TheCuriousSages t1_jeelnky wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:31 PM

The compass points to magnetic north, which I think likely influenced the decision to place north at the top.

raff7 t1_jeep60u wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:57 PM

well.. technically the compass points towards the magnetic south of the earth magnetic field.. which is at the north pole...

That's because the magnetic north of your compass is attracted by the magnetic south of earth, so what we call "north" is actually the magnetic south... pretty weird I know

Umpteenth_zebra t1_jeeovnh wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:55 PM

We could have named the direction the compass points to magnetic south. And that's still no up or down. Magnetic north could be in the same place as Svalbard, in the bottom of the map.

dihydrocodeine t1_jefflo7 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:51 PM

Compasses align themselves with the magnetic field, meaning they orient to the north-south in a line (not a ray). We just decided to paint one side of the compass needle red and call that north.