Geography Is Not Dead

Adrianna Davies
ad497714@ohio.edu

Photo via KRCB

On November 16th, Eric Weiner, an award-winning and best-selling author and journalist, made a stop to Baker Ballroom at Ohio University to discuss how technology is not ruining geography and that geography and your place in the world does matter. Weiner has explored the world to find the "happy places" and how these places can change a person's life for the better. He described himself as a "place person" and had the desire to explore from the age 5, when he ran away from home. He had an overwhelming sense to explore what was around the corner. Weiner believes that we all should "travel in order to explore".

In fact, geography matters now more than ever. It enriches the lives of everyone and it's important to know and be educated on where things are in the world. Weiner defined geography not as memorizing the states and their capitals, it's about being a possibilian. A possibilian is a person who loves to explore and heads into any and every situation with an open mind. (Read more on Possibilianism here) They view the world as a laboratory of ideas and places that have yet to be explored. 

Weiner used an example to describe the different cultures of the worlds. Culture is the sea we swim in. If a goldfish is in a bowl for it's whole life, it doesn't learn anything outside of the bowl. Exploring the world is being fluid and able to leave that bowl. We need to step outside of our comfort zone and experience the cultures across the world, proving geography is not dead.

When Eric began his journalistic career, he found himself often depressed, reporting on the war, disease and famine, all things that were bringing him down. He brought up the idea to NPR that he wanted to travel the world and look for the "happy places", but that was shot down because that's not what journalists do.

Weiner described the different types of places:

1) Home 

2) Work or School

3) Third places are a neutral place. This is a place were people of different backgrounds can come and hangout. There are regulars to this place and it's often free, accessible and has a strong focus on conversation. Some examples include - the library, a coffee shop, the mall, etc.

4) Thin places is a topic that pre-dates Christianity. It's the distance between heaven and Earth which is consider to be less than 3 feet away. This place isn't viewed as fun or beautiful, although it can be. It's a place that will relax or transform you. It's where you become your essential self.

5) There is no such thing as boring places - only a lack of imagination and boring travelers.

Lastly, there are smart places.

Smart places are were geniuses tend to come from. 

Geniuses can be born with their intelligence. Some geniuses are made and some grow. Places that produce a certain amount of geniuses in a certain time are called genius clusters. A city is a prime example of how to make a genius. They offer interaction opportunities.

Many geniuses have borrowed ideas from other people and perfected it. Some have come with "invisible helpers" that create a spark in geniuses. Geniuses come with a powerful creativity aspect. (Weiner makes a note that Stanford University conducted a study that people that walk more have more creativity - read here.) Often, immigrants have more success because of moving to a different place with different ideas. 

Weiner left us with this advice. "Travel without expectations, leave space for ignorance (the good kind) and let yourself be surprised. Be open to new experiences and don't stay in the five star hotel because odds are you won't know what it's really like there." Geography is VERY MUCH alive!