Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls The Right Brain vs the Left Brain

My friend Macca showed me this just before lunch today. I saw it going clockwise, but my other friend, Cathy, kept seeing it changing directions. I tried to make it go anti-clockwise, but it stubbornly refused. I went to lunch and forgot about it.

After lunch, Macca told me that he'd discovered that you had to watch the legs to get it to change direction. And it worked! I got it to go anti-clockwise!

So now, instead of watching the dancer spin, I can make her pivot on the spot.

At first it was clockwise only. I couldn't imagine it going the other direction. But as I stared at it, it suddenly switched. Now I, too, can make it go in either direction. However, it usually starts in the clockwise spinning direction when I first look at it. Not always, but mostly.

I write software for a living, and mostly feel I live in the left-brain world - so this surprised me. I have a great love of art, and have read the book "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" many times (and practiced the exercises many times as well). I've found that if I'm having difficulty with figuring out a problem, I'll "push it into the right side of my brain" and let it stew while I work on something else.

What usually happens is that the solution "pops" into my consciousness, fully formed, at the most unexpected times (like while I'm watching TV, sleeping, in the shower, mowing the yard...). My right side worked on the problem for me while I was doing other things.

Cool pic/exercise!

She was going counter-clockwise when I first looked. Then I went to scroll down and blinked because she had suddenly changed direction. I tried the 'looking at the legs' thing, but I can't seem to "make" it happen. If I look away for a second or two it seems to be about 50/50 how she'll be spinning when I look back.

I thought clockwise to start, but then it went anti-clockwise and I couldn't make her go the other way again.

It would be interesting to do a left handed/right handed comparison in this regard. I'm right-handed so I use my left brain more. That's right, isn't it? - pardon the pun. So it stands to reason that I would see her going anti-clockwise, like the majority of the population.

It is said after all, that only left handed people are in their right minds.

Interesting. Or am I talking a load of crap?

...Scratch what I just said. I've just tried again and now she's going the other way.

How odd. It's going clockwise for me, and I can NOT make it change. Between the angle of the feet and the shadow below, I can only see it going clockwise. From the descriptions, I seem to be a mix of the two. And I'm right-handed.

I'm with gr8tshades - I think it randomly switches and they're just having a laugh at our expense.

There's just no way you can "make" something go 'right to left' or 'left to right' in a moving image that isn't already programmed to be there. If it was a stationary image, sure. But it's not.

I clicked the wrong button on the poll! I see it as counter-clockwise.

Weird. Now ALL I can see is her spinning clockwise.

It's like those infernal 3D pics that were so popular in the early 90's. Maybe if I take my contacts out and squint she'll go the other way again.

Or maybe, subconsciously, I just don't like being labeled "normal".

I voted for counter-clockwise, because that's how I initially saw it. At first I was dumbfounded as to how it could possibly move another direction. Then, staring at the legs for a while (actually, I think it was the space where the shadow of the foot and the foot almost meet), she changed direction. After a little practice, I can now get her to change direction at my will. I feel powerful!

I'm still a little baffled how someone could create an animated image to test this - mindblowing, it is!

Sara

P.S. I'm right-handed.

Clock-wise for me. And no matter what I do, she refuses to go the other way around. Most likely it's my brain saying, once that way, always that way. But interesting that it can be seen either way!

Saskia

I totally agree. And me being left handed has absolutely nothing to do with it. :p

I wish I'd thought of the comparison of left and right handed people at the time I started this poll. It won't let me edit the poll itself, only the text beforehand.

When I first saw it she was going clockwise... then when i looked at it again she was going counter-clock wise.

Then after staring at it forever with my co-workers (one of who thinks it is a gif that is made that way and doesn't have anything to do with your brain no matter how much I tell her I'm seeing something different) it started back the other way.

LOL I think I concentrate to hard because it is only by accident that she changes direction.

Very interesting. At first I could only see it going Clockwise - but then I did as suggested and concentrated on the legs. Now I can pretty much go back and forth at will.

Oh, but there is only one place during the spin where I can make it change - when the legs cross each other. Anyone else find that?

ML

Does having "Dial up" make any difference

It only goes clockwise...and very... very... slowly...<snoooooor>

...ah, me time....

I must be hardcore right-brain. I've been staring at her and trying the leg thing for a good five minutes, and I think anyone who sees a counter-clockwise movement is absolutely crazy LOL. Or maybe I am... *raised eyebrow*

JD

fun poll

For those that think it was just made that way...

Being the geek that I am, I deconstructed the gif and it is made up of only 34 frames, not nearly enough for there to be a 'fix in the mix'.

It truly is all in your head...

James, who first saw it counter clockwise and then when I went to change something on my other screen, it changed direction. It would never change while I was watching it, only when I was indirectly looking at it.

James

All I see is the default girl from Poser 4... *giggles madly* I am such a dork that instead of checking what the poll was about, I marveled at the fact that I could ID which 3D model they had used to make the animation with.

