▲ 327 ▼ How did people refer to clockwise movement before the invention of the clock? (lemmy.world) submitted 2 years ago by zephyr@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world 127 comments fedilink hide all child comments Was there an alternative adjective to "clockwise" other than "the rotation you take around left hand"? Also, how did all watch companies around the world agree on what the direction of "clockwise" is?
[–] kuneho@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (2 children) You have to specify which part you’re referring to What do you mean by that? permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Nash42@programming.dev 3 points 2 years ago (1 child) Turning right, looking at the top of the clock, is different from turning right while looking at the bottom of the clock. And so on. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 child) You're not entirely wrong, but the convention is to refer to the top of the wheel. But you could be looking at the wheel from the other side, which would change its direction from your perspective. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child) That's true, but saying clockwise/anticlockwise also works with fixed perspective, unless the thing itself has a fixed orientation. but if that's the case, left/right works the same. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago No, it's an extra level of confusion. Clockwise/counterclockwise only has one axis of confusion (looking from front or behind) with one option being the obvious default. Left/right have this axis AND the axis of top/bottom for confusion. It's literally one bit more ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago (1 child) No matter which direction a ball rolls, part of it moves to the right, and part to the left (either top right and bottom left, or vice versa). If you don't specify which part of the ball you're looking at, it could be either top or bottom, so the statement is ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago (1 child) but without this information, clockwise and anticlockwise also ambigous. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* No, they are well-defined. There is no missing information in "clockwise". There is missing information in "right". There is no "top clockwise" or "bottom clockwise". permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Nash42@programming.dev 3 points 2 years ago (1 child) Turning right, looking at the top of the clock, is different from turning right while looking at the bottom of the clock. And so on. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 child) You're not entirely wrong, but the convention is to refer to the top of the wheel. But you could be looking at the wheel from the other side, which would change its direction from your perspective. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child) That's true, but saying clockwise/anticlockwise also works with fixed perspective, unless the thing itself has a fixed orientation. but if that's the case, left/right works the same. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago No, it's an extra level of confusion. Clockwise/counterclockwise only has one axis of confusion (looking from front or behind) with one option being the obvious default. Left/right have this axis AND the axis of top/bottom for confusion. It's literally one bit more ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 child) You're not entirely wrong, but the convention is to refer to the top of the wheel. But you could be looking at the wheel from the other side, which would change its direction from your perspective. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child) That's true, but saying clockwise/anticlockwise also works with fixed perspective, unless the thing itself has a fixed orientation. but if that's the case, left/right works the same. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago No, it's an extra level of confusion. Clockwise/counterclockwise only has one axis of confusion (looking from front or behind) with one option being the obvious default. Left/right have this axis AND the axis of top/bottom for confusion. It's literally one bit more ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child) That's true, but saying clockwise/anticlockwise also works with fixed perspective, unless the thing itself has a fixed orientation. but if that's the case, left/right works the same. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago No, it's an extra level of confusion. Clockwise/counterclockwise only has one axis of confusion (looking from front or behind) with one option being the obvious default. Left/right have this axis AND the axis of top/bottom for confusion. It's literally one bit more ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago No, it's an extra level of confusion. Clockwise/counterclockwise only has one axis of confusion (looking from front or behind) with one option being the obvious default. Left/right have this axis AND the axis of top/bottom for confusion. It's literally one bit more ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago (1 child) No matter which direction a ball rolls, part of it moves to the right, and part to the left (either top right and bottom left, or vice versa). If you don't specify which part of the ball you're looking at, it could be either top or bottom, so the statement is ambiguous. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago (1 child) but without this information, clockwise and anticlockwise also ambigous. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* No, they are well-defined. There is no missing information in "clockwise". There is missing information in "right". There is no "top clockwise" or "bottom clockwise". permalink fedilink source parent
[–] kuneho@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago (1 child) but without this information, clockwise and anticlockwise also ambigous. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* No, they are well-defined. There is no missing information in "clockwise". There is missing information in "right". There is no "top clockwise" or "bottom clockwise". permalink fedilink source parent
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* No, they are well-defined. There is no missing information in "clockwise". There is missing information in "right". There is no "top clockwise" or "bottom clockwise". permalink fedilink source parent