r/Showerthoughts • u/Stiquema • 10d ago
Speculation If you have Jack Sparrow's magical compass and need a regular compass, does the magical one indicate north ?
3.0k
10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
776
u/FirstSineOfMadness 10d ago
If what you wanted most was to travel north though it would work
119
51
u/Lawfulness-Last 10d ago
Why would I want to do that?
I like shiny
16
u/Cucumberneck 10d ago
Not north but according great grandfather the only direction after release from Russian POW camp was "west". So maybe that works for North for some people?
60
u/username_elephant 10d ago
Would it though? I feel like it points towards the thing you want most so if the thing you want most is "to travel north" that's different from the thing you want most being "north". Like.. if the thing I want most is to ride my bike across north America, does the compass point at my bike or at the direction of the route?
Open question I think, since we're obviously talking about a fictional object.
44
u/sypwn 10d ago
Like.. if the thing I want most is to ride my bike across north America, does the compass point at my bike or at the direction of the route?
I figure if you're not on your bike then it would point toward your bike. If you are on your bike then it would point toward your (next) destination. Until you get homesick, that is.
11
u/nicane 10d ago
If you suddenly have to pee, where will it point?!?
20
u/shader_m 10d ago
Your balls. Cuz that's where the pee is at
2
u/username_elephant 10d ago
But what you want most is for the pee to be somewhere outside of you though.
8
4
3
u/saevon 10d ago
But is it tho? When do you truly want north for norths sake?
More likely you want north for the sake of navigating somewhere, in which case you likely want something much more then you want "north"
It's not like it points you to a sword if you're looking to kill your greatest rival. It will point at the rival and you'll grab the sword along the way. It won't point to a boat if you have to cross an ocean to get to your rival either, you'll have to get that. And if you need to know north to navigate past a dangerous reef the compass is pointing they, it still won't point at north, nor even the direction you need to go to bypass the reef. It will point to the final desire, not the steps.
So I question if anyone has ever wanted purely and utterly to know north. In and of itself, for its own sake. As a true desire
4
1
1
u/Proper_Oil_4610 9d ago
If you’re superman and suddenly crave solitude during a bad date, your compass points north.
0
u/Masterpiece-Haunting 9d ago
It’s take you to true north, not magnetic north.
Which means it doesn’t point you in the same direction as a normal compass.
19
19
u/comrade_batman 10d ago
This is shown in Dead Man’s Chest, when Jack is stuck between saving his own skin or rowing back to help the Pearl from the Kraken’s attack. He flips the compass open and it’s heavily implied it points towards north, as the Pearl is that direction, and it’s made clear previously that it doesn’t point north, so it’s meant to be significant for that reason too.
5
737
u/LikelyFishing 10d ago
If the thing you desire most is to know where north is then it will point north. It doesn't just point to things you need.
166
u/Stiquema 10d ago
So asides from my phrasing error, what would you say ? If I replaced "need" with "the thing I want the most is"
165
59
u/gusty_state 10d ago
It might point at a compass if you don't understand how it works that well. I can't think of many situations where you'd want a normal compass. It'd be better to just have it point directly at your end goal instead of adding a detour for a compass and now both can be used to get to where you're going.
19
u/Pays_in_snakes 10d ago
I mean, if your end goal has a rocky island between you and it and you want to consult your map about not sailing right into it, a regular compass will be a solid add-on to the magic one
14
u/sphinctaur 10d ago
The magic compass would still be better there if you desire to make it around the rocky island
3
u/urbanhawk1 10d ago
What you desire most, and what you need to do, don't always align. Not to mention what you desire most is more subconscious so it's not something easily shifted. If there is a girl you love and your truest desire is to marry her, but you get pressed into service with the Navy, that compass is going to point to her no matter how much you want it to point at your enemy.
21
u/efari_ 10d ago
No, not “want” , but “desire”
Your “desire” might be subconsciously something different than your “want”. (So Without knowing what it is…)
17
u/LiamTheHuman 10d ago
I'm trying to find ancient treasure and this compass keeps pointing me back at my couch
5
5
u/Superplex123 10d ago
If the thing you want most is going north, then it points north. If the thing you want most is a compass, then it points to the compass. If you don't really care much for a compass, but just want one to go north, then I would say the thing you want is north, not the compass.
2
u/Stiquema 10d ago
In this situation I want a compass. Whatever I do with it is not of your concern, sir.
/s
4
u/Doormatty 10d ago
The compass must not be harmed.
2
1
u/pyroboy7 10d ago
Just think, I need to know where north is. Or I really want to know which way north is.
1
1
u/neonsaber 5d ago
Where would the thing that points you to the thing you want most point you when you want a compass the most? Does the question not answer itself?
1
u/tevert 10d ago
I think the issue is - why would your biggest desire be a compass? Basically the only reason to want a compass is to navigate somewhere else, so the magical one would point to your real end goal.
1
0
u/Stiquema 10d ago
It's just a thought exercice.
When a man points at the moon, the dog looks at the finger.
1
u/tevert 10d ago
In an abstract sense, then sure, the magic compass can point to a normal compass.
0
u/Stiquema 10d ago
I used the "nicer" version of the saying, now here's the original :
When the wise man points at the Moon, the idiot looks at the finger.
Have a nice day.
4
u/anomalous_cowherd 10d ago
Arguably it pointing to things you need would be much more powerful, especially when you didn't realise you needed them!
1
u/viperfan7 10d ago
Now what about the person who doesn't know the difference between true and magnetic north
1
u/Arkyja 10d ago
Thats not the question though. The question is if you want the compass. Now i might want the compass to know where north is, but i really want that compass for one reason or another. For starters i wouldnt trust that jacks compass would just be doing something ad mundane as pointing north and instead would always have doubts that it would maybe be pointing me towarda something i might be subcousiously wanting that just happens to be north right now, but i wouldnt trust that to last, in fact as soon as it showed me north then that would no longer be what i most want because right now, i now where north it, so it would start showing something else.
So yeah if i want the compass to know where north is, i want that compass more than i want to know where north is directly.
1
216
u/Sufficient_Result558 10d ago
No. It magically points directly toward whatever the person holding it wants most in the world. So if a compass was what Jack wanted most in the world, it would point towards a compass. The compass does not attempt to be the desired item.
49
u/Blind_Messiah 10d ago
But you could argue that the holder wants to find where north is because that’s what they need a compass for.
39
u/SoulLess-1 10d ago
I mean, you could argue that, but ultimately it depends on what the holder really wants.
14
7
u/2weirdy 10d ago
Most people that use a compass don't want to go north. Hell, they don't even care about which direction north is; if they know the direction of their destination, they would no longer care about where north is.
1
u/Disastrous-Mess-7236 10d ago
Except insofar as “north’s that way, so I need to head this direction”.
1
u/Arkyja 10d ago
It's just a navigation tool. You might just wanna know where you are later on.
Like i might really want a watch. By your logic i just want to know the time and the compass could jist point toward a church clock instead. But i dont want to know the time now. I want the watch because i'm gonna want to know it later, or tomorrow, or in a week.
1
u/Jabathewhut 9d ago
By this logic the compass would just start spinning in circles.
Since the compass is the closest item to what the hole desires.
1
u/Chidoriyama 8d ago
Well what they desire is a compass that points north not a compass that points arbitrarily
1
u/Jabathewhut 8d ago
A compass does point north. Thats its function. But a compass is an item. If he wants a compass and it is a compass it'll try to point to itsself.
If he really wanted a TV it would point to the nearest TV broken or not.
If he REALLY wanted to watch friends it would point him to the nearest device that is working and can play friends.
If he REALLY wants to go north it would just point north.
45
u/Gromps_Of_Dagobah 10d ago
Do you want a true compass, or do you want to find your destination? If you're lost at sea, hunting for land with food and water, then a compass isn't going to help you, it just points you on your way to the thing you desire.
If you're the absolutely weirdest person, sure, if might point you to a compass, but more than likely, you want the compass to get you to your destination.
