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General Science => General Science => Topic started by: redredwine on 27/10/2007 19:12:55

Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: redredwine on 27/10/2007 19:12:55
the link below will tell you which side of your brain is most dominant; left or right, and what this means  [:o]

http://www.firstclassgraduates.com/left_or_right_brain_test.php (http://www.firstclassgraduates.com/left_or_right_brain_test.php)
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lightarrow on 27/10/2007 19:23:53
Do really most of people see the dancer turning anti-clockwise? I've tried, but it seems it's impossible for me to see her turning that way.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 27/10/2007 19:37:44
I'm with Alberto on this 1.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: another_someone on 27/10/2007 20:04:46
I saw a reference to this a couple of weeks ago on an email list.  Most of the people (including myself) only saw if going clockwise (if seen from above), but a small handful of people seemed to be able to flip it either way, sometimes clockwise, sometimes anticlockwise - no-one would see it exclusively anti-clockwise.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Carolyn on 27/10/2007 20:21:01
I could only see it going clockwise.  Nic looked at it and saw it going clockwise, but when he walked away from the computer and looked at it from a different angle he saw it going counter clockwise.  Didn't work for me.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Karen W. on 27/10/2007 22:14:16
When I was first viewing her she was going counter or anti-clockwise. I looked around read a few things looked at her again and this time she was going clockwise!

seems it depends on what side I click the orange anti-clockwise or the orange clockwise! LOL


Definitely both for me. I can just think about it and can see her turning both ways both ways easily!
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: JimBob on 27/10/2007 22:26:40
I am with Karen in that I can see it both ways easily but I saw it clockwise first. perhaps it is the first impression? I am detailed oriented but can also "get it'.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 27/10/2007 22:33:51
That's weird. I concentrated on the lower foot, trying to make myself see it going anti-clockwise. After a while I did & now I can't get it going clockwise again  [:o]

UPDATE!
Heh... now I can get it to swap when I want.  [:)]
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: redredwine on 27/10/2007 22:36:33
Yes, i have to admit most people are saying they see it clockwise. When I tried this at work, most people were saying anticlockwise.

I personally think it is to do with mood. Over the weekend, most people see clockwise. Try again when you are at work.

Might sound a bit arty farty, but it does seem to change with context.

btw, when she is facing you, if the out-lying leg is going from left to right as you see it, across the screen, then that is anticlockwise.

Clockwise is your right to left as she is facing you.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: redredwine on 27/10/2007 22:40:22
The way you can make it change direction is solely to do with the way your brain interprets what input is getting at that time, and then how you deal with it. Obviously this is imfluenced by conscious thought, emotion, and alertness amongst others.

Has massive implications for the way large groups of people interpret the world on a day to day basis.....maybe [???]

Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: techmind on 28/10/2007 00:01:08
Do really most of people see the dancer turning anti-clockwise? I've tried, but it seems it's impossible for me to see her turning that way.
I see her going either way - I only have to lapse concentration for a few moments (e.g. look elsewhere on the screen, or go into a daydream) and she flips. I consider myself a classic "left-brain" person... but sometimes I think I just suppress the right-brained stuff (it is there when you get past the left-brain facade).
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Soul Surfer on 28/10/2007 19:05:14
I normally see the dancer going clockwise but with a bit of effort I can see her going anticlockwise but if my concentration lapses it switches back to clockwise. but I was not sure how I manage to change the direction but after some careful observation if I just use my peripheral vision it thends to go anticlockwise and moving the image with care to the centre of the visual field it holds that interpretation. 

My wife also tends to see it going clockwise.  Although her skills are mostly related to left brain functions.

However we are both left handed but I don't know how that might affect it
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lightarrow on 28/10/2007 19:52:53
the link below will tell you which side of your brain is most dominant; left or right, and what this means  [:o]

http://www.firstclassgraduates.com/left_or_right_brain_test.php (http://www.firstclassgraduates.com/left_or_right_brain_test.php)

It doesn't seem correct to me that who sees her going clockwise uses his right brain more than his left. If most people belong to the first class, they should be left brained; or it's not so?
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lyner on 30/10/2007 10:52:14
I get both directions. Can't 'force it', though. It seems to be random.
But is the picture truly symmetrical - fore and aft?
The silhouette of a real dancer, near to the observer, because of perspective,  the outside foot would appear to be moving faster when in front and slower when behind (that is, if there was a diffuse light source behind the dancer- not if  a shadow were projected on a screen from a point source, when it would be the other way round).
 Perhaps there's a hint of that, built into the movie- to make it appear going anticlockwise and the logical half of the brain manages to detect it. Then, there's some propensity to look for clockwise in our holistic left side  and,so, that type of persons sees  clockwise  preferentially. The natural rotations we all see (sun shadows) all  go clockwise, so we may  have learned to 'look for' that pattern.

