@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz A fascinating example of a convention defined by one culture that's so dominant that we rarely question it. It reminds me of how Japan organizes addresses. The West (and most of the rest of the world) thinks in terms of streets and roads that intersect each other, enclosing blocks of buildings, which are considered "negative space." The Japanese think in terms of blocks of buildings, groups of blocks (neighborhoods) and so on, with streets as the negative spaces.