This post intends to explore an aspect of the concept of 'Geosophy' which J.W. Watson (Image Geography: The Myth of America in the American Scene) regards as not so much the relief of the land .... as topography of the mind. The geography lies in the dream of its people: it is what they see in it, and want from it, and make from it. This myth making can allow people to devise a landscape that fits with their notions of some aspect of American life.
Does this map resonant with Wreford Watson's notion of the geography of the Whole Man - the geography of the best that is in American idealism?
Had the author been inspired by some of the exhortations of Benjamin Franklin to live temperately, study hard and do public good?
Between them, the States seem to offer an aspirational target for health, religion, transport, environmental protection, nutrition, education and civic duties.
It is not easy to locate any note of possible irony in any particular comment. The map seems to 'glow' with the author's data selection of the good things of life - including breast fed babies in Oregon, best sunshine in New Mexico, excellent governance in Nebraska and good reading habits in Ohio.
Without full reference and research information, it is obviously not possible to know the source of the data or whether the map is merely a 'spoof'. And it is this last fact that allows us to suggest that the myth making and imaging of the American Dream is not dead but alive and well in a State near you!
It is not easy to locate any note of possible irony in any particular comment. The map seems to 'glow' with the author's data selection of the good things of life - including breast fed babies in Oregon, best sunshine in New Mexico, excellent governance in Nebraska and good reading habits in Ohio.
Without full reference and research information, it is obviously not possible to know the source of the data or whether the map is merely a 'spoof'. And it is this last fact that allows us to suggest that the myth making and imaging of the American Dream is not dead but alive and well in a State near you!
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