Which end of a 2x4 is the top?

[Harry K]

Nonexistent? You don't see your left hand where the right should be in a mirror?

Harry K

[krw]

It's not an x-axis reversal, rather a z-axis (front to back) reversal.

[DerbyDad03]

krw wrote: - It's not an x-axis reversal, rather a z-axis (front to back) reversal.

Wait - I'm confused. If I have my back to the mirror how could I see my front?

krw wrote:

[indago]

070107 0531 - Rick posted:

Lay all your 2 x 4's side by side on the floor in your basement. Then, draw an arrow on each of them going the same way. When you have finished this project, take a look at all the arrows, and all those that are marked with an arrow pointing toward the top are the ones that have the arrow pointing toward the top.

Hope this helps...

[DerbyDad03]

- Lay all your 2 x 4's side by side on the floor in your basement. Then, draw-

- an arrow on each of them going the same way. When you have finished this

- project, take a look at all the arrows, and all those that are marked with

- an arrow pointing toward the top are the ones that have the arrow pointing

- toward the top.

-

- Hope this helps...

I think it be better to stand them on top of each other end upon end. That way the top of each one would have to be touching the bottom of the next one. Just make sure you start with the bottom of the first one on the ground.

[Mark Lloyd]

You don't. You see your right hand and CALL it "left" (see below).

What's actually reversed is the (observer relative) definition of "left" and "right". Notice that if you stand facing a mirror and point to the left with your left arm, and look in the mirror the image there appears to be pointing to the right with its right arm. Notice that both you and the image are pointing in THE SAME DIRECTION and WITH THE SAME ARM.

Looks like some people pay more attention to WORDS than to the actual world around them. Reality consistently fails to do as it's told.

Where the real reversal is, in on the Z-axis (front to back).

As for down, as you travel around the earth (a sphere), "down" is in one of an infinite number of directions.

[Mark Lloyd]

Right. The first time I heard this mentioned, was while waiting for a college electronics class to start. Before class, one of them was asking "Why is it that when you look into a mirror, you appear reversed left to right but not up and down?".

I seem to have solved that problem earlier, when learning to drive. Someone was telling me about looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a turn signal on a car behind. I realized that it was "left" and "right" (not the directions themselves) that were reversed. It was a lot easier to ignore the "left/right" and just notice the direction the car was signaling.

[Mark Lloyd]

Actually, when you have your front to the mirror you see your front - as if from the back. Confused yet? This is one of those things that are a lot simpler than anyone's explanation of it.

[krw]

Certainly the mirror can'd "see" your backside, but it *is* reversing what it can, front to back. Ever looked in a corner mirror?

BTW, I wouldn't expect top-posters to "get it".

[DerbyDad03]

- BTW, I wouldn't expect top-posters to "get it".

- Keith

What's might be the funniest thing about this entire thread is those of you that responded to my "confusion" as if you thought it was a serious post.

BTW, Which end of a poster is the top?

krw wrote:

[Harry K]

Yep, Just another of those things I had forgotten

Harry K

[Mark Lloyd]

But NOT left to right. THAT reversal is only verbal, in the user's mind.

I suppose you mean one of those that's diagonally mounted in a corner, and so wastes a lot of space. Are you looking in it straight, or at some angle?

Posting location has NOTHING to do with intelligence, or any other relevant quality.

>

[Sam E]

It's the end you can't pee on because it's mounted too high :-)

[Philip Lewis]

I think s/he means a mirror which is bent around a corner, or two mirrors who's faces are 90 deg and facing each other.

must... not... get... dragged.... in.... ;)

[krw]

Yep. It's a z-axis transformation. What the mind does with the information is another thing.

No, two mirrors 90 degrees to each other (see also: "corner reflector"). Look at them at 45 degrees.

Intelligent people, at least in the West, read from top to bottom. Conversations between intelligent people go forward in time. Answers come after questions, etc.

[DK]

Home Depot paints the top end of all their lumber red.

[Mark Lloyd]

True. but irrelevant.

True, but irrelevant.

True, but irrelevant.

Don't ignore the difference between a usenet POST and a usenet THREAD. That is important. When reading a post in a thread, the reader has ALREDAY been exposed to the quoted material, the response (at whatever location in that post) is read AFTER that other stuff.

Things (claiming to demonstrate the error of top-posting) like this:

1. What is 1 greater than 12?

ignore the actual sequence these lines are posted in. For that, you have at least TWO messages. The first:

What is 1 greater than 12?

And the second:

13

The lines are seen in the intended order (question first). The position of "13" in the later post DOESN'T CHANGE THE ORDER because you have ALREADY been exposed to the question.

[krw]

Not at all. Intelligent people write for their reader. top posting helps the reader not.

Nope. See above.

Nope. See above.

I'll confuse what I want to, but I'm confusing nothing. Apparently you agree with me, since you post infix, as do intelligent people.

Nope. I read thousands of posts a day. A context hint is invaluable, as it is in all delayed conversations. Remember, this isn't a private conversation.

What, is your first name Alex?

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

It definitely DOES help, particularly with very large amounts of quoted material (if you think it's really easy to scroll down, you probably forgot about the HUNDREDS of new messages in some groups, try that "easy" scrolling when your fingers are sore from doing it hundreds of times).

What do you think a "usenet thread" is?

Notice that you totally ignored the major point of my post. That's what happens when people follow rules religiously (that is, mindlessly).

You might notice that I seldom top-post. This is the effect of my doing what makes sense to me, not mindless rule-following and ignoring other views.

[krw]

Wy don't you snip posts then? Why do you post infix, if top- posting is so kewl? ...or are you simply looking for an argument, as usual?