There was an 'interval' film on BBC TV, years ago, that showed a similar paradoxical effect - using a rotating window and a bar to create an optical illusion. Does anyone else remember it?
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: hamza on 30/10/2007 14:06:51
Hi everyone.. I have been through this on the newscientist website... The thing is that it has nothing to do with right or left side of brain. Because you can actually make it turn in whichever direction you want to.. Here's a little thing i want u guys to do.. turn your head to your right or left side and see this dancing girl with the corner of your eye i-e if you turn your head to the right , watch it with the corner of your left eye and vice versa.  If you did it right, you would actually be able to control her to move in anti-clockwise or clockwise manner..Another thing you will notice is that when she changes direction while u watch her with the corner of you eye , she seems to actually stop for a moment.. lol.. Enjoy and do tell me if the trick works for you guys [:)].. It surely worked for me...
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lightarrow on 30/10/2007 17:04:13
Hi everyone.. I have been through this on the newscientist website... The thing is that it has nothing to do with right or left side of brain. Because you can actually make it turn in whichever direction you want to..
How can the fact you can see her turning as you like demonstrate it has nothing to do with left or right brain?
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lyner on 30/10/2007 20:42:52
If you look carefully you can see  a clue telling you that she 'is', actually turning anticlockwise. The shadow of her extended foot is rotating and the front bit of its path is cut off. You can, in act, see the bit under her foot when it is pointing away from you. When you can see it, her foot is moving from right to left. That's a nice analytical way of treating the problem - a  left brain process.
Follow the shadow with your eyes and you can see her going anticlockwise.
Can anyone find a way to force the other view?
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Soul Surfer on 31/10/2007 10:16:29
Very true sophiecentaur.  If you block the image at the bottom to remove the shadows its much easier to reverse the interpreded direction.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lightarrow on 31/10/2007 10:16:58
If you look carefully you can see  a clue telling you that she 'is', actually turning anticlockwise. The shadow of her extended foot is rotating and the front bit of its path is cut off. You can, in act, see the bit under her foot when it is pointing away from you. When you can see it, her foot is moving from right to left. That's a nice analytical way of treating the problem - a  left brain process.
Follow the shadow with your eyes and you can see her going anticlockwise.
Can anyone find a way to force the other view?

Looking at the shadow I can more easily see her going anticlockwise, but I sincerely don't see any difference even in the shadow, when I see her going clockwise. It really seems completely simmetric.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Karen W. on 31/10/2007 10:37:03
yep looked again tonight still see her both ways!
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: another_someone on 31/10/2007 12:48:38
If you look carefully you can see  a clue telling you that she 'is', actually turning anticlockwise. The shadow of her extended foot is rotating and the front bit of its path is cut off. You can, in act, see the bit under her foot when it is pointing away from you. When you can see it, her foot is moving from right to left. That's a nice analytical way of treating the problem - a  left brain process.
Follow the shadow with your eyes and you can see her going anticlockwise.
Can anyone find a way to force the other view?


Now you mention about the shadow, I can for the first time imagine her turning anti-clockwise as well as clockwise; but when I imagine her going anti-clockwise, I get quite a bit of eye strain and a slight headache (but I can now flip between clockwise and anti-clockwise, even if the clockwise remains the more comfortable image).
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: techmind on 31/10/2007 13:25:55
The shadow of her extended foot is rotating and the front bit of its path is cut off. You can, in act, see the bit under her foot when it is pointing away from you. When you can see it, her foot is moving from right to left. That's a nice analytical way of treating the problem - a  left brain process.
Follow the shadow with your eyes and you can see her going anticlockwise.
I think you'll find it's a reflection in the floor rather than a shadow, and hence gives no clues to the rotation.
However if the viewer were to interpret it as a shadow...
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: lyner on 31/10/2007 16:54:44
Well well - are you a left or a right brainer??
Both our answers are a bit too analytical to be right brain material.
I should be interested to know which type people would like to be  thought of as being.
As I said before - it keeps changing direction for me, so I can't tell which I am.
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Alandriel on 31/10/2007 19:04:09

Maybe some of these (http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/) will help sort out any confusions.

I'm definitely a right brain person - no need for spinning girl to tell me this conclusively
 [;D]
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Karen W. on 31/10/2007 19:31:54
Well I see pretty equal amounts of myself in both right and left side lists. I see her going both ways with just the waay I think about it. Is it possible to be equally both left and right brained... perhaps just nicely balanced??? LOL!
Title: What side of your brain do you use?
Post by: Bored chemist on 31/10/2007 20:00:12
I saw the dancer move both ways so I thought about the original question. It turns out I use the inside of my brain.

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