For example, why is the world map not upside down?
It’s a legitimate question. I haven’t bothered to look up the answer. Do any of you know why?
Have You Ever Thought to Yourself Why North is North and South is South?
Posts
Total:
44
-->
@Reece101
Quite simply....Words, and the allocation thereof....North, South, Dave, Britney..... And the human need/ability to acquire, store, communicate and repeat recognisable data.
And the World map could be any way up, but if it includes text, it is obviously easier to read a certain way....Also, human necessity (see above).
-->
@zedvictor4
Is there a specific reason why we view/picture Earth’s geography a certain way? Or it just happenstance?
East and west has nothing to do with how we view Earth due to the magnetic field.
Why don’t we view and draw Earth’s geography upside down?
-->
@Reece101
Once upon a time, humans had no idea what the Earth looked like. Some even thought it was a flat disc.
Nonetheless, humans developed knowledge and mapped the Earth, and eventually acquired the ability and knowledge to be able to view the Earth form space.
Thus confirming the appearance of Planet Earth.
Throughout the process and accumulation of knowledge humankind labelled and recorded what it discovered.
In spatial terms upside down is the right way up...In human terms we chose one or the other.....Maybe relative to the position of knowledge.
-->
@zedvictor4
In spatial terms upside down is the right way up...
In spatial terms there’s no right or wrong way.
In human terms we chose one or the other
No, we chose one as far as I know.
Maybe relative to the position of knowledge.
What is that knowledge? That is the question.
-->
@Reece101
I don't know. But the ancient egyptians had the opposite.
-->
@janesix
Thanks for the knowledge.
-->
@Reece101
The polarity of Earth flips about every 500,000 years, but the last time it did was about 800,000 years ago, so we’re overdue. However, it is so uncatastropbhic, we may not notice but that our compasses will not agree with their marking. The physical orientation as represented by world maps will not shift. We don’t shift upside down.
-->
@fauxlaw
I know about Earth’s magnetic polarity flips.
And yes, I know how we picture the world will not change.
-->
@Reece101
You asked...
-->
@fauxlaw
I essentially asked about the origin of why we view/picture Earth’s geography a certain way. With north and south polarities, it could have been how we view it today, or it could have been upside down. Janesix taught me ancient Egyptians did their maps upside down.
-->
@Reece101
Consistency with the earliest European maps is why, but that is actually a very good question.
Chinese maps were oriented in the same way, although Islamic-civilization maps as early as the 12th century AD were inverted.
Here's a neat BBC article explaining the phenomenon.
-->
@Reece101
ancient Egyptians did their maps upside down.
Yes, because they viewed their empire as "Upper Egypt" and "Lower Egypt," relative to the elevation change of the Nile, flowing south to north. But, they did not use cardinal compass points. We're not certain, even now, but it is thought they positioned themselves, maps, and architecture by careful study of the progression of equinox and solstice through the alternating seasons of the year.
-->
@fauxlaw
I think you’re right.
-->
@Reece101
In spatial terms, no right or wrong way was what I was implying.
In human terms we chose one as far as I know....That was also my implication
And pertinent knowledge and the development thereof, was generally located in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
And ancient Egyptians did all sorts of fascinating stuff, as did other ancient civilisations....Though they were all eventually out-evolved by cleverer civilisations.
Nonetheless, if we had thought the other way, the Earth and maps would still have been the same, but labelled the opposite way.
-->
@Reece101
The people who made the compass - ya' know them? they arbitrarily decided - cause ta know that geographic north and the geomagnetic pole north are in opposite directions right? Like ferromagnetic stuff will point to the south pole, not the north pole of a magnet - if you don't believe me test it out with a magnet.
-->
@Theweakeredge
Magnetic compasses explains maps of the past 2000 years. Now what’s the etymology of north? Arbitrarily deciding the magnetic north and south, I think not.
