’s necessary for us to cr