ENG 314-001

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All of the people in the "Mapping" episode had very different approaches to mapping, but the two that stood out the
most to me were Denis Wood and Deb Monroe. Wood's mapping goal seemed to be to make New York City a safer place for
its citizens, while Monroe's mapping goal was to make sure that she herself was safe; thus, Wood's mapping was
aimed toward benefitting a city of people, unlike Monroe's, whose mapping was more self-centered. I understand the
reasoning behind both of these mapping projects.

Next summer, I will be moving just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, and when I do, I will look at as many maps as I can to determine a good neighborhood to live in. The maps that Wood created would benefit me greatly in this situation, and would undoubtedly benefit many other people as well when scanning a neighborhood to learn more about it. His mapping project is sure to benefit a multitude of people given today's economy, since many people are now forced to change residences in order to find new jobs. When moving to
new territory, maps are a must.

Monroe's mapping idea, though it seems to be bringing distress to her spouse, also
seems reasonable in some ways. Given Monroe's paranoia, she will, no doubt, know the characteristics of all of her
body parts, and probably every freckle on her body as well. This could be beneficial to her and her family in the
long run, because she will notice when an oddly shaped mole is on her skin and can have it checked by a doctor
quickly. She will also notice if there are any lumps in her breasts, which will prompt an examination
by a medical professional in a hasty fashion. Even though her mapping project is very extreme due to her hypochondria,
it is still possible that other people would benefit by following her lead (without the deep paranoia). Even though
Monroe's mapping project is not an obvious attempt to tell people to closely examine their bodies, it very well
could be. If everyone kept track of the way all of their body parts feel in a normal state, then they would be
aware when something goes wrong. I think that most people are aware when major dysfunction occurs, as they may
experience pain, but paying attention to the little things can also be a life-saving skill. For example, paying
attention to the shape, size and texture of one's moles allows one to notice when those characteristics change,
which could lead to early skin cancer detection.

Another way these two mappers contrast is that Wood's mapping seems to be more of a meaningful hobby, whereas Monroe's mapping is an obsessive need. Although both mappers' ideas could be useful to many people, Monroe does not acknowledge that hers is for anyone other than herself.

These map ideas could be useful to our project, because they bring awareness to how broad and how personal maps can be (although I believe our maps will be better suited as broad maps). In addition, these map ideas show the specificity that goes into map-making. Wood said that a map gets its meaning by not showing everything, which is a good point, because that showed me that our maps do not have to include a multitude of things, but certain, specific things that, by mapping them, would be useful to other people in the area. I now know that specificity is the key to a helpful map.

The two mappers that I would compare/contrast would be the smelling map (Nancy Updike) and the feeling map (Deb Monroe). Both of these maps are similar in that they can be beneficial in healthcare. While Monroe's method seems almost a tad obsessive and unhealthy in general, she still uses her "feeling map" to locate/determine illness. Likewise, the "smelling map" or electronic nose was said to be useful in the future for healthcare, where many illnesses and issues are diagnosed or found with the sense of smell. Therefore, both seem to have a link regarding the body and keeping the body clean and healthy. However, the nose would/will be used for the entire public in medical establishments while the feeling of the body is used solely by Monroe (at least in this instance).

Although I found Monroe's approach obsessive as I said earlier, I do have to agree that I have had times where I become somewhat of a hypochondriac and find myself checking my body for any abnormalities, like bruises, skin spots, etc. While her method is odd to some, it can be highly useful. Knowing or "mapping" your own body can be used as a preventative measure, especially with cancer as she said on the show.

I think that this radio show and the individual concepts on the show can be applied to our project in many aspects. For instance, these different methods or types of maps open our eyes to thinking outside of the box while we do our own projects. Rather than strictly sticking with the norm and past identifiers (likes fires and floods), we can use the creativity of those interviewees to spark some inspiration in our own work. I think that many of us thought that this project would be limited to past projects with similar outcomes, but listening to these maps allows us to see other directions to go in.

The two mappers that I found most interesting to compare/contrast are the feeling map-Deb Monroe and the smelling map-Nancy Updike. Both of these maps are alike because they provide a service to people and can help further healthcare. Monroe's way of conducting her mapping project was obsessive compulsive and unethical. However, she still managed to create a "feeling map" to help pin-point and determine areas of illness. On the other hand Nancy Updike's "smelling map" also known as the "electronic nose" was said to be useful for healthcare studies and insight considering most illnesses are diagnosed based on the sense of smell.
There was a deffinate connection between both maps in reguards to personal health and cleanliness. While Updike's map would benefit society as a whole Monroe's intentions were to use the feeling map for her own personal use.

