When I was about 9 years old, I saw my first TV show about the ancient South American land drawings, of people and animals, that could only be appreciated from above, like from a plane or space ship. The immediate (incorrect) conclusion was that that was exactly what it was all about. Art for aliens.
Humans have been making maps since before we could do anything but poke food, with sticks, to kill it.
Have a child make you a map, then think about the only way you could see what the child drew....
From above. I'll be darned. Some humans are smart. As soon as someone is old enough to imagine something that is not there, they can draw you a map of something, as seen from above. Even though, there is nowhere on earth you can go and see what the map shows!
We have a process, at work, that takes days to perform. At any step, if you are off, by even the slightest bit, you ruin the whole batch and it cannot be saved. It's three days of watching this kettle and changing temperatures at the right time and adding liquids, incredibly slowly and changing pH at just the right speed.
The finished product is super cool and we are the only people in the world, that make it. What I want to know is who figured this out, in the first place? I think someone knew the end result and put it all together in their head first. It's amazing, every time we do it.
Some people are smart. Some people are off the scale.
