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ringobob t1_jeg47mg wrote

Reply to comment by michalsrb in There really isn't any reason why north is always upward and south is always downward on maps. by GuinnessTheBestBoi

I wonder if it's a personality thing, given a blank piece of paper and your own deduced position, if you would naturally place yourself on the upper half or the lower half.

I think if it was me, I'd probably place myself on the lower half, with the intention of climbing upward to explore, rather than delving lower to explore. Maybe that's because I'm not an explorer, and see possibilities in the sky, and inhospitabilities below.

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michalsrb t1_jegbdv3 wrote

I think the actual answer is that you put yourself in the middle and then as you explore all around you you expand the map. So at the beginning you may choose South/North arbitrarily just based on the local features. Then as you explore you find out whether you are on top or bottom of the expanded map.

TBH this is one of the things someone knows the true answer and I could just Google it, but it's fun to speculate.

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