Yes. Maps always have up as north. So just hold a map in front of you, and forward direction is north. Easy.
At one point in my childhood, my dad made the comment, “Women don’t know compass directions.” I took offense to that and made a point to learn them to prove him wrong.
I felt vindicated in high school when he was coming to pick me up from a friend’s house and said, “I’m at the gas station. Do I go left or right?” I told him there were several gas stations on the way, and asked which direction he was facing to figure out which one he was by. He couldn’t tell me and finally hung up on me in a huff.
If it’s before noon: Go away from the sun.
If it’s after noon: Go toward the sun.
If it’s night… Wait for morning, and go away from the sun.
My initial thought when reading your comment was a response about differentiation of both hemispheres, but the way you wrote it was actually quite clever, so kudos for that! :D
Instructions unclear, I’m at the north pole
If you’re at the pole, just walk due south.
What? You don’t have an internal compass that keeps you oriented? For some reason I seem to be a lucky person that just knows which compass direction I’m going no matter where I am. And it’s a very weird and frightening feeling if I do get disoriented. I had some pain meds after a surgery that did that to me. Flushed them damn things down the toilet after the first 2 I took.
And it’s a very weird and frightening feeling if I do get disoriented.
I know what you mean, there has been a couple of times in my life where my internal idea of direction has been turned off course and it is a very weird feeling indeed trying to reconcile the direction you internally believe you’re facing against the different direction a map or compass is telling you is actually true.
As a kid I also once spent a weekend in Melbourne feeling somewhat disconcerted due to not being able to get a sense of direction. I’d never been there before and flew in on an overcast day which never ended up letting up until I flew out so never ended up getting my bearings while we were down there (didn’t help that this was before the smartphone era so maps weren’t available at the drop of a hat).
I have a similar experience when I go a city in my state - St. Paul. If I go downtown for any reason, I always feel a bit uneasy walking about and I didn’t know why for the longest time. I finally found out that the streets in the downtown aren’t laid out on the cardinal points-- They were laid out on a slight bias due to being right up against the Mississippi river. And that makes me a little uncomfortable when looking down a block of buildings or from one street to the next at an intersection. It’s always a little bit wonky feeling.
That sounds really nice. I’m sure I could develop the skill, but I have to check the Sun
While I’m sure there is learned effort, I do feel like there is something inside my brain that just has a connection to north somehow. Kind of like how ducks and geese know which way to travel when migrating. I can’t really explain it well.
I’m with you. Short of that one day dead noon Hawaii or the middle of a forest I feel like there are clues to approximate North and South even when I’m discombobulated.
One time I called 911 because I was following a drunk driver that had collided with multiple vehicles and kept driving. The operator asked me what direction so I looked at my maps app and it said I was going west so I told them west and they said “Sir that street doesn’t run west.” I was speechless after that.
So you might’ve been going west, but not westbound. Roads curve often in the USA (i’m guessing you are from the USA because 911)
If I learned anything in geography class than that west is on the left
Go west. Life is peaceful there. Go west. Lots of open air.
The Sun rises in the East and sets in the west.
With East on your right and west on your left you would be facing north.
You can tell which side of the equator you are on by the way water swirls. Northern Hemisphere water drains clockwise. If water draining has no spin then you’re on the equator.
Sometimes the moss on trees is enough of an indicator, as moss growing on only one side of a tree means no sunlight reaches it and the moss faces the direction opposite of the equator.
Join us next time for a lesson on Star Charts.
The water thing is a myth. Any body of water you can actively watch drain is influenced by the shape of the reservoir and direction the water is added to it.
What about the videos recorded in Ecuador, where the same reservoir is drained on both sides of the equator and the water spins in different directions?
Edited to add the link since other users asked for it down in the replies: https://youtu.be/4IIVfoDuVIw
Edit2: check the replies below, the video is good at debunking this. But it’s not super easy to notice
You might have to provide that link if you want them to listen.
That’s a street performer ripping off some tourists.
I have problems telling right from left. At least I’m the moment, if I take my time I can tell.
But I almost always know my cardinal directions
If you extend your thumb and first finger, the L shape that is the correct way around is on your left hand.
Yeah I know when I have time to think about it.
It’s just when people say: ‘go left here’ or me throng to indicate direction in a split second that my change of getting it right reduced to 50%. My brain doesn’t grok that left right isn’t absolute but related to orientation.
Just remember that port is a 4 letter word and so is left. So left is port and right is starboard.
North is W
West is A
South is S
East is D… unless you hit Q or E and rotated the camera, in which case you’re fucked.
…help… Im fucked.
Just walk up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, then jump and shoot someone.
It worked! I teleported to prison!
OK but no you know where the sun rises and sets if youre in a familiar place atleast
Do I look like the person who would get lost in a familiar place?
Actually, don’t answer that.
