How come nobody knows north, south, east and west?

sk8erboii · 26-01-2019 12:00AM

Who actually cares? Do people with useless/easily learnable skills no one cares about try to make themselves feel superior?

looksee · 26-01-2019 12:01AM

Irish_peppa wrote: »

But how can you tell NSEW without a compass.
Like the sun rises in the front of my house but i cant see the sun break the horizon when i see it its allready house height. so am i still to assume thats east? and where it sets is back garden again is that west when its about to disapear behind the house or can it be relatively high up and still be west

What you are saying is more or less true, but just note where it disappears when it sets (which bit of a roof, for example) and note a couple of months later and it will set in a slightly different place. But on the whole you are correct. So if you stand in your garden facing your front door east is behind you, north is to your right and south is to your left, and west is in front of you.

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:01AM

Irish_peppa wrote: »

But how can you tell NSEW without a compass.
Like the sun rises in the front of my house but i cant see the sun break the horizon when i see it its allready house height. so am i still to assume thats east? and where it sets is back garden again is that west when its about to disapear behind the house or can it be relatively high up and still be west

You won't always know, but you can often figure it out. For example if you live on the east coast you can tell which way is north and south if you can see the sea.

Del2005 · 26-01-2019 12:01AM

Well First Off... wrote: »

Well how would you describe it so if you didn't know the names of any other streets?

If I'm giving someone directions I'll say take the 2nd left, then a right, then left. By this time they will have forgotten my directions and ask someone else. If I'm telling someone where I am I'll use the Eircode or send them my location.

If I need to find South I'll use my phone or watch. But usually I just look at the satilite dishes.

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:03AM

sk8erboii wrote: »

Who actually cares? Do people with useless/easily learnable skills no one cares about try to make themselves feel superior?

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

Irish_peppa · 26-01-2019 12:05AM

Can you use Google Maps or Google Streetview to figure out NSWE?

looksee · 26-01-2019 12:05AM

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

Provided its not raining.

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:05AM

sugarman wrote: »

Most people havent needed to read a map and determine their direction in well over a decade thanks to phones and satnavs at hand.

Its easier and hell of a lot quicker to drop a pin on whatsapp than it is trying to explain to somewhere North/South/East/West, X or Y Street beside Z landmark.

If a location isn't marked on google maps or if it's ambiguous it can be useful to use nsew to eliminate other locations.

corner of hells · 26-01-2019 12:07AM

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

What's an orientation ?

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:08AM

looksee wrote: »

Provided its not raining.

It depends on where you are, if you're near the east coast and can see the sea then you know which way is north, south, east and west.

If you can see a motorway which you know is in the north south direction you can use that information to orient yourself.

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:09AM

corner of hells wrote: »

What's an orientation ?

An mental map which gives a sense of direction.

the_pen_turner · 26-01-2019 12:11AM

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

no you cant . long country roads can twist all over the place. you can have 2 side roads going to the same place and only a few hundred yards apart but pointing in completly different directions.
saying turn south will work at one junction but not others

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:13AM

I had this very problem last year. I was in Slane loiking for a place that sold kitchen countertops, from Google maps I could tell it was one of two places, but it wasn't clear. So I rang the place and asked how to get there. They said go left at the crossroads. To avoid any confusion I asked if they were North or South of the town, this would have solved the problem Unfotunately they didn't know if they were North or South of the town. Turns out they were very obviously South of the town.

Aphorism Capital · 26-01-2019 12:15AM

the_pen_turner wrote: »

no you cant . long country roads can twist all over the place. you can have 2 side roads going to the same place and only a few hundred yards apart but pointing in completly different directions.
saying turn south will work at one junction but not others

I never suggested to say turn south in such a scenario. But if you say the location is south of another particlar landmark it can help orient to driver so they don't get completely lost.

You can use logic to eliminate possibilities.

buried · 26-01-2019 12:34AM

Won't be long now before nobody will know their left from their right, or their up from their down.

