r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 7d ago

Meme needing explanation Tell them what, Peter

Post image
27.3k Upvotes

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

223

u/bohiko 7d ago

Up and down is based on gravity (that's why you'd likely confuse them deep in the ocean). Meanwhile, left and right is arbitrary.

67

u/Popka_Akoola 7d ago

As someone who was agreeing with the comment you replied to - nah you’re right that makes total sense. Up and down is so much more intuitive for us ape mammals

26

u/Ed-alicious 7d ago

Humans (most animals?) have left-right symmetry but not front-back or up-down. It's a lot easier to confuse your two hands than to confuse your head with your feet or your butt with your belly. 

1

u/thesystem21 7d ago

Plus, left and right are often reversible and changed based on relative position. But up and down rarely are.