2 July

Descartes. Him what invented Cartesian coordinates, which we all learn at school. Maybe the most obvious example of us mistaking the measure of something for the thing itself. Ever since Descartes, I think we've made the mistake of thinking we live 'in' Cartesian space. '3D' space. Einstein came along and added a 4th 'dimension' - time. And maps use the same space. But we don't live 'in' Cartesian space at all. We don't live inside maps or kilometres or light years. Just as our 'weight' measured on a scale isn't what we feel as weight. Another classic mismeasure.