North is up and South is down

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by S.A.M., Jul 8, 2007.

  1. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Who decided the North pole is "up" and the South Pole is "down"; what is the history behind this convention?
     
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  3. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Hmmm... I always thought the sky was up and the ground was down. Silly me. I'll stand on my head.
     
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  5. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    If you're in Australia, you'll be the right way up.

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  7. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Did you know that in General Relativity, we are all floating freely in space and the Earth is accelerating up towards us?

    Can you picture two people standing on opposite sides of the Earth with the above in mind?
     
  8. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    What an interesting notion. So is our attraction to the earth a result of these accelerating forces upward toward us?
     
  9. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Yup. Ever jump off a high diving board or on a trampoline. Do you "feel" any forces on you while in the air?

    Better yet, have you ever sky dived?
     
  10. Oli Heute der Enteteich... Registered Senior Member

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    In that particular case there is no attraction to the Earth, it's just accelerating towards us faster than we can get away.

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  11. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Heh, sounds fascinating; unfortunately while diving from a 3 meter diving board a long time ago, I discovered that I suffer from unilateral vestibular system disturbances. This was aside from the fact that I lost my bikini top and sank like a stone so that I had to be rescued by a guy I had a semi-crush on (oooooh the humiliation), but it sort of soured me from sky diving and the like.

    In this type of theory, what is the explanation for the gravitational attraction towards other objects (like moon, sun and whatever comes close enough to feel the pull)?
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2007
  12. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    I wish I'd paid more attention in physics class.

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  13. Oli Heute der Enteteich... Registered Senior Member

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    Looks like you had your mind on other things Saiyyadati...

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  14. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Nah that was after physics class. Be serious Oli, I'm trying to make up for lost time here.
     
  15. Oli Heute der Enteteich... Registered Senior Member

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    From: http://uplink.space.com/showflat.ph...r=48689&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=9&o=0&fpart=

    And http://www.diversophy.com/maps/whatsupsouth.pdf

    has some more information, including the interesting (and previously-unconsidered-by-me) fact the word orientation comes from "oriens" = East...
    Serious?
    Moi?
    You should know better than that.
     
  16. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Thats interesting. So it was during the renaissance?

    Hmm and when we say North that is at the tip of the imaginary axis ?

    Or not? (should've paid attention in geography too)
     
  17. Oli Heute der Enteteich... Registered Senior Member

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    Well, since the Earth spins on a North-South axis it would only be logical to choose one or the other.
    And most of civilisation (civilisation being defined as those nations doing the defining

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    ) was North of the equator... they decided they were "up".
     
  18. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    But thats just convention isn't it? So we have a start and an end.

    So does gravity work on air (gases) the same as it works on solids and liquids?
     
  19. Oli Heute der Enteteich... Registered Senior Member

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    Of course it's just a convention.
    There's no "reason" for it other than that everyone uses the same convention.
    (Except my mother, who can never understand why somewhere we've just come from (if it's to the North), is marked as being ahead of us on a tourist map...

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    )

    Yes.
     
  20. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    Cartographers did, Sam, ...the map makers.

    Something had to be at the "top" of the map, didn't it?

    And let's not forget that compasses point to the north, too.

    Baron Max
     
  21. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Sure but if you're facing South, north is down on a compass, yes?

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  22. Sock puppet path GRRRRRRRRRRRR Valued Senior Member

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    What are you babbling on about?

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  23. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Yowzaa!

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