Weird questions in the middle of the night: Part II

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  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    edited April 9
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Purple Fairy Tree
    Purple Fairy Tree Posts: 2,055
    Morning @brianlux, I'm finding this thread absolutely fascinating!!  Did you ever get the rain? We got the sunshine and it was great.  I hope you are keeping well.  Lots of love xxx
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    Purple Fairy Tree said:
    Morning @brianlux, I'm finding this thread absolutely fascinating!!  Did you ever get the rain? We got the sunshine and it was great.  I hope you are keeping well.  Lots of love xxx

    Hi there, Purple Fairy Tree.  I'm glad you're enjoying the thread. :smile:   
    Honestly, these odd questions really do pop into my head at all hours, lol! 
    Yes, we did get some fairly good rain.  We're at about 90% of normal for the "rain year" that ends on the last day of June.  I'm not sure we'll make "normal" this year- in fact, the next 10 days look to be dry and a bit warmer than normal for this time of year- but overall, we've had a decent winter.  And who knows, we still could get rain later in the month or even in May before the long hot dry season is upon us.  "Sunny California," as they like to say.
    I'm glad you got some nice sunshine! 
    Love back at you!

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • crookedcross
    crookedcross Right Near Da Beach, Boiii Posts: 1,546
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    We're probably sideways. Just rolling around the Sun and the Sun just rolling around Sagittarius A. Someone just accidentally hit this before emailing the first scrolls of the Milky Way.


  • mookieblalock
    mookieblalock Posts: 3,577
    dankind said:
    A friend of mine played bass in an ’80s Boston band named Rods & Cones.
    I was thinking the other day, you don’t see enough meat in cones.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    crookedcross said:
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    We're probably sideways. Just rolling around the Sun and the Sun just rolling around Sagittarius A. Someone just accidentally hit this before emailing the first scrolls of the Milky Way.



    Bingo!, that's gotta be it!  :lol:
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Loujoe
    Loujoe Posts: 11,818
    I hope not^^
    When I hit the hay I'm so tired my questions don't get a chance to surface. Wild dreams lately though.
    If I dream up the answers to your questions I'll be back.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    Loujoe said:
    I hope not^^
    When I hit the hay I'm so tired my questions don't get a chance to surface. Wild dreams lately though.
    If I dream up the answers to your questions I'll be back.

    Dreams often have the best weird answers!

    Someone elsewhere asked some questions that prompted me to re-visit this thread.  She asked, "Why are lawn mowers sometimes so incredibly loud while grass growing is one of the quietest things imaginable?"

    My answer was, "Actually, years ago I had this Sears hand-pushed manual lawn mower that made this wonderful gentle sound. But then I realized that the sound I was hearing was actually thousands of blades of grass screaming, proving that grass is, indeed, a very quiet species."



    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Jason P
    Jason P Posts: 19,324
    When did society take garage doors opener's for granted?  You used to have to be a Lord with peasants and lackeys to open a garage door.  I don't even need a wizard or warlock anymore.  Just some 120V power and a magical button. 

    It would be nice to be able to lash someone when it doesn't work ... oh well
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • Purple Fairy Tree
    Purple Fairy Tree Posts: 2,055
    edited April 9
    brianlux said:
    Loujoe said:
    I hope not^^
    When I hit the hay I'm so tired my questions don't get a chance to surface. Wild dreams lately though.
    If I dream up the answers to your questions I'll be back.

    Dreams often have the best weird answers!

    Someone elsewhere asked some questions that prompted me to re-visit this thread.  She asked, "Why are lawn mowers sometimes so incredibly loud while grass growing is one of the quietest things imaginable?"

    My answer was, "Actually, years ago I had this Sears hand-pushed manual lawn mower that made this wonderful gentle sound. But then I realized that the sound I was hearing was actually thousands of blades of grass screaming, proving that grass is, indeed, a very quiet species."


    What you said reminds me of this...


    Like tiny blades of grass, hair also seems to grow quietly.
    Post edited by Purple Fairy Tree on
  • eeriepadave
    eeriepadave West Chester, PA Posts: 43,326
    Why is it called taking a dump and not leaving a dump? After all You're not really taking it anywhere.
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  • Loujoe
    Loujoe Posts: 11,818
    Drive on parkway. Park on a driveway?
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    Jason P said:
    When did society take garage doors opener's for granted?  You used to have to be a Lord with peasants and lackeys to open a garage door.  I don't even need a wizard or warlock anymore.  Just some 120V power and a magical button. 

    It would be nice to be able to lash someone when it doesn't work ... oh well
    Haha!  The only lashing that happens around this place is the cat and her tongue on my arm once in a while.  Nothing like a little sandpaper on one's arm!
    Loujoe said:
    Drive on parkway. Park on a driveway?

    Somethings wrong there, haha!
    Purple Fairy Tree said:
    brianlux said:
    Loujoe said:
    I hope not^^
    When I hit the hay I'm so tired my questions don't get a chance to surface. Wild dreams lately though.
    If I dream up the answers to your questions I'll be back.

    Dreams often have the best weird answers!

    Someone elsewhere asked some questions that prompted me to re-visit this thread.  She asked, "Why are lawn mowers sometimes so incredibly loud while grass growing is one of the quietest things imaginable?"

    My answer was, "Actually, years ago I had this Sears hand-pushed manual lawn mower that made this wonderful gentle sound. But then I realized that the sound I was hearing was actually thousands of blades of grass screaming, proving that grass is, indeed, a very quiet species."


    What you said reminds me of this...


    Like tiny blades of grass, hair also seems to grow quietly.
    I like the idea of tiny grass dreaming SOOO much better than screaming.  A much more pleasant thought! 
    eeriepadave said:
    Why is it called taking a dump and not leaving a dump? After all You're not really taking it anywhere.

