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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/17/2021 11:36 AM, Will Martin
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
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It occurs to me that likely humans navigated by the stars long
before they noticed that suspended/floating magnets pointed
north/south.</blockquote>
<p>This is correct.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com"> Likely,
for the traveling populations of the northern hemisphere (most of
the early navigating humans),</blockquote>
<p>You think so? I doubt that assertion. Early humans spread out
from equatorial Africa. Some went south, some went north. We know
more about the ones who went north because they eventually founded
civilizations which kept records. But there's plenty of evidence
that humans spread out in all directions and learned to navigate
by many means. Land navigation by landmark, and sailing by
hugging the coastline, are undoubtedly much older than celestial
navigation.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com"> the
significance of the North Star was noticed because of its
stability in the sky regardless of time of night long before
anybody had a concept of magnetic North. I’m not sure there is a
parallel navigational reference in the southern hemisphere, since
I’ve never heard of anything referred to as the South Star.</blockquote>
<p>There is no "South Star," but the Southern Cross points at the
southern celestial pole.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">Likely, once someone noticed that suspended magnets
pointed in the same direction, consistently, they probably
looked at one magnetic target and didn’t see anything in the sky
of any significance, and then looked the other way and said (in
whatever native language) the equivalent of “Well, darn. This
thing is pointing at the North Star!”</div>
</blockquote>
<p>More likely, someone noticed that suspended magnets pointed north
and south, and they already knew about Polaris or the southern
celestial pole.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">And so, North became the dominant reference point on
the compass.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>No, that's not why. In fact, I have read that most early maps put
east at the top, since the sun rises in the east. Cultures tend to
make their maps reflect their homes as the dominant or top of a
map. Modern compasses come from Western and Northern culture, so
North gets put on top.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">Meanwhile,
on Qo’noS, maybe they don’t have a North Star or a South Star.
Maybe they never noticed that magnets have a subtle tendency to
point north/south, or maybe Qo’noS doesn’t have a magnetic field
like Earth does, or maybe instead of switching North/South
magnetic fields every few million years, it happens with much
greater frequency, rendering magnetic compasses less than reliable
on Qo'noS.</blockquote>
<p>We are told explicitly that the Klingon word <b>chan</b>
"actually refers to that part of the landscape in the direction of
the sunrise." Their dominant direction appears to be just like
those early Earth cultures who put east at the tops of their maps
because east is where the sun rises.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">So, what’s the thing you can rely on to always
happen in one direction? The Sun (or whatever they call it)
rises in the {chan}. Look toward this {chan}. Standing, facing
{chan} look over your left shoulder. That’s {‘ev}. Look over
your right shoulder. That’s {tIng}. Why prefer the East over the
West as the primary point of the compass?</div>
</blockquote>
<p>We're not told where <b>'ev</b> and <b>tIng</b> come from. I
doubt it comes from looking over your shoulder.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">The human numbering system for time was initially
created for use with Sun Dials. Noon was the easiest thing to
nail down anywhere, so our system has two 12:00 readings with
midnight derived from noon.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>That's not why we do that. Sun dials only work during the day, so
they only only mark time during the day. They mark the arc of the
sun as it passes through the day. Deciding that the day started at
midnight, when the sun was exactly opposite your position is
arbitrary. Many cultures begin the day at sunrise or sunset, which
strikes me as more sensible.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> We arbitrarily set the boundary between one day and
the next based on midnight, placing sunrise and sunset equally
between noon and midnight. Neither gets greater significance.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Meanwhile, we know that Klingons place the boundary
between one day and the next at sunrise.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>A perfectly common decision in many cultures today.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">This suggests a greater significance for sunrise
over sunset. They could have just as easily put the boundary at
sunset, but they didn’t. Likely, this is because most Klingons
probably don’t wake up significantly before sunrise, but most
stay awake beyond sunset, so the active part of every day starts
closer to sunrise and extends well beyond sunset.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I see absolutely no reason that this is likely, or indeed even
reasonable to suppose.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">So, sunrise has a higher significance in the
measurements of Klingon time, and it would be natural for this
to extend to East having a directional significance over West.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Or it could be that a new sunrise is a hopeful thing, while a
sunset is like the death of the day. And many Earth cultures have
interpreted it symbolically this way.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> Sunrise is the time we awaken and arise. Sunset is
some vague thing that happens sometime well before we go to
sleep.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Depends on your culture and latitude. Many cultures throughout
history have taken sunset, or the end of dusk after sunset, to be
the end of activity.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> When we awaken, we are well aware of the direction
of the Sun. In the evening, we are probably too busy doing stuff
to bother noticing the direction of the setting Sun.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a very ethnocentric analysis.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> We surrender to sleep after sunset, and we don’t
really like surrendering. Sunrise is when we conquer sleep once
again. We might be aware of the direction of sunset as
individuals, but collectively, it is the beginning of the day
when we unite the face the coming day.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">We have no reason to place any importance on 90º
from {chan} in either direction.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes we do. The simplest coordinate system is one built from right
angles. That's a reason.</p>
<p>That's not to say that every culture must use the simplest
coordinate system. But it is a reason that we do.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> Our early number system was based on three.
Standing, facing in one direction, the three most significant
directions are straight forward, and what our neck and eyes can
scan to the left and right.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>You don't know that.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> Likely, Klingon maps show East as “up” or perhaps
“down”, if early Klingons recognized that all horizons
eventually lead down, and the Eastern Sun is coming from “down”.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">If the Klingon emblem (designed by Matt Jefferies,
after whom the Jefferies Tubes are named) also functions as
compass points, that would suggest that the most significant
pointer points up, suggesting that’s where {chan} is on a map,
though the emblem doesn’t have equi-angular pointers, so {tIng}
would be very close to South, while {‘ev} would be much more
West than North, so perhaps the emblem isn’t literally used as a
compass rose. It hints at {chan} being up, but this, like most
of this argument, is speculative.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Except on ships the Klingon trefoil points forward, not up. And
the Starfleet emblem points forward on ships but up on uniforms.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">A compass becomes useless at the North Pole on
Earth, where the North Star is straight up and the compass goes
nuts because every direction is South.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Ignoring the difference between geographic north and magnetic
north for a moment, a compass only useless in so much as at the
north pole there is only one direction you can go. No matter where
the compass decides to point, that is correctly pointing out
south.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class=""> Similarly, on Qo’noS, on either pole, {chan} varies
depending on time of day.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>It might vary depending on the time of year, but not the time of
day. <b>chan</b> is the direction of the sunrise, not the
direction of the sun. And I would imagine that if the Kronos tilts
on its axis, Klingons would have quickly learned to chart the
changing positions of the sun with each sunrise.<br>
</p>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAC8135F-7A86-4F5B-8F80-2B1B70C7F40E@mac.com">
<div class="">… or maybe Klingons just don’t go to the poles
because it’s cold there, and Klingons notoriously detest the
cold. If aliens who like cold better than Klingons do land there
and set up bases, leave them to it, unless they start heading
toward the equator, and if that happens, fumigate with a few
photon torpedoes and be done with it. You don’t have to worry
about residual radiation because you don’t intend to go there
after clearing it of nuisance aliens, and hey, radiation might
discourage other alien settlements there, so it’s all good.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Have you SEEN the shots of Rura Pente?<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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