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We've already had a look at the money system and how it isn't what you think - which of our other rarely questioned social institutions needs a new perspective? Well there's the ridiculous Gregorian calendar that we all use of course, but we'll leave that for another time.
Today it's maps. We've all seen maps of the world, right? We never question those. Most of the world maps we see are based on the Mercator projection, named after Gerhardus Mercator who designed it in 1569 to aid sea travel by assisting sailors in drawing straight lines from port to port.
The Mercator map is great, it's just wrong. This got a run on The West Wing (one of my favourite shows), and while the organisation represented in the following video is fictitious, the information is not. Watch below, it'll blow your mind...
The Peters Projection is real, you can read more about it here or get a copy of the map here.
What have maps got to do with social equality? Here's a follow up scene from the same West Wing episode:
Of course the only map of the world without distortion is a globe, but if something as innocent as a map can have bias and subtext, well that sure makes you think, and thinking is a Good Thing™ 
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Luke 06.23.08 at 11:36 pm
I didn't know Ms Perky the Guidance Counsellor from 10 Things was in West Wing. LOVE IT!
Moving on, what an unusual topic, but such an important one. I wonder if the map could be drawn sideways. And who says perception isn't almost everything.