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This map is not upside down

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Re: This map is not upside down

#51

Post by throw-the-towel »

sivers wrote: post #24

It's also a wonderful metaphor for how the opposite can also be true. Japanese addresses that name the blocks, not the streets: https://sive.rs/jadr West African music that uses the "1" as the end of the phrase instead of the start: https://sive.rs/fela “Whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true”, Joan Robinson https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_weird_or_just_differe...

Also in the address department: Europe numbers houses roughly sequentially along the whole street, while the Americas (generally) assign house numbers based on the distance to the beginning of the block.

And BTW, in the old towns of Sweden and Finland blocks do have names!

Re: This map is not upside down

#52

Post by InitialLastName »

vman81 wrote: post #21
davidczech wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd bet a lot of this behavior is heavily correlated with how we generally read top to bottom, which is in itself, probably an arbitrary decision made by ancient text writers.

Writing top to bottom, and even left to right has/had advantages for mostly right-handed writers to avoid moving your hand over and smudging previously written text.

Writing top-to-bottom has advantages for all writers whose eyes are above their hands. The bit of the writing surface that's blocked by your hand hasn't been written on yet.

Re: This map is not upside down

#53

Post by globular-toast »

Arguments about map projections are tiring. If you want to understand the whole planet, use a globe. Most people use maps via screens these days and there is no problem with projection or orientation. Most apps will let you orient the map how you like or according to your current bearing etc. and use a local projection. Can't we just stop using these whole world projections completely?

Re: This map is not upside down

#54

Post by schoen »

hyperhello wrote: post #2

> Psychologically, we tend to view things nearer the top as ‘good’ and those lower as ‘bad.’ This, of course, is the point of the article. It was so predictable that it made me wonder: who is telling me that top is good and lower is bad? The articles themselves.

At one point a character in Eco's Foucault's Pendulum says "archetypes don't exist, the body exists" and then gives some sexual and reproductive examples, followed by

> And high is better than low, because if you have your head down, the blood goes to your brain, because feet stink and hair doesn’t stink as much, because it’s better to climb a tree and pick fruit than end up underground, food for worms, and because you rarely hurt yourself hitting something above—you really have to be in an attic—while you often hurt yourself falling. That’s why up is angelic and down devilish.

You could also argue that because of gravity and potential energy, up is usually the result of purposive action and effort, while down is often the result of accident or neglect ("you often hurt yourself falling"). That potential energy (and wide-open space) can also be used for maneuvering, so if two people or other creatures are fighting, one who is higher is generally at an advantage compared to one who is lower or lying on the ground. The lower party has less energy available to direct toward the opponent, and usually less room to move, being more constrained by the presence of the ground.

Re: This map is not upside down

#56

Post by bluGill »

throw-the-towel wrote: post #51
sivers wrote: post #24

It's also a wonderful metaphor for how the opposite can also be true. Japanese addresses that name the blocks, not the streets: https://sive.rs/jadr West African music that uses the "1" as the end of the phrase instead of the start: https://sive.rs/fela “Whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true”, Joan Robinson https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_weird_or_just_differe...

Also in the address department: Europe numbers houses roughly sequentially along the whole street, while the Americas (generally) assign house numbers based on the distance to the beginning of the block. And BTW, in the old towns of Sweden and Finland blocks do have names!

Sometimes. I know of places in america where numbers are sequential. I know of other places where they a sequential but increase by five.

Re: This map is not upside down

#57

Post by throw-the-towel »

bluGill wrote: post #56
throw-the-towel wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also in the address department: Europe numbers houses roughly sequentially along the whole street, while the Americas (generally) assign house numbers based on the distance to the beginning of the block. And BTW, in the old towns of Sweden and Finland blocks do have names!

Sometimes. I know of places in america where numbers are sequential. I know of other places where they a sequential but increase by five.

Could you share some examples please? I'm not doubting you, just want to look at some maps.

Re: This map is not upside down

#58

Post by schoen »

legitster wrote: post #40

Also, I was quite old by the time I learned that "Oriental" literally just means "direction of the sunrise". So to "orient" would specifically mean looking East. Before compasses all indicated North, "the North" was associated with cold and evil, the south was associated with warmth and prosperity, and the East was considered neutral when establishing bearings.

> Also, I was quite old by the time I learned that "Oriental" literally just means "direction of the sunrise".

Even more literally "of the rising" ("occidental" meaning "of the falling"). The sun is of course implied here, but the Latin verbs orior and occido more generally indicate rising and falling motions of anyone and anything.

Re: This map is not upside down

#59

Post by InitialLastName »

soanvig wrote: post #37
uniposterz wrote: post #3

Is there a way to purchase this map for printing so Robert Simmon gets compensated?

Print regular map in a design you like and hang it upside down. It's literally that. Or if you want to be strict you can use "flip" function in image editing tool. You can compensate me for saving your money

To be fair, it's nice to have the typography rearranged to work upside down.

Re: This map is not upside down

#60

Post by latexr »

jordigh wrote: post #10

Thought of this old Mafalda strip, haha. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F...

Translation:

Panel 1: But Libertad¹, you’re hanging it upside down.

Panel 2: Upside down in relation to what? Earth is in space, and space has neither up nor down.

Panel 3: Saying the northern hemisphere is up is a psychological trick from those at the top, so that those who believe we are below continue to believe we are at the bottom. And the worst part is that if we keep believing we’re below, we’ll continue to be. But starting today, that’s over!

Panel 4, top: Where were you, Mafalda?

Panel 4, bottom: I don’t know, but something just came to an end.

¹ It’s her name: https://mafalda.fandom.com/es/wiki/Libertad

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