No doubt that, on application, overkill obscures, like notifying someone that a Nigerian with a bomb is coming, but burying it in a big info dump.

A map, or any geo-spatial product should be composed for the user's purpose--not too much or too little. But the other layers still have meaning and purpose---just not to you then.

If somebody back home has a reasonably good hydro-geology assessment for well-drilling purposes that shows where and how much volume is appropriate in a certain aquifer, or soil types are a relevant condition for building or planting, it is the first level.

If I was on a military patrol, I might only be interested in the immediate situational items, but you might want more if it is for civ/mil.

On a patrol basis, it might also be nice to know for the first two or three rounds, where the routes are between market locations, which may also be used for poppies. And which is a public school versus a madrassa. Later, you might not want that on your map, but it still might be relevant (example: when are the routes used, by whom? Where do they connect to? Is the route abandoned, intermittent, only used at night?)

How is that kind of information compiled, made available, fed? Is there broader meaning in the aggregate of a lot of little pieces sometimes?

Steve