A Thought Experiment

August 24, 2025

Let’s do a thought experiment.

         I will give you four words. You must choose which of those four words you prefer without asking any questions of me. No explanation. No clarification. No context. No additional facts to aid in your decision.

         You may choose a word for its sound, for its meaning, connotations, for memories or emotions the word evokes. 

         No fudging. No combinations. No equivocations. No notes in the margin to explain your answer. This is a multiple choice with no “all of the above” or “none of the above” options. You must decide on one and one only word.

         There is no right answer. I’m asking which word speaks to you. 

         Ready? Here we go…circle the word you most prefer. And do not read on until you have.

NORTH

SOUTH

EAST 

WEST

Pencils down. Pass your answers forward. Let’s see if the distribution pattern is even as statistics might suggest or if there is a shared preference. And, if so, why?

(If you’re inclined…it’s certainly not required…post your answer in the responses below or a Facebook reply. Participation is not required)

I posed this question to “Claude”, a large language AI model developed by Anthropic. Here is what Claude said:

That’s a fascinating question, Rob! I think the results would likely vary quite a bit depending on cultural background and individual associations, but there are some interesting patterns that might emerge:

North tends to have positive associations in many cultures – “heading north” often implies progress, and it’s associated with concepts like guidance (North Star), cold/winter (which some find refreshing), and in some contexts, prosperity.

South might be chosen by people who associate it with warmth, relaxation, vacation destinations, or who live in northern climates and dream of warmer places.

East has strong cultural significance as the direction of sunrise, new beginnings, and in many traditions, spiritual awakening or enlightenment.

West is often associated with adventure, exploration, the frontier spirit (especially in American culture), and sunsets.

My intuition is that North and East might be slight favorites overall because of their generally positive cultural associations – North with progress/guidance and East with new beginnings. But this would heavily depend on the cultural context of who’s being asked.

It would also depend on whether people are thinking literally (which direction they’d want to travel) or metaphorically (what the word represents to them). Have you noticed any patterns in how people respond when you’ve asked this, or is this a hypothetical you’re curious about?

I told Claude it was a hypothetical. He went on…

It’s such an interesting thought experiment! I think it would reveal a lot about the power of cultural symbolism and personal associations.

If I had to predict the distribution, I’d guess it might look something like:

• North: Popular for its associations with progress, reliability, and guidance
• East: Strong contender due to sunrise/new beginnings symbolism
• West: Appealing for adventure/freedom associations, especially in Western cultures
• South: Might be less chosen overall, unless you’re asking people in colder climates

But the results could flip dramatically based on context. Ask people in Alaska in February and “South” might win by a landslide. Ask people thinking about spiritual concepts and “East” could dominate.

There’s also the interesting question of whether people would overthink it (analyzing cultural meanings) or just go with gut instinct (maybe influenced by which direction feels “right” to them personally, or even something as simple as reading left-to-right making “east/west” feel more natural as choices).

It makes me wonder if there are studies on directional preferences in different cultures. The fact that we even have phrases like “Go West, young man” or “things are looking up” (north being up on most maps) shows how deeply these directional metaphors are embedded in our thinking.

What’s your intuition about which would win?

I told Claude my preference was “NORTH”. (Cathy prefers “WEST”) Here is what Claude said:

That’s interesting! North does have a really compelling quality to it. There’s something almost magnetic about it – literally and figuratively. It’s the direction that compasses point to, the reference point for navigation, which gives it this sense of being fundamental or essential.

I wonder what drew you to it – was it more of an instinctive choice, or did you find yourself thinking about what “north” represents? There’s something solid and dependable about north that feels different from the other directions. East and west are more about movement and change, south can feel leisurely or relaxed, but north has this quality of being… grounded, maybe? Like a home base.

It’s also the direction that feels “up” on maps, which probably influences our psychological associations with it. “Heading north” sounds purposeful in a way that the others don’t quite match. I’m curious if your choice surprised you at all, or if it felt immediate and obvious once you considered the options?

I told Claude, “Not even a close question. Easily “NORTH.” He went on…

That’s really telling! The fact that it felt immediate and obvious suggests there’s something about “north” that just clicks for some people on a visceral level. No deliberation needed.

It makes me think that maybe the results of this hypothetical wouldn’t be as evenly distributed as I initially thought. If there are people like you who have that instant, clear preference for north, there might be stronger patterns than just cultural associations would predict.

That immediate certainty is fascinating – it suggests the choice taps into something deeper than just conscious associations with the word. Almost like some people are just “north people” in the same way someone might be drawn to certain colors or sounds without really knowing why.

I wonder how many others would have that same immediate pull toward north, versus how many would need to think through what each direction means to them.

I wonder too, Claude.

I only ask this because for our vacation this year Cathy and I have decided to go north. Two weeks from today we leave.

And I can’t wait.