The Geography of the Seven Deadly Sins


Geographers from Kansas State University have plotted the seven deadly sins of the nation. They began with Nevada only, but expanded the project for the entire United States, using statistics for each county on crime, income, STDs, and other data. They call it "a precision party trick — rigorous mapping of ridiculous data." The results show that the area I live in (Southeast Kentucky) is only high in gluttony, which is calculated by the number of fast-food restaurants per capita. At the link, you can pull up a map of each of the seven deadly sins. In this map of the lust "hot spots", red is above average, while blue is below average. Link -via Metafilter

The higher concentration of red is due to STDs which disproportionately affect minorities. Indian reservations and blacks in the South are probably what the red signifies not necessarily the "Bible belt".
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Funny you should point the finger at minorities, J. The data seems to suggest you may be right about reservations as hot spots, but I'm looking at areas in the north and west with large black populations and I don't notice any similar effect, outside of the Detroit area. I'm betting it's a combination of poverty and resistance to sex education that will actually provide a verifiable explanation for the hot spots.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Timmy - Nobody said being poor and ignorant was a sin. Doug said it made you more likely to get STDs. Also, Jesus was poor, but he wasn't ignorant. Or at least, that's not how I read the bible.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
That one blue area nearly exactly matches the Appalachian mountain range.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/Appalachian_region_of_United_States.gif

That is kinda interesting. Anyone want to speculate as to why?
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Doug in PA response:

Merely pointing to the flaw in the methodology. STDs are more a condition of poverty than being oversexed. The previous poster jumped to a conclusion about the "Bible Belt" I felt my post balanced him out.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I know why. I grew up in Appalachia and it is really one of the most "old-timey" Christian areas of the country. The notion that the "Bible Belt" somehow increases the amount of STDs sure as hell doesn't explain Utah. It is a scientific and demographic fact, that can be looked up using CDC data, that some minorities have greater amounts of STDs. We can resist pointing out the 1000 pound elephant in the corner all we want, but he is still taking up a damn lot of space.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I agree. However, look at South Dakota! I've been there. LOTS of mullets, big hair, Bon Jovi CDs, Camaros with one orange fender. Those people are very isolated and apparently giving each other a LOT of gifts.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/mapGallery/images/black.jpg
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/mapGallery/images/americanindian.jpg

Amazingly enough, this "Lust" map doesn't correlate to religion, it correlates almost perfectly to race.

The only hotspot that isn't explained by looking at Black or American Indian concentrations is the eastern NM/western TX hotspot.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 21 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"The Geography of the Seven Deadly Sins"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More