Does greater than always face one direction?

Answer 1

Yes.

The sign for "is greater than" is > and means that the value on the left is greater than that on the right.

X > Y means that X is greater than Y

The opposite direction is always read as "is less than" and is also read from left to right.

A < B means A is less than B

.... although that means that B is greater than A, it is not read, or used, that way. If you want to indicate that B is greater than A you need to put it as B > A.

Answer 2

yes