Talk:North
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Sitting on Top of the World
removed the following because there is no "top" to the world; we only feel North is "up" because of maps... circular argument.
- because the North Pole is at the top of the world, as far north as you can get
I wrote the following for the article, but the second 'graph feels too conjectural to include.
- The visible rotation of the night sky about the visible celestial pole provides a vivid metaphor of that direction corresponding to up. Thus the choice of the direction corresponding to its own hemisphere is, prior to world-wide communication, anything but an arbitrary one. On the contrary, it is of interest that Chinese culture ever considered south as the proper top end for maps.
- As a speculative conjecture, it may be that this reflects the persistent threat from the tough nomadic peoples to the north of China, against whom the Great Wall was built, staffed, and maintained: the idea of the north being fundamental to the nature of things may have been unconsciously too uncomfortable, or consciously deemed a threat to public confidence in Chinese independence or hegemony. (If so, this raises the question of the role of these threats in forming the concepts of China as a Middle Kingdom closer to Heaven than any other, and of the mandate of Heaven.
If anyone has heard this theory anywhere else, i'd be pleased to hear about it. --Jerzy 01:03, 2003 Oct 24 (UTC)
Previous Edit
(for convenience of reference, here is the state of the article as of 2003 October 22, Wed. midday UTC:)
eo:Nordo ja:北 nl:Noord (windstreek)
North is one of the primary directions of the compass. It is the distance to the left of a person facing east. North is traditionally at the top of modern western maps. The North Pole is the northernmost point on the planet. Magnetic North is not quite the same place as the actual North Pole but it is close.
See also: "The North" (that term is often used to refer to the wealthy & powerful "North" as opposed to the poorer "South")
--Jerzy 19:56, 2003 Oct 22 (UTC)
2003-October Major Rewrite
I'm in the process of an edit that will pretty much obliterate the former main paragraph, but to say that obscures its value to me as a guide to what to include and some angles of approach. Thank you to the previous editors.
I don't assume i've gotten it all well stated yet, and i solicit criticism -- especially when i've chosen a way of stating something that makes it sound obviously false to you. --Jerzy 19:56, 2003 Oct 22 (UTC)
