Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by samanator 679 days ago
You can't use cancellation or heavenly bodies:

"He is far away, or in some strange location, and he cannot see anything we can see. For instance, we cannot say, “Look at Ursa major; now see how those stars are arranged. What we mean by ‘right’ is …” We are only allowed to telephone him."

2 comments

Ah good catch, I somehow still assumed same galaxy.

Thinking about it, ironically I think the direct mention of Ursa Major might have played a part in that.

"imagine that we were talking to a Martian"
I think by Martian he just meant "alien". Obviously if you're on Mars you could use all sorts of celestial bodies to demonstrate chirality.
" he cannot see anything we can see. For instance, we cannot say, “Look at Ursa major; now see how those stars are arranged"