...for the record, though. I can make her switch at will. I close my eyes a sec, she's going one way. Do it again and will her to go the other way and she does.

I'm feeling like the emperor has no clothes here! James is right - it's a GIF! The direction of spin is predetermined - we can't control it.

Ah, the power of the mind to delude itself.

At first all I saw was clockwise. Then I started staring at her feet (her right foot specifically, and the shadow it casts) and it switched to counter-clockwise. Now I can make it switch back and forth, but it takes a little effort.

While I watched it load up it started going clockwise for me, but when I scrolled down to read the posts and then scrolled back, it was going counter clockwise. It also shifted direction a couple of times. It seems, though, that when I go away and come back, it's always going counter clockwise. Then it shifts back and forth randomly. Don't know what that means. <shrug>

Nan

I can only see it going clockwise, I can't make it go the other way at all! Odd, because when I was in Critical Thinking at school, I'm sure I took a test which indicated that I used the left side of my brain slightly more than my right.

Gaah, I can't see her going counter-clockwise at all. Clockwise and purely clockwise for me.

Looking at the descriptions, I'd say I'm a bit of both, but, well. Whatever it says.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

I clicked on 'it switches between the two', but I'm not sure that's actually the right answer.

When I first saw the dancer, she was going anticlockwise then, after about half a minute or a minute, she switched direction. Now, no matter how hard I try, I can't get her to do anything other than go clockwise.

How do you get her to switch at will?

Chris

I clicked I can change it at will. It started out clockwise for me but after reading some of the posts I went back up and looked at it again. I found by starring at the whole picture I could make it go counter clockwise. Then I could change it back by blinking hard.

Although I always considered myself right handed because I write with that hand in a pinch and can write very badly with my left. I also count money, drain pots when cooking and several other things as a left handed person would.

I have a left handed nephew and found out from his mother (my older sister) that our father was right handed but back then they forced you to learn everything right handed. She like me is either right or left handed depending on the task she is performing. So I guess we use both sides of our brains more equally than most.

I just looked at her again, and suddenly she went ani-clockwise! But then I closed my eyes for a second, and she's back to clockwise. *sigh* I don't know how I did it, but at least I know it's possible now.

Saskia

She started anti-clockwise for me, but I quickly learned how to change her direction at will. That's a cool trick on the eyes/mind...whatever you want to call it!

When I first looked at it, it was spinning clockwise, but when I scrolled down and looked away and then came back, it was spinning counter-clockwise. I tried changing it while I looked at it, but it didn't work. However, if I looked away and pictured it going the other direction, that was the direction it would be going when I looked back. I noticed that when she appears to be going clockwise, her heel touches her shadow with her toe facing away from us, but when she's going counter-clockwise, her toe is toward us when her heel touches down, so it's obviously a matter of perception.

How do you change it at will? One direction, she appears to be extending her left leg, and the other direction, she appears to be extending her right, so think about changing her to the opposite leg. My grand-daughter saw her swiveling back and forth for a moment, rather than making complete circles, so she reached the point where she saw the dancer going either way, which is what I have noticed on other silhouettes where you can't tell if the figure is facing you or facing away.

BTW, I'm right-handed in most gross motor activities and left-handed in most fine motor, and whenever I've taken a right-left-brain test, I've always tested almost dead even. Probably why I love English AND math.

I'm seriously tripping myself out on this picture. Two days ago I had no trouble switching between counter clockwise and clockwise, now all I see is clockwise. The picture is refusing to switch.

Hmm...Seeing clockwise means you use your right side of the brain, huh? Well I have been immersed in creating a new vid.

Maybe there is something to all of this.

Ha! Got it going anti-clockwise again.

2 minutes later and we're back the other way. Rats!

This is fun! Thanks Saskia, for pointing this out to me.

All I see is clockwise. The dancer is refusing to switch! Maybe my brain is too befuddled right now, I really should go to bed. I'll try again tomorrow.

Ursie

I started seeing it clock-wise, then it turned the other way. I can get it to switch in either direction but it takes several seconds before my mind will switch it.

I have always been very left-brained and pretty much exclusively left-brained and I work in a left-brained world, so it surprises me that I saw it going clock-wise first.

Clockwise

I can make it change sometimes, but then I hafta try and change it back.

Does anyone else find it funny that the original article claimed that most of us see this spinning counter-clockwise and yet we seem to be emphatically clockwise?

Maybe the majority of people have no imagination, and it's kind of a rquirement for these boards...

I peek at every once in a while and about the half the time, she goes in a different direction.

So half an imagination then? Or an organized imagination? Or... a chaotic orderliness? No wonder I can never get anything done.

I'm like that guy who jumped on his horse and rode off in all four directions.

btw, does anyone find the time of day makes a difference?

c.

