I found this part of C Thi Nguyen’s book The Score extra interesting because of the reference to sound. He’s talking about maps as an example of how data collection is deliberately not all-inclusive.
Maps work by leaving out what’s irrelevant. Or to be more precise:
Maps work by throwing out whatever the person in control of the map thinks is irrelevant.
Denis Wood, in The Power of Maps, says that every map represents a set of choices about what to record and what to conceal. Those choices come out of the interests of the mapmaker and are then embedded into the map. When ordinary people use the map, those interests leak out into the users-quietly, based on what the map shows them and what it doesn’t.
Take a look at a standard map that you might find in an atlas, or one of the standard settings on Google Maps. What you’re likely to see are roads and road names; the boundaries between states and countries; major nature features like mountains, rivers, and lakes; and elevation lines for topology. The map clearly highlights a particular set of information. For many of us, as we’re driving from spot to spot, it gives exactly the information we need.
But there is so much information that is not usually mapped, though it easily could be. For example, asks Wood, why don’t we usually map sound quality? It would take some effort to measure the average decibel level at various points in a city, but it also takes effort to survey precise elevation and the exact curvature of every road. Yet we rarely find such maps.
The reason, says Wood, is that most mapmakers-and the institutions behind them-don’t care about sound quality.
Every map serves someone’s purpose.
The standard road map serves the interests of travelers, especially drivers, to get to where they’re going.
The standard property map serves the interests of those who trade in land or tax its owners. A map that conveys information about sound quality, or public access to natural beauty, would serve the people who wanted to have a pleasant life in a city. Each map serves an interest, which is revealed in what the map chooses to call our attention to and what it chooses to ignore.