Del2005 · 26-01-2019 12:40AM

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

I had this very problem last year. I was in Slane loiking for a place that sold kitchen countertops, from Google maps I could tell it was one of two places, but it wasn't clear. So I rang the place and asked how to get there. They said go left at the crossroads. To avoid any confusion I asked if they were North or South of the town, this would have solved the problem Unfotunately they didn't know if they were North or South of the town. Turns out they were very obviously South of the town.

It would have been easier to ask for their Eircode, multiple ways to find the correct location with that.

Pwindedd · 26-01-2019 12:42AM

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water - clockwise around the compass.

Sun rises in the east and sets in the west

That's about all anyone really needs to know in fairness

Dtp1979 · 26-01-2019 12:43AM

Chancer3001 wrote: »

My sat nav starts directions with sh1t like TURN EAST ...

Fuk off. I don't have a fukkin compass.

FFS. means sometimes I just have to drive/ walk a direction 50 50 chance I'm going the wrong way

Yes!! So ****ing annoying. “Head west on X Street”. How the **** do I know where West is sitting in a car.

Dakotabigone · 26-01-2019 12:43AM

Pwindedd wrote: »

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water - clockwise around the compass.

Sun rises in the east and sets in the west

That's about all anyone really needs to know in fairness

That’s no good if the day is cloudy.

how.gareth · 26-01-2019 12:46AM

I hate this thread

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 26-01-2019 01:03AM

I always think in compass directions. It makes sense when you know what landmarks to go off.

Your Face · 26-01-2019 01:06AM

I remember a similar thread awhile ago.

meeeeh · 26-01-2019 01:14AM

I think it's not that easy to tell the sides of tge sky in Ireland. There aren't many high enough mountains to help as orientation points and it's cloudy too often to get clear idea of sun path. I have no problem telling where the sides are in relation to each other but it's not that easy to figure it out in Ireland. I know exactly how the house I lived in when I was 7 was positioned but I find it harder to do the same for a house I live in now.

blade1 · 26-01-2019 01:28AM

how.gareth wrote: »

I hate this thread

I agree, it went south fairly quick alright.
That would be down for people that don't know south.

tigerboon · 26-01-2019 02:46AM

Well First Off... wrote: »

I think it's safe to say that if you reach the age of 20 and you can't tell which way south or north is, then you'll never know. I've tried explaining the simple concept to people, but I think it just goes in one ear and out the other.

People also seem embarrassed by the fact that they don't know. If I'm giving directions to people, they'll never come out and say "I don't know which way south is", and will instead pretend they know, and then I'll have to figure out that they actually don't know.

I once asked a fella which way south was, and his reply was "I couldn't tell you from here". Sounds like a good excuse, but we were standing in the same valley that his house was in and only about a mile away from where he did live! I doubt if I walked home with him and asked him the same question later, that he'd be able to answer!

It baffles me even more when they're able to know which side of the river in their city is north or south, but yet if you say 'north' when asking directions, they'll be completely stumped!

It's such a useful tool to use if you don't know the names of the streets. You can say "I'm on the street parallel to Church st on the east side"

Men are supposed to instinctively know which way North is....or so I read. Something to do with evolution. Some sort of survival thing. I do 95% of the time and am still alive so could be some thruth in that.

Lorelli! · 26-01-2019 03:28AM

Pwindedd wrote: »

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water - clockwise around the compass.

Someone told me when I was a kid...Never Eat Shredded Wheat which was quite bad advice in fairness!

Dakotabigone · 26-01-2019 03:43AM

Lorelli! wrote: »

Someone told me when I was a kid...Never Eat Shredded Wheat which was quite bad advice in fairness!

At least you didn’t scour your panties,shredded wheat is awful stuff.

endacl · 26-01-2019 03:46AM

Your Face wrote: »

I remember a similar thread awhile ago.

If you search for it, it’ll be south of this one.

joeguevara · 26-01-2019 03:54AM

If someone asks me where north was I’d point to the sky. North is always up!

Monkeynut · 26-01-2019 11:09AM

I thought in Ireland we just use pubs for directions.

How come nobody knows north, south, east and west?

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