Could be, Carol. Last night when I first looked at the image it was past midnight and I was very tired. But now the dancer goes into all directions! Amazing!

Ursie

Well, at first it only went clockwise for me. After staring at her feet for about five minutes, I got my first change to counter-clockwise. When I look at it for the first time (each time I try this), I see it rotating clockwise, but I can make it change. If I made the change to counter-clockwise just before looking away and back again, I still see her spinning counter-clockwise. Anyway, I can easily change direction to clockwise, but it's much harder the other way round.

EDIT:

GAH! Now she's turning counter-clockwise, and I can't make her change anymore. But then, when I first got here, I was on a site with lots of patterns and images which sparked my imagination and creativity (right brain function). When I came back (after posting), I used my (foreign!) language skills for typing (left brain function). I wonder if there is a connection?

Hmm... I think I agree. I’ve seen her go both ways.

I don’t think right handedness or left handedness has to do with left brained or right brained so to say. I’m right handed AND I’m right brained (or so I’ve been told). I’m mostly seeing her going clockwise, but I’ve also see her go the other way. I’m like great shades... I think they are trying to fool us. I think I can get the dancer to change directions, but I’m not sure if I’m doing it... or it’s just a coincidence.

Hey, that’s it!

Well, at first, I seemed to be able to make her change quite quickly. Now she’s firmly stuck on clockwise.

Creative people here...

I think you may have a good point, Mellie.

I can't completely control it, but for awhile, by blinking at the right time and convincing myself of which way she was going, I started switching every half turn. I think there are two places where it can be done. At the point where her legs cross and when her leg is pointing straight out. Because it is really 2D even though it seems 3D to me, I can't see something switching directions (left vs. right) but when her leg points straight out, I choose what's going back and what's coming forward.

I'm starting to get where I can switch each half-turn and she never faces me.

Edit: I think I'm just plain out of my mind, but that's another story.

I think it changes directions on its own. The first time I clicked in here I looked at it and it was going clockwise. Then I read down all the posts and went back and looked. I got it to switch by staring at it which, of course, took a number of seconds to get it to do.

Well now I watch it without starring and it changes direction on its own. It seems to spin one way for about 15 seconds and then the other for 15 seconds, then switches again for a number of seconds and then back again.

I definitely think it does it on its own.

I also thought it was switching on its own, but then I concentrated and got it to go anti-clockwise while it was still going clockwise for my husband, so it is definitely a perception thing.

It's definitely a perception thing because I've now gotten to the point where I can stop her from spinning all together. I get her to swing back and forth, switching her direction before she can even make a full turn.

Now, when I do it, I can feel some muscle being worked behind my eyes.

However, one thing that I find interesting is that when I first look at her, she's always spinning clockwise first.

(By the way, I've obviously spent far too much time staring at this thing )

ML

I've finally mastered this!

If I watch her going one way, then scroll down a bit so the upper half of her body is missing for a couple of seconds, then go up again, she changes direction. And it keeps working!

Does the fact that she's spinning slowly on this pc make a difference? Maybe my brain needs time to catch up.

Whatever the reason, I feel very powerful!

Quick update: the above only works for me when she's turning slowly. I can't do it now she's going faster. I no longer feel powerful.
And now I've taken to turning my head round in circles in an attempt to make her go the other way - also doesn't work btw. Must stop now before people think I'm insane.

Ok, I only see clockwise, and I think that the rest of you who see her going counter clockwise are crazy!

Well, I guess I should call myself crazy cuz I finally saw it go counter clock wise too.

First I saw it clockwise. But with a little bit of concentration I can switch between clockwise and anti-clockwise.

Interesting poll

I just selected clockwise.

I had a super hard time getting it to change the other way. I had to use the tip suggested - I had to scroll the screen up to just be able to view the legs - but I can only get her to do a 3/4 turn and it jumps back to clockwise when I view her whole body.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

No matter what I did, I was seeing it spinning clockwise. *ponders*

It's going from one to the other over and over for me.

Hey, nice trick!!!

I think it is a .gif (or any other animation) file that has been programmed to spin clockwise for a few seconds (or some random no. of turns) and then anti-clockwise!!!

Anyway, nice info about the right and left brain!!!

I hate to be a drag, but tests like this don't "prove" right or left brain abilities, and they certainly don't predict personality traits. Tests of your visual cortex just aren't capable of making those determinations.

In reality, except in extremely rare cases, we all use both hemispheres of our brains, and while L/R handedness does have something to do with the different hemispheres (as does linguistic acquistion and memory to some extent), it takes a battery of tests to determine whether you are L/R dominant. This particular test isn't a validated test so it wouldn't even be a part of a larger project used to isolate cortex abilities.

I know we all like to have fun with perception, but I just had to say this, b/c I get annoyed with pop psychology/science that spreads around and gets people to believe things that aren't the case. It makes it a lot harder for valid science to prevail.

But, perception is fun.