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90% of the world's population and 68% of the land mass being in the northen hemisphere is probably a good enough reason to put north up top on a map.
by paxys 1y ago
90% of the world's population and 68% of the land mass being in the northen hemisphere is probably a good enough reason to put north up top on a map.
- the-grump 1y agoDisagree completely. Your map should be bottom-heavy for stability.
- shermantanktop 1y agoIt's true, that's how Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.
- mckeed 1y agoAlso if the map is flat on a table, more stuff is closer to you.
- kqr 1y agoBut if you pin it to a wall, it's easier to reach the top pins with the most earthful bits at face height if the earthful bits are at the top.
- amiga386 1y agoNo no no. We should put Asia at the top, Europe bottom left, Africa bottom right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_and_O_map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_and_O_map
- benrutter 1y agoYou're all fools! We should put the north pole in the center so that Antartica makes a pretty frame around the rest of the world!
- deltarholamda 1y agoWe called it the Orient because at one time to orient yourself meant to face east towards the rising Sun. So maps with east at the top make sense.
- ashdksnndck 1y agoGood point. If south-up were the default, we would probably be manufacturing globes without any mounting system, and just leave them lying around with the Eurasian landmass facing down due to gravity.
- Mistletoe 1y ago-Dwight Schrute
- smusamashah 1y agoOnly if gravity was on the down side
- afavour 1y ago…why? Why is it better for it to be in the upper half of the map than the lower half?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- paxys 1y agoPeople read things top to bottom. If you have half a page worth of content will you put it at the top and leave the bottom half of the page empty or the opposite? If you are writing a TL;DR will you put it at the top or bottom of the page?
- stronglikedan 1y ago> People read things top to bottom. Even in Berber?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- triceratops 1y agoBerbers are in the top half of the map so all good. /s
- roncesvalles 1y agoLet's say you have a globe. It's easier to look at the top half than the bottom half.
- enjo 1y agoTwo axis globe is best globe.
- jama211 1y agoIf it’s at the bottom and you put it on a table, more of the land is closer to you and therefore easier to read. Its all arbitrary, and we can all make up random minor pro/cons all we like but it don’t change that.
- toast0 1y ago> more of the land is closer to you and therefore easier to read. As most people age, that gets less true. The optimum placement ends up being around an arms length away, so being away from the edge could help. But if you're showing the whole world, typically the details aren't that important, so it's mostly arbitrary.
- jama211 1y agoHaha, don’t read into my random example too hard, it was only there to prove you can make an argument for anything if you try hard enough.
- mckeed 1y agoI do wonder if early world explorers had been from the southern hemisphere and a tradition of "south up" was already established, if it would still look better to us to have more land on top.
- bombcar 1y agoI suppose we can ask Australians and the kiwis.
- cdjc 1y agoKiwis are just happy New Zealand is on the map (https://www.reddit.com/r/MapsWithoutNZ/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MapsWithoutNZ/). Though it appears we don't have any cities.
- detourdog 1y agoI think the convention was born by magnetic north. I suppose it might also point to non magnetic south. Maybe a combination of the explorers and compass convention.
- IshKebab 1y agoHow would magnetic north decide this? There's no asymmetry to magnetic north and south.
- detourdog 1y agoI'm not 100% sure what you are asking. If the established convention is that a compass points north. Orienting a map to that convention makes sense to me. I thought I provided for the possibility that a compass also points south. The southern hemisphere historically navigated using wave patterns and stars with maps made of sticks and stones. So I expect they have different navigational conventions. I have heard of an southern hemisphere island that provided on their navigational orientation based on a mountain top. The pole star could also be part of this convention. The pole star appearing in a consistent point may also contribute to this standard.
- maxglute 1y agoSplit it at the equator, make them north south edges and make everyone angry.
- MrZander 1y agoIt hurts my head to even try to visualize this
- travisjungroth 1y agoIt’s because to make it work you split just half the equator. Think of the prime meridian and the antimeridian (by the date line). They make a circle that goes all the way around like the equator, but you only split on half.
- marcosdumay 1y agoThat's one that not even XKCD made yet. I guess everybody will agree about it, but the people in tropical countries will agree louder.
- dietr1ch 1y agoYou forgot to tilt it and to push the Greenwich meridian out of the center.
- Balinares 1y agoWhy?
- giveita 1y agoBut what about the 10% who are bottomies
- alexb_ 1y agoBy this logic, should we put east Asia on the top and have the less populated western hemisphere on the bottom? Why not have East be up?