Are you left- or right-brained? Take the test!

internal phrenology

No matter how much I look at this, it seems like she's moving in a clockwise direction. When I scroll down and hold the mouse so that it freezes when I come back up, she clearly starts moving in a clockwise direction as soon as I let go. Looking at the shadow and everything. It disturbs me a bit that there's a whole perspective on this thing that I'm missing. I just got results from a psych test that said my visual/spatial skills are seriously underdeveloped in comparison to my verbal skills (is that left vs right?) and I fear this might confirm it.

yeah... but that's pretty normal. the vast majority are strong in either direction... rare are those in the middle.
m.

Hm, by the distinctions here, though, I would have thought that I'm ultra-left-brained.

im ascared like sundar!

Now I get it.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/diablosk/itam/random/dancer2.gif

Holy shit!

(Oddly, the moment I scroll away and look back, she's going clockwise again.)

Huh. Now she's just kind of wildly switching back and forth.

what characterizes the left brain and right brain?

-- CaptainLorax, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 01:54 (3 hours ago) Link

internal phrenology

-- remy bean, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 01:55 (3 hours ago) Link

Yes, exactly. Remy otm.

This is a fun metafilter thread, packed with links.

Even better: this article about what happens to a brain when half (yes, half!) of it is removed. Short answer: it adapts.

The human brain is literally the most complicated organ... system... thing in the known universe. Literally.

This is some hilarious prank you're all playing on me, isn't it? She is clearly spinning clockwise. No amount of blinking, squinting, looking away or anything else is making it change.

Even better: this article about what happens to a brain when half (yes, half!) of it is removed.

I feel I should re-emphasize this. This is a really good article.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/03/060703fa_fact

Still counterclockwise & no switching at all. :-/

Now I can see her moving anticlockwise when I look at the one with the blue leg, but the original is still clockwise only.

When I opened this thread she was going anticlockwise and I couldn't make her switch. Then I went to the article and while I was skimming through the text the picture loaded there and she was going clockwise and I couldn't make her go back. I don't know if that's just because the clockwise list was so much cooler that my brain decided it needed to be a clockwise person, or because of where the article layout makes your eyes rest, or...

But still definitely mostly anticlockwise. Dammit. I wanted to be an artistic type. It's not like I'm too hot at logical things.

(I am more inclined to believe this is to do with how uneven my sight is in each eye than anything else, but still, neat picture.)

I hate it when an animated gif ruins your hopes and dreams. So sad. But it happens all the time.

I couldn't see it any other way aside from clockwise, though when I tried the feet-only method and squinted hard I could get it to go half-way anticlockwise (so instead of going in a circle she kept waving her foot about first one way then the other). It was quite a strain. With the blue leg I can see her going anticlockwise - I was trying to get that kind of mental imagery in the first place, but my mind just wouldn't accept it.

Can someone make a clockwise colored leg gif? (or is it already? It only confirms it's going counterclockwise for me)

seems like being able to switch her direction (imagining her orbiting leg as it passes the central leg as pointed-away from you instead of toward you or vice versa) would be extra-right brained/spatial.

you gotta love those lists... if you're lefty, you're reality based... if you're righty, you can "get it". lol.

m.

I kinda want all that left/right brain stuff to be true just to disagree with kenan.

Oh my god she's doing it! Look at her go!

I can make her go either way just by thinking about it - either glancing away, closing my eyes momentarily, or focussing on one spot - but it defaults to anti-clockwise when I come fresh to it from elsewhere.

(easiest cheat way to make it go otherwise for those having trouble is to scroll your screen so you can only see her legs - you shouldn't have any problem visualising which leg is crossing in front of which from there - keep that in your head and scroll up. I'm guessing this is what my brain is doing when I'm looking at the whole thing, but if it doesn't work like that, then this might help?)

I'm a total left-brainer

I kinda want all that left/right brain stuff to be true just to disagree with kenan

it's bollocks, and kenan is absolutely OTM. yes, the left and right cerebral hemispheres function in slightly different ways -- and can affect perception in some surprisingly different ones. but to reduce this to "left-brainer" and "right-brainer" as personality types is nothing more than pure pish.

and the differences in perception claimed by ILX0rs looking at this example are almost certainly nothing to do with hemispheres. i'm not confident enough to make a proclamation about this with complete certainty -- going back to university has made me substantially more circumspect, which can only be a good thing -- but i'm confident enough to, say, bet my bollocks on it.

bizarrely, i was reading a lot about such stuff this morning in the uni library. if you're not careful, i'll start posting large tranches of it here :)

I can't think of a single thing I would bet my bollocks on that I wouldn't proclaim about with complete certainty. Then again, I like my bollocks.

I've perfected it so I can get her to go anti-clockwise by glancing at the bottom left corner of the gif and clockwise by glancing at the bottom right corner. I am controlling her with my brain omg!

... by glancing at her bottom

actually, i think a more interesting division is between those who noticed the nipples and those who didn't.

More of a gaze than a glance, but yes :)

xpost there were people who didn't notice nipples? Concentrate ffs!

I can see the one with the blue leg (thanks!) go anti-clockwