Since we’re aimlessly floating in space with no real orientation, who first decided that the North Pole is “up” and the South Pole is “down” and not vice versa?
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It has to do with orientation of Maps. At first East was up as the rising Sun was the marker for orientation when traveling and making maps. This means it was the top of a Map. (That is also why Asia was called the Orient).
Once magnetic compasses were invented magnetic north became the orientation on maps used by those in the Northern Hemisphere. Since most of the human populace, and specifically all of Europe lives in the Northern Hemisphere that is what most people view as up on a map. This opinion was carried by Europe to its colonies, even those in the Southern Hemisphere.
So once we started making globes it was logical that up on the map meant up in the room for the globe and so the globe was mounted such that the north pole was at the top. This then carried over to mapping the Solar system as a whole once science advanced enough to start doing that.
Europeans.
Europe is the source of the maps we are most familiar with today, because European mapmaking was carried along with European ships when they went colonizing. European mapmakers have known for thousands of years that the Earth was roughly spherical, and that they were closer to one side of it than the other, and they naturally drew themselves in the center of the map. They also knew a lot more about what was South than what was in the extreme North, so Europe just sort of ended up top-center on the globe as far as they were concerned.
Several dozen centuries later and the great age of exploration has kicked off in Europe, at which point the British, in a massive excess of national pride, decided they were Longitude 0, dead center of the whole goddamn hemisphere, and then shot anyone who disagreed.
So here we are.
88% of all humans live in the northern hemisphere, that would have an effect on perception of orientation.
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