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cloud_ctrl · 4833 days ago · link · · parent · post: How Would You Teach Left from Right to an Alien Civilization?
But even though the concept of simple opposites is simple, the difficulty enters when you try to communicate how to distinguish the two. So both civilizations know that left is opposite from right, but which way is left and which way is right? In the problem suggested, we were given by the civilization x, y, and z coordinates, but no way to know which way the x and y and z dimensions are facing. Our convention is to stand at z and see the positive y axis ahead of us and the positive x to the right, but they may not use the same conventions. How could we be sure? In the problem, this is a life or death situation, so we have to be certain.