Cultures Not Using Relative Directions
Most human cultures use relative directions for reference, but there are exceptions. The Australian Aboriginal people the Guugu Yimithirr have no words denoting the egocentric directions in their language; instead, they exclusively refer to cardinal directions, even when describing small-scale spaces. For instance, if they wanted someone to move over on the car seat to make room, they might say "move a bit to the east". To tell someone where exactly they left something in their house, they might say, "I left it on the southern edge of the western table." Or they might warn a person to "look out for that big ant just north of your foot". Other peoples "from Polynesia to Mexico and from Namibia to Bali" similarly have predominantly "geographic languages". American Sign Language makes heavy use of geographical direction through absolute orientation. When speaking Mongolian, speakers will typically use the words for "front", "back", "left", and "right" to mean "south", "north", "east", and "west", respectively.
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Famous quotes containing the words cultures, relative and/or directions:
“Because of our social circumstances, male and female are really two cultures and their life experiences are utterly different.”
—Kate Millet (b. 1934)
“Are not all finite beings better pleased with motions relative than absolute?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
““Have we any control over being born?,” my friend asked in despair. “No, the job is done for us while we’re sleeping, so to speak, and when we wake up everything is all set. We merely appear, like an ornate celebrity wheeled out in a wheelchair.” “I don’t remember,” my friend claimed. “No need to,” I said: “what need have us free-loaders for any special alertness? We’re done for.””
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)