The Mountains of Kong
By Peter LloydFor almost a century—from the end of the 18th to nearly the end of the 19th—maps of western Africa would have led you to believe that you would encounter a range of mountains called the Mountains of Kong. They were mapped through what is now eastern Guinea and along the northern border of Côte de’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo. The story of how this happened illustrates an important principle of creativity.
We all make mistakes but not many as mountainous as English cartographer James Rennell’s. His mistake was intentional, however. He added the Mountains of Kong to support his theory regarding the course of the Niger River. They had to be there in his estimation. And so he put them there. You can see them, below, in a map from 1850. It took a visit to the area by French explorer Louis Gustave Binger and his word that the range did not exist to gradually remove the mountains from maps.
The good thing about science—mistakes get corrected. The truth eventually wins out. But the lesson for creative people—question everything. Inventions and innovation certainly depend on reality. But even if you’re creating a fictional character for a novel or a fantasy figure for a painting, they will succeed or fail as art depending on their relation to reality. Which is why truth remains an asset in imaginary work as well.
Challenging authority comes natural to some of us, but it can help all of us. Especially creative people who want to break new ground. Like breaking eggs to make an omelette, you have to break with authority to make more than incremental change. And now that you know just how wrong some authorities can be, it just makes good sense to challenge them.
If you’re not convinced, keep in mind that although most maps of Africa got in line, the Mountains of Kong appeared Goode’s World Atlas in 1995. But I can’t seem to find them on Google Earth.
See also:
- On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks by Simon Garfield
- Interview with Simon Garfield on The Diane Rehm Show
- Everything You Know Is Wrong by Paul Kirchner
Peter Lloyd has helped major consumer-package-goods companies generate new-product ideas for more than a decade. Among his favorites contributions to consumers—Heinz Green Ketchup.
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