The illusion of up and down.

in philosophy •  7 years ago 

A friend of mine asked me why we don't fall off the earth if it a sphere? It was so easy to answer that but then it hit me, if gravity makes us to stay on the sphere,then it means up and down is just an illusion. If you stand straight at both the poles of the earth, gravity pulls down your body towards the earth. Meaning, both of you will have two different kinds of up and down. My up is your down and your down is my up.

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Actually, since gravity pulls us down, down is towards the center of the earth, while up is in the direction of the stars.

Another thing you have to realize is in order to have a point of reference to whether up and down exist, you have to factor in the fact that everywhere in the universe is the center of it. You can never claim that you are facing up or down or sideways. The earths gravity pulling you towards it's center doesn't mean my up and down are the same a yours...maybe we can agree that the notion of up and down are relative to the person uttering the words "am facing up"

@davidinnocent. I was speaking in terms of Gravity. Towards your feet is what I consider down, while above your head is up. That could also work underground, in space, or in the air. Towards the center of gravity is down, while away from it is up/out.

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