Whenever we would use the egocentric system, the Guugu Yimithirr rely on cardinal directions. If they want you to move over on the car seat to make room, they’ll say “move a bit to the east.” To tell you where exactly they left something in your house, they’ll say, “I left it on the southern edge of the western table.” Or they would warn you to “look out for that big ant just north of your foot.” Even when shown a film on television, they gave descriptions of it based on the orientation of the screen. If the television was facing north, and a man on the screen was approaching, they said that he was “coming northward."

Amazing.

Thank you NY Times Mag.

And, if you guessed that "the egocentric system" was the one you use when you tell your friend, through the back bathroom door, to look for spare toilet paper behind the towels, in the cabinet to the left of the sink, you guessed right.