this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
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Only in a top-down perspective. Most screens are vertically oriented though, meaning the reference 2D plane is left-right-up-down.
You're mixing up perspective with the object's actual coordinates system. The "left-right-up-down" are your perspective or computer screen and do not define the axes of the object itself. The object has its own.
If I rotate a map on a table, it's X and Y don't suddenly flip. The coordinates belong to the object, I'm just viewing them from a different perspective now.
In mathematics, the Z axis only exists because it's defined as being perpendicular to an existing plane (the plane X and Y form). The gridlines represent that plane and Z's extrusion values reference it. Your perspective or viewing angle don't influence these coordinates at all.
Commonly we face the XY plane down as it's "floor". We build things from the ground up. We draw from top down. It's just how gravity brought the standard around. You can flip it however you want, though. But if you see a grid, that's a plane and Z is extrusion off that.
By your own logic there is no “up”, only x/y/z, so what’s your complaint?
There is NO mathematical or physical reason why XY should be the floor, that is your own bias.
No. That is not my logic. It's the logic of Rene Descartes who invented the thing you are trying to talk about.
And because gaslighting attempts online are hilarious, I'll assume you just didn't read so good and will repeat myself again; we tend to rest the plane on the floor, as it is in our reality with gravity it is easier to conceive. Like modelling a car, it's wheels on the screen spend most of the time pointed down.
You don't have to. You can model it any direction you want, but most people find it easy in an orientation that mimics common perspective. But however you do it, you still can't have a Z axis without a plane. That's the point. Grid is plane and plane is needed for Z. If you have a grid on Z it's representing an infinitely possible slice through extrusion and that's basically a concept behind some fractals, which introduces a new vector for new XYZ points within.
I know you really want to be right but this is very long-standing foundational and basic stuff we just do. It isn't my logic or opinion, I'm sharing this knowledge to you, something you can very easily look up yourself right now and forget I even exist—which would be neat.
By that logic the only non-arbitrary dimension is defined by gravity, so the primary axis (X) should be up and down.
Math is not rigid like you are saying: 3D coordinates can be oriented in any direction because they are fundamentally arbitrary. A lot of people a damn lot smarter than you have damn good reasons for using different coordinate systems, and they are mathematically correct.