While I have never needed a map of my body I can see where it would become useful to someone with a major illness or condition affecting the body. Being able to glance at a map of the body and know what is normal and what is not will save on trips to the Dr. and medical exspenses. Although Monroe did go to extreme lengths to have a map of this extent.

Listening to this show has proved beneficial when considering different ideas for our mapping projects. When someone says the word map I automatically thing of directions, distance and location of places. I have never really considered a map of sounds, smells, or textures. I guess, ideally you can have a map of anything. I am really looking forward to coming up with new ideas for the mapping project. Who needs a map of places and locations now-a-days anyway when you have a gps haha.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this radio broadcast on mapping the five senses. All of the five mappers profiled were extremely interesting and each had their own story to tell. The two mappers that stuck out to me the most would have to be Toby Lester and Jonathon Gold. These two eccentric men can be compared and contrasted in many ways. Although they concentrate their efforts on different senses, the similarity is clear that they overall intend to map the world around them through their specific sense.
Toby Lester’s eleven minute segment brought up the idea of listening to the abundant number of machines around us that emit a low drone and can be identified as a musical note, eventually dictating what your specific mode may be. Lester concentrates more on the feelings that arise from these sounds and how they make him feel, unlike Gold who is just concentrating on the diverse food selection of Pico Boulevard. It seems that the main difference between the two is the depth of what is being examined. Throughout Gold’s segment I found him concentrating almost all on the taste and overall ambiance of the restaurant, going off on tangents that didn’t seem relevant to the topic. I frequently lost interest in what he was saying. On the other hand, Lester’s approach to mapping sounds seems deeper and more concentrated emotionally on the ambient sounds that surround us everyday.
Out of the two mappers, Lester seems to have the more interesting approach to mapping the senses. While listening to the broadcast, the narrator allows the listener a few seconds of silence to listen to their own surroundings and see what they hear. I was surprised to realize that my house is filled with these different noises. From the small refrigerator next to my couch to my Xbox 360 overheating in the corner, my house was alive with “ambient noises.” I wonder what note it creates.
This is extremely relevant to our Local Mapping Project in class and can really help expand each group’s ideas. I didn’t really think about digging this deep into the senses, so much so that you could actually map the experiences out. Although the touch seemed a bit lame, I think that mapping the senses is an amazing way to show the versatility of mapping and the different ways in which it affects our life.

Toby Lester and Deb Monroe discuss the most opposite senses; hearing and touch. They are similar in that they both become obsessed with their particular sense and let it change their lives. No longer can they walk into a room without noticing the smallest noises, in Lester’s case, or walk out and prod herself in Monroe’s’ case.

What makes them different is the way they let it affect their life. Lester welcomes all these noises and tries to find the meanings in them. He even predicts there will be a future market for appliances that make a harmonious atmosphere. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a positive change, just that this mapping made him more aware of his surroundings and curious as to what’s behind notes. I personally never thought there were any meaning behind notes except that their purpose was to evoke some type of emotion. This kind of mapping is also interesting because like Monroe’s this form of a map doesn’t deal with numbers or direction. It approaches the mapping world in a totally different way that I have ever seen.

While Lester is obsessive, he isn’t as extreme as Monroe is with her sense of touch. Lester’s is more of an interest, a little more than a hobby, as opposed to Monroe who is letting this fear of disease a big part of her life. The difference is that she is using this mapping in an unhealthy way by compulsively checking herself for an illness. Another difference is that her mapping is only known to her. Unless she puts it into writing, no one else can experience her map. Lester uses his mapping relationship to improve his outlook on life while Monroe lets it infect her.

I think we can use their obsessive tendency to ignore everything else and focus on one particular detail so that our map can be clear and the best it can be. Our group can also see their creativeness and understand that there is more to mapping than numbers or graphs.

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I found the entire Radio Program to be interesting. However, after listening to the first section of the broadcast on sight, featuring Dennis Wood, I found myself feeling very disturbed. It’s scary to think that all this information about any particular person or home is on a map that some random person has made, about you. To be more specific, Wood made a map of all residents in the in the Boiling Heights neighborhood, of Raleigh North Carolina, pinpointing houses that had a pumpkin on the porch. It was later discussed that all of these residents were more prominent than those residents who did not have a pumpkin on their porch. This information could be construed in multiple ways; for example, one could use it as a map for Trick-or-Treating, or you could use it as a map to decide which houses would be better to solicit, for things like Fire or Police Department Donations. It disturbs me to think there may information about my residence that I don’t even know about, and not just by the government, but also by everyday people. I think that people who make these maps should be required to ask permission of the resident before mapping detailed information about their residence. It's none of anyone's else's business whether i decorate my house or not.