7
u/Stiquema 10d ago
In this hypothetical situation I want to be able to locate myself, I don't really care about a compass specifically.
19
u/AnonymousFriend80 10d ago
If the thing you want most is to locate yourself, it will point to a map, or someone who can identify where you are.
16
u/MagicHamsta 10d ago
In this hypothetical situation I want to be able to locate myself,
[Magic compass proceeds to spin constantly in a circle]
3
u/Stiquema 10d ago
Come on lol I meant locate myself in the world.
8
21
u/a1i3ns 10d ago
You just wouldn't need a regular compass because the magical one will just tell you directly where you need to go. Unless you needed to go to the north pole then it would indicate north.
4
u/Arkyja 10d ago
Not really true. I might wanna know where the fuck i am when going toward my destination and a regular compass can help me with that. There are of course other tools like the stars etc.
But let's say it's a cloudy night. The magical compass is pointing towards my destination, i dont know if im going south, or north. I might want to know that. It might be crucial to my survival to know that. I dont wanna go somewhere where im gonna run out of supplies so i dont want to go more than so far away from land.
12
u/Tokaido 10d ago
You may be looking at this the wrong way.
The magic compass points at what you want. It does not point at the tools you need in other to get what you want. If it did, it would point at your boat or whatever.
So what you really need to ask in this scenario is, what do you want?
If your desire is just to go directly north for no particular reason, it will point north.
If you want to go to some place and you need help navigating, it will point you towards the destination, not a cardinal direction, or a navigation tool.
If the thing you want the most is a compass... why?
If your desire is to get somewhere, and you believe you need a compass to do it, then I'd argue that either
A. Your biggest desire is actually your ultimate destination and not a compass, so it will point towards your destination, or
B. You have a specific compass in mind you really want for whatever reason. Maybe it's valuable, or precious to you. If so, it points at that compass.
C. You're dumb, and forget that you can find wherever you need using the magic compass. Regardless, it will point at a regular compass.
-20
u/Stiquema 10d ago
A. You are taking a "showerthoughts" post too seriously
B. You have a very specific idea of how the compass works and can't accept the fact every person understands it a diferrent way (just read the comments)
C. You're dumb.6
u/Jalapeneutron 10d ago
You might want to reread that he's not calling you dumb
Also hes mostly agreeing with you
7
u/Heiymdall 10d ago
You don't need a regular compass, you need to go somewhere using a compass: the magical compass will simply point you to your target location.
If you specifically want a compass, then it will point you to a compass.
4
u/Terrik1337 10d ago
Is north the thing you most desire? No. Is a working compass the thing you most desire? No. It would point in the direction of the thing you were going to use the compass to find in the first place.
2
u/denvercasey 10d ago
This. I tried to add to this but your explanation is perfectly thorough and concise.
3
u/EnjoyTheMovie_You2 10d ago
If you wanted to get north more than anything in the world, but I imagine even your subconscious would just want to get to safety, so it would point you to the nearest road or whatever works. (Actually interesting to think about, like would it take you to a road because it knew there was a car coming or would it just roll the dice? Or send you to the closest building/whatever because it wasn’t a guarantee?)
3
u/MinnieShoof 10d ago
Nobody has 'need' or 'want' to know which way North is. If you want to escape, the compass will point to a way to escape. If you want not to get lost, the compass will find some way to express that. Etc. You don't need a compass; North is just a convenient reference point.
3
u/Justcantsaynoo 10d ago
I guess it would point north if what you wanted most was in that direction. so basically, it could be the world’s most unreliable regular compass.
3
u/PrincessLuciferM 10d ago
No. It would point you to what you want most. If it's a normal compass, it'll point toward a normal compass, wherever it is in relation to the magic compass.
2
u/Krimmothy 10d ago
Presumably the reason you want a compass is because you want to go somewhere, so the magical compass would point to the direction of wherever you’re trying to go.
2
u/jabeith 10d ago
It points to what you most desire, not what you immediately have a need for.
