Why don't compasses have just two Cardinal directions (North, East, -North, -East)?
Do we really need West and South when we can use negative North and negative East?
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For most of human history people who couldn't do math, or read, or understand a map, have been communicating directions to each other.
4 directions is just enough to tell someone which way to face, without being too many to remember.
without being too many to remember
People used to have no problem remembering the names of at least eight winds, depending on the direction...
Here are the ones used in Catalonia, for instance; we were taught them at school:
Though, to be fair, llevant means where the sun rises and ponent where it sets, migjorn means midday, which makes sense given the other two, and everyone already knew tramuntana, cause it's a headache when it blows, so it's mostly the other four we have to remember... the Greek one seems quite harder, though, then again, I'm not Greek..:
Sure, but 4 is easier to remember?
We just say "North-East" for gregal or "North, North-East" if it's half between North and gregal. Other would be North-West, South-West, and South-East.
We used to say Boreas, Auster, Zephyr and Eurus
Sure, but that's usually much less poetic, North by Northwest notwithstanding.