The next section that I found to be intriguing was Nancy Updike’s smelling map. The electronic nose is very interesting but after hearing all the uses that were described, the only one I thought to be viable would be using it for finding landmines. The other uses she described using it for, like medical and gas detectors I don’t think are realistic because there’s technology that already does that, for example, Methane detectors and Carbon/ Monoxide detectors. In a medical facility setting, I don’t think a doctor needs a smell master 5000 to determine if someone has Pneumonia. The reason that Doctor’s go to school for 10 years is so that they can know, not so that they can guess or depend on a machine to diagnose an illness. Not to mention doctors already use technology to diagnose problems, adding another machine would worsen our already failing medical care system by adding unnecessary cost. However, I do think there would be some really good uses for it. The most useful map you could make with this technology would be a map that showed soldiers where landmines were or are most frequently planted in a particular area or a map that showed citizens of a particular city or town most frequently became ill due to poor air quality.

The way we can learn and apply this information to our projects is by first understanding what sort of maps would be relevant or useful and how to go about it.

As this episode of This American Life points out, there are many different ways to approach mapping. One is to follow the traditional route of using sight. Denis Wood has attempted to map various aspects of his neighborhood in Raleigh, N.C. His maps, although they chart the same neighborhood, vary greatly from one to the next. Some look through the earth's surface to highlight gas, sewer, and power lines in the area. Others chart each traffic sign in the neighborhood, every pumpkin during Halloween, random graffiti, and even words carved in setting cement. They are certainly unorthodox from everyday maps, but Wood believes by finding collections of patterns he reveals the neighborhoods, or "living organisms", secrets.

Another cartographer discussed is Toby Lester, who analyzes sounds which people typically ignore due to overexposure. He believes that by being hyperaware, one can notice background noise, which may attribute to our moods. This noise may be the hum of the heater or the drone of the refrigerator. Lester maps the landscape of these noises. In our technological culture which is overabundant with appliances, this background noise is ubiquitous; it is only natural that someone like Lester has chosen to map them. Lester even argues that "we are eased into our boredom by all the machines around us". Perhaps by recognizing these sounds, we can prevent them from altering our moods.

Although Wood and Lester approach mapping differently, they are both analyzing our surroundings and looking further into patterns of our everyday lives. Using sight to chart objects, Wood makes sense of the objects that surround us, and so does Lester by listening to the noises. By identifying patterns, we can draw conclusions and be more "hyperaware". Through studying Wood, Lester, and other cartographers, we can learn that there are no dead-ends in mapping; only open territory to explore what we please.

Dennis Wood is an independent map maker who seems to create maps on his own time based around subjects of his own interest. Map features can include everything from pumpkin locations during Halloween to underground mappings of waterlines, manholes, and sewer lines. While many of his maps, such as the pumpkin map, serve little purpose, some of his maps include useful information such as traffic signs. Despite the somewhat recreational motivation of Wood to create these maps, the drawings seem to give a “structural knowledge…of the neighborhood.” Wood believes that a neighborhood is a collection of lights, sounds, etc. and these maps give a true sense of what it means to live in the neighborhood.
Unlike Dennis Wood, whose mapping focus seems to be centered on tangible entities, Toby Lester chooses to map out the sounds of his environment. He recognizes the sound of his loud office heater as his motivation to begin mapping. He began to notice musical entities within objects such as heaters and his computer. I found a very interesting that he connected the sounds of his environment with his mood as he reflects the common understanding that various notes reflect stereotypically different moods. The differences between the maps of Lester and Wood demonstrate the complex and dynamic capabilities of maps. While Wood’s maps can help viewers get a better understanding of the area portrayed through the display of road signs, graffiti, and underground entities, maps similar those to Toby Lester’s can allow the individual to recognize how the sounds of his environment impact the person’s moods.

Though all of these “mappers” are very different in their style and motivation, the two mappers I want to contrast are Deb Monroe and Jonathan Gold. I believe they had the same goal in mind: They each wanted to benefit the public's quality of life, just in very different ways. Deb Monroe wanted people to know how to give themselves self-exams. She wanted to benefit people’s health and became border-line insane trying to do it. She wanted a map of the body and used her own fears and paranoia as motivation to formulate a map that would be useful in several scenarios. She was driven by her own experience.
The same is true with Jonathan Gold. He looked around one day and realized he had been riding down a street for years and didn't know any of the good restaurants. He wanted to inform people, just like Monroe. Also like Monroe, he did research to find the best restaurants by eating at every one on that street. Though his work was not as serious as Monroe’s, they are still similar in the way that they are executed. They both used experiences and passions to drive the making of their very different maps.

I think in our class we can really use the enthusiasm Monroe and Gold show while working on our projects. They both were willing to try things they hadn’t before to make a better map, and we can use that no matter what we might be working on. Whether it is as serious as self-exams or as leisurely as restaurants.