-->
@Reece101
dude - I was talking about geographic north - if you wanted to know why a magnet has specific poles why don't you just ask? So- magnetic fields emit off of magnets in a way that never cross, while also looping to both sides - so it forms a kinda circle around the magnet - you see- this current comes out of the north pole and into the south pole (thats the very very basic explanation) - and that's why south is called south specifically and north is called north specifically. Now - why they decided for south to be the bit that ferromangetic things are attracted to? You got me - that's like asking why they called desks desks, they just did.
-->
@Theweakeredge
If you have nothing to add, don’t post.
-->
@Reece101
What're talking about? I did add somethin' - just cuz its not what you want doesn't mean its nothing.
-->
@ebuc
@Theweakeredge
Ebuc, I have someone here whom you might want to talk to about ego.
Waterman Projection Map LINK most accurate 2D map
...." I realized I could make a back-to-back circular map: like an old-fashioned phonograph record. One side of the map shows the Northern Hemisphere, the other side shows the Southern Hemisphere, with the equator running around the edge. It has no boundary cuts and the correct topology of a sphere. One simply “squashes” the sphere flat.
We then had to find the best formula for plotting the features on each side, one that would minimize the Goldberg-Gott error score. The answer is one in which the North Pole appears at the center of the north side of the phonograph record, with longitude lines spreading out equally from it where the scale on each longitude line is uniform, and similarly for the south side. Distances between cities are measured by simply stretching a string between them; if they are in opposite hemispheres, the string simply stretches across the equator at the edge of the map.
A disadvantage of the new map is that you can’t see all of the Earth’s surface at once, but remember this is true for the globe as well. Our map is actually more like the globe in this respect than other flat maps. To see all of the globe, you have to rotate it; to see all of the new map, you simply have to flip it over, as you can see below
This double-sided map has a Goldberg-Gott error score of only 0.881 versus 4.563 for the Winkel tripel. It beats the Winkel tripel in each of the six error terms! It has zero boundary cut error since continents and oceans are continuous over the circular edge. It has a remarkable property no single-sided flat map possesses: distance errors between pairs of points (such as cities) are bounded, being off by only at most plus or minus 22.2 percent. In the Mercator and Winkel tripel projections, distance errors blow up as one approaches the poles and boundary cuts."....
Fullers Dymaxion Map LINK aka one-island-world
I have a numerical toroidal map in mind and all tori unfold as a 2D rectangle.
There exist only three cosmic directions, In, Out and Around.
The has not magnitude nor direction ergo it is nowhere, yet humans and more so ma, sees its every it core essence of being.
-->
@Reece101
Dude - I explained about magnets to you - now please explain how I "added nothing" - cause right now you just seem like a pedantic jerk.
-->
@Theweakeredge
Was that explanation called for? No it wasn’t.
if you wanted to know why a magnet has specific poles why don't you just ask?
If I’m a pedantic jerk, you’re a tangential jerk.
-->
@Theweakeredge
geographic north and the geomagnetic pole north are in opposite directions right?
Nope. You suggest the opposing condition is constant. It is not. Geographic north does not change, but magnetic north does.
-->
@fauxlaw
Eh.... it does, but they are still roughly opposite - yes they do change (but do understand I was talking simplistically and not comprehensively) but they are typically fairly opposite.
-->
@Theweakeredge
That's a strained gnat's argument of distinction, but argues for the exception rather than the typical, which has been, for the last 700k years, that both geographic and magnetic north have aligned, now, by magnetic polarity, overdue by 200k years to change.
-->
@Reece101
Why don’t we view and draw Earth’s geography upside down?
If we did so then you would still be able to ask this question.
-->
@Discipulus_Didicit
If we did so then you would still be able to ask this question.
Yes. There are causes for everything.
-->
@fauxlaw
When it comes to magnets, opposites attract. This fact means that the north end of a magnet in a compass is attracted to the south magnetic pole, which lies close to the geographic north pole. Magnetic field lines outside of a permanent magnet always run from the north magnetic pole to the south magnetic pole.