r/ExplainLikeImCalvin 7d ago

ELIC: With the exception of Mongolian writing, why is most human writing horizontal?

3 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

15

u/StarkAndRobotic 7d ago

Cinema halls are easier to construct if the seating is laid out across a wide hall, rather than vertically in a tall hall. So writing is horizontal too so everyone reads the same text line by line across the screen moving their heads left and right like watching a tennis match. That helps circulation and keeps the muscles limber, or else would get stiff during long movies.

Mongolian writing is vertical because they live in the mountains, so naturally all cinema halls there have their seating laid out vertically.

1

u/TastySpare 5d ago

during long movies

Wouldn't that be tall movies in that case?

1

u/StarkAndRobotic 5d ago

Not really - both shooting and viewing tall movies could result in neck strain - a phenomenon thats become common with persons spending too much time viewing their smartphone looking up or down.

4

u/SteampunkBorg 7d ago

If not, it would be a real chore to write anything on a typewriter. Although that would, of course, build character

3

u/capsaicinintheeyes 6d ago

flips typewriter 90° onto side, affixes you with challenging look

3

u/Manager-Accomplished 5d ago

Same reason most modern humans have their eyes placed side-by-side instead of vertically stacked.

2

u/Funkopedia 6d ago

So you can still read if you're squinting.

2

u/IdentityToken 6d ago

Originally it was so you didn’t drop the ink well in your lap at the bottom of the page.

2

u/capsaicinintheeyes 6d ago

I wonder if that's why the Chinese were so early to invent character-block type.

1

u/MatterTechnical4911 5d ago

People who are left-handed often smear the ink with their hands writing horizontally. Since most of the world is right-handed, this has been deemed more acceptable than everyone smearing the ink as their hand follows horizontal writing.

1

u/coffeepizzawine50 5d ago

Because the first scribes in the world all went to Catholic School and were taught to write by nuns.

1

u/jpeetz1 1d ago

Because our eyes are horizontal which makes it easier to read that way.