Post #4641766 · Elektrine

2026-02-25 01:21 UTC

In the northern hemisphere, the sun moves clockwise in the sky. This is why clocks, which were based on sundials, have hands that move clockwise. In 2014 the Bolivians finally decided to break free of this colonial legacy. They're in the southern hemisphere, after all! So the clock on their parliament now looks like this. I like it. But it must make a tempting target for counter-revolutionaries.

Replies (3)

@kamiten@yiff.life 2026-04-27 06:53

@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz wouldn't a sundial in the southern hemisphere point South at noon, them progressively Southeast to East as the afternoon rolls by?

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@eribosot@mastodon.social 2026-04-27 13:02

@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.

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@Aecernist@mastodon.social 2026-04-27 14:52

@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz I had to think very hard about this and it still doesn't make sense to me. I think of the sun moving from East to West or right to left while facing North. Only while facing South does the clockwise framing of the sun's movement make sense (in the Northern hemisphere). I then had to think why do I conceptualize it looking North? Well, maps obviously. Does the idea that clocks follow the movement of the sun pre-date maps with North at the top?

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