The Compass That Pointed Nowhere

||The sky—the compass was for stargazing||

Explanation:

The Riddle

An explorer found a golden compass deep in a jungle.
No matter how he turned it, the needle pointed straight up—never north.
He realized it wasn’t broken.
What did the compass point to?

Step 1: Why the Compass Seems Defective

A compass is assumed to:

• Lie flat
• Respond to Earth’s magnetic field
• Point toward north

But this one:

• Ignores orientation
• Defies rotation
• Points upward instead

So either:

• It’s broken
• Or it’s not a navigation compass at all

Step 2: Questioning the Name “Compass”

Historically, compass means:

“That which measures or guides”

It does not have to be magnetic.

The riddle invites us to abandon the magnetic assumption.

Step 3: The Answer Revealed

The sky—the compass was for stargazing.

Step 4: How a Sky-Compass Works

Such an instrument could:

• Align with a fixed celestial reference (like the pole star)
• Use gravity to keep the needle vertical
• Serve as a guide for astronomical alignment, not travel

Held correctly:

• The needle points upward
• Toward the heavens
• Not toward any direction on the ground

In a jungle canopy, it would seem useless—
unless you knew to look up, not out.

Step 5: Why the Explorer Understands

The realization comes when he notices:

• It behaves consistently
• It never wavers
• It is perfectly accurate—just not for Earthbound navigation

The compass wasn’t lying.
He was asking the wrong question.

Final Answer Explained

What did the compass point to?

The sky—it was a celestial compass meant for stargazing and alignment, not for finding north.