Tuesday, February 18, 2014

How North ended up on top...

How North ended up on top...  For most of us, “north up” map orientation seems natural and obvious – but it's actually a purely cultural phenomenon.

It reminds me a bit of early Arctic explorer's astonishment when Eskimos were given photos – they never bothered to turn them right side up.  To them, any viewing angle worked just fine.  Research discovered that our inclination to turn photos right side up was correlated with reading – as soon as Eskimos learned how to read, they turned their photos right side up too!

No comments:

Post a Comment