In response to what CJ says

What C.J. had said on the West Wing when she saw the Gall-Peters projection of the world was based on what she had learnt in her life.

The Gall-Peters map was presented in the 1967 when Mercator’s projection of the world was dominant. It would have taken considerable years before the former map was adopted in US public education. C.J. had been used Mercator’s world map from the start of her education to when she had a job so she was surprised to see the Galls-Peters map. This is similar to a paradigm shift in history when a dominant concept, in this case the projection of the world, changes. Other paradigm shifts include the introduction of germ theory.

Overall, this reflects the old colonial European influence on the world. Mercator’s projection had been introduced in 1569 and made generations like C.J. become so ‘used to’ it that they almost reject any other views.