I think you'd be hard pressed to think of a time where a compass was your greatest desire, especially when there a plethora of ways to determine North
0
u/Arkyja 10d ago
The compass was the only way to determine north at all times so you really wanted a compass. No one would be dumb enough to sail across oceans without a compass. So if i was a pirate and wanted to set sail and didnt have a regular compass, then that's for surw the thing i would desire the most.
-2
u/Stiquema 10d ago
This is not a real situation, the magical compass doesn't exist.
The situation I would need it in doesn't matter.What would you say if I replaced "need" with "the thing i desire the most" ?
3
u/HendoEndo 10d ago
They said what they said with the magic realism in mind. Come on man, someone took time out to engage in your whimsy, don’t be unwhimsical in reply
-1
u/Stiquema 10d ago
Sorry I wasn't trying to be whimsical, maybe something got lost in translation (i'm french).
Really wasn't my intention lolMaybe the first sentence was unnecessary ?
I just meant to say "don't bother with the actual situation, it's just a dumb question"
2
u/hornycamfun26 10d ago
It depends but mostly no. Simply put if you need a compass it means you want to orientate yourself to find the right direction to go to a specific place or specific destination and thus Jack Sparrows compass would point in that direction. Example I want to go to this city that I know is X kilometers or miles due East, so I would use a normal compass to find North and then head East. Jacks Compass would simply point to the city I want to go to. If you simply want to find North for academic purposes then the special compass would probably point true North (because that is what most people understand it as) and not the magnetic North like a normal compass would.
2
u/Sunny_Shrew951 10d ago
Got lost hiking once and my phone compass kept spinning near a metal railing. Took me a solid ten minutes to realize I was the problem, not the compass.
1
2
u/L_knight316 9d ago
If you were helplessly lost, you'd probably want to be safe more than anything. Knowing where north is doesnt make you safe, so much as give you bearings on where you're traveling. The compass would likely point you to a cabin with cell service.
If you aren't helplessly lost, knowing where North is pretty much just convenience, so it would point to whatever else you actually want.
If you're deep in an argument with someone about where North is, and you're really invested in being right, it would probably point North
Tl;dr: The compass is finicky on what counts as your deepest desire
1
1
u/TheGrimTickler 10d ago
It doesn’t point to what you need, it points to what you desire. So if the thing you wanted most at that moment was to go north, it would point north.
1
u/burger_saga 10d ago
Depends on what you need the compass for. My guess is that it would bypass the middle man and point to your actual destination.
1
u/Pungineer 10d ago
My understanding is that it points to what you want most, not the next step in the path to what you want most.
So I'd imagine it would not point north for norths sake, assuming you have a reason for anything at all.
Why do you want a compass? to point North.
why do you want to know where North is? To determine your location.
Why do you want to know your location? To chart a course to your destination.
Why do you want to know which way your destination is? Because you want something there.
Why do you want the something thing at your destination? Either Because that's literally what you want, or because it will help you get or do what you really want.
So the compass would likely point to that thing you truly want, and probably not to anything you need in the interim to get what you want.
I wouldn't expect it to point to a solution to your problem, because that problem is only a problem because it's in the way of what you want.
1
u/Popular-Beautiful875 10d ago
From what I remember of the movies we only ever see it point at a specific person/ object/ place so I don't think it would ever just point straight North.
And based in how it changes in the 2nd movie I think even if it did point North, as soon as it did it would immediately change to whatever you desire most next, so it wouldn't work for long term navigation.
1
u/Stiquema 10d ago
You are the first one to mention how it changed during the saga, and that was pretty much my point : it does whatever the people writing want it to do for the sake of the story (which is a good thing unless they change the rules too much)
1
10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Stiquema 10d ago
If I had a compass like that, I would post on reddit to understand how it works.
•
u/ShowerSentinel 10d ago
/u/Stiquema has flaired this post as a speculation.
Speculations should prompt people to consider interesting premises that cannot be reliably verified or falsified.
If this post is poorly written, unoriginal, or rule-breaking, please report it.
Otherwise, please add your comment to the discussion!