The Vine

Inspired by Saul Steinberg’s famous 1976 New Yorker cover, Hugh MacLeod offers this astute commentary and cartoon (click to enlarge) on parochialism.

“It’s often tempting to mistake the tiny little world you currently live in, with the big ol’ world you actually live in. We all do it to some extent, our brains are simply not big enough to take in everything this planet has to offer. I’ve lived in many worlds that are just as myopic as any in Silicon Valley. The New York advertising world. The UK wine trade. The blogosphere. You probably have, too.

My pet name for this human phenomenon is ‘Microcosmosis’. Confusing one’s own little patch of ground with reality etc.”