My neighbor keeps a map of Chatham County from 1923 on his wall. Half the roads don't exist anymore. Half the ones we drive on now aren't on it. He says the map is more accurate than the GPS. "It shows where things should be," he says. Borges would have understood.

In the famous story, the Empire's cartographers create a map so detailed it covers the entire territory — a perfect, useless replica of reality. My neighbor's map does the opposite: it shows a world that no longer exists but that he insists is more real than the one outside his window.

Both approaches have their merits. Both are completely mad.