    LOL, really!
    Reminds me of Kilgore Trout and stealing mirrors.  He believed mirrors were a a leak into another universe, and so when anyone would say, "I'm going to go take a leak,"  he thought they meant they were going to go steal a mirror.  Strange man, that Trout!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • mace1229
    mace1229 Posts: 9,853
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    Thats funny because I was literally thinking this just the other day.
    If they decided south was up, it wouldn't make any difference. Do they do that near the South Pole and picture the earth's orbit in reverse compared to us? Makes sense to me. 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    Thats funny because I was literally thinking this just the other day.
    If they decided south was up, it wouldn't make any difference. Do they do that near the South Pole and picture the earth's orbit in reverse compared to us? Makes sense to me. 

    Great minds...  :plus_one:
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • markymark550
    markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,221
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    If you're asking, why is the direction called "north", the etymology of the word roughly translates as "to the left of the rising sun".

    As to why "north" = "top", I think that's arbitrary. I would venture a guess that with compasses pointing north, it's an easy reference for navigation and cartography. If you were holding a compass and a map, you'd want the north reference at the top of the paper, so over time north became synonymous with top. Again, that is just my guess.
  • mace1229
    mace1229 Posts: 9,853
    markymark550 said:
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    If you're asking, why is the direction called "north", the etymology of the word roughly translates as "to the left of the rising sun".

    As to why "north" = "top", I think that's arbitrary. I would venture a guess that with compasses pointing north, it's an easy reference for navigation and cartography. If you were holding a compass and a map, you'd want the north reference at the top of the paper, so over time north became synonymous with top. Again, that is just my guess.
    That makes sense too. But the conclusion I came up with is because the first advanced civilizations were in the northern hemisphere. So when they created the globe and world maps, they put themselves on top and oriented the solar system accordingly. My thought was if the first advanced civilizations came out of the southern hemisphere, it'd be all reversed, the globes would be "upside down" and we'd be rotating the sun in reverse from that perspective. 
    Kind of like how maps in America put USA in the center. And European maps have Europe in the center.
  • Purple Fairy Tree
    Purple Fairy Tree Posts: 2,055
    I like the idea of tiny grass dreaming SOOO much better than screaming.  A much more pleasant thought!   Yeah me too @brianlux
    eeriepadave said:
    Why is it called taking a dump and not leaving a dump? After all You're not really taking it anywhere.

    LOL, really!
    Reminds me of Kilgore Trout and stealing mirrors.  He believed mirrors were a a leak into another universe, and so when anyone would say, "I'm going to go take a leak,"  he thought they meant they were going to go steal a mirror.  Strange man, that Trout!

    Well @brianlux your Kilgore Trout mirrors story reminds me of a book by Mizuki Tsujimura called Lonely Castle in the Mirror 



  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    mace1229 said:
    markymark550 said:
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    If you're asking, why is the direction called "north", the etymology of the word roughly translates as "to the left of the rising sun".

    As to why "north" = "top", I think that's arbitrary. I would venture a guess that with compasses pointing north, it's an easy reference for navigation and cartography. If you were holding a compass and a map, you'd want the north reference at the top of the paper, so over time north became synonymous with top. Again, that is just my guess.
    That makes sense too. But the conclusion I came up with is because the first advanced civilizations were in the northern hemisphere. So when they created the globe and world maps, they put themselves on top and oriented the solar system accordingly. My thought was if the first advanced civilizations came out of the southern hemisphere, it'd be all reversed, the globes would be "upside down" and we'd be rotating the sun in reverse from that perspective. 
    Kind of like how maps in America put USA in the center. And European maps have Europe in the center.

    Right!  In which case, the world map would look something like this:
    IMG

    Purple Fairy Tree said:
    I like the idea of tiny grass dreaming SOOO much better than screaming.  A much more pleasant thought!   Yeah me too @brianlux
    eeriepadave said:
    Why is it called taking a dump and not leaving a dump? After all You're not really taking it anywhere.

    LOL, really!
    Reminds me of Kilgore Trout and stealing mirrors.  He believed mirrors were a a leak into another universe, and so when anyone would say, "I'm going to go take a leak,"  he thought they meant they were going to go steal a mirror.  Strange man, that Trout!

    Well @brianlux your Kilgore Trout mirrors story reminds me of a book by Mizuki Tsujimura called Lonely Castle in the Mirror 




    Sounds interesting.  Might have to add that to my ever lengthening list of "want to read".  Goodreads.com people generally seem to like it a lot!


    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • mace1229
    mace1229 Posts: 9,853
    markymark550 said:
    brianlux said:
    Main question: Why is one pole of the earth considered the top of the earth or "north pole" and the other is considered the bottom of the earth or "south pole"?

    Subsidiary questions: I mean, really, who decided that? OK, the earth spins around the sun, but who decided which end of the sun is up and which end is down? Does the solar system have a top and a bottom? Or the galaxy? Or the universe? What if we've had it all wrong and are looking at all that stuff upside down? Who is the wise guy who decided all that?
    COME ON! I need to know this things!  :anguished:  realmadrealmad
    :lol:

    If you're asking, why is the direction called "north", the etymology of the word roughly translates as "to the left of the rising sun".

    As to why "north" = "top", I think that's arbitrary. I would venture a guess that with compasses pointing north, it's an easy reference for navigation and cartography. If you were holding a compass and a map, you'd want the north reference at the top of the paper, so over time north became synonymous with top. Again, that is just my guess.
    This made me think of this option some more, and I realized a compass actually points both north and south. The needle is double sided.  We just paint the north end a big bright red so it jumps out, but a south-pointing compass would be just as easy, just reverse the colors. Turns out the Chinese did make a south aligning compass thousands of years ago before north became standard. 

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