I learned that a friend of mine is from the “Pole of Inaccessibility” for the US, and thus also learned what a pole of inaccessibility is:
with respect to a geographical criterion of inaccessibility marks a location that is the most challenging to reach according to that criterion. Often it refers to the most distant point from the coastline, implying a maximum degree of continentality or oceanity. In these cases, pole of inaccessibility can be defined as the center of the largest circle that can be drawn within an area of interest without encountering a coast. Where a coast is imprecisely defined, the pole will be similarly imprecise. (Wikipedia)
The continental US pole of inaccessibility is: “on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwest South Dakota about 11 km (7 mi) north of the town of Allen, located 1,650 km (1,030 mi) from the nearest coastline at 43.36°N 101.97°W” (Wikipedia).
I find this interesting and resonant for how we think about how we do digital/public scholarship/intellectual work. We often know our core communities, and are often surprised by our many affiliated and adjacent communities, and we often think about our limits and obstacles that prevent connection. I don’t often think about, when connected, what does it mean to be the least accessible or to have the most remote or difficult connection. The term and concept are useful to my thinking about networks, connections, connectivity, and amplitude for how we connect and strengthen connections.