system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why are maps and nearly all pictures of earth from space oriented south to north?

I understand the linear orientation is probably driven by the poles. But what about the solar system, we look at everything from our sun to neighboring planets the same way...was it by chance or early astronomers drawings? Is it something to do with direction of spin/orbit?
gpt
It is only by preference. Most of the continents are in the North part of the globe. Mapping software can now make maps with any orientation. You can use Google Earth to show you the world oriented in any direction.

Producers of maps are taught to include a directional sign, usually North, on the map to help with orientation. But so many maps are now made by people who are not professional cartographers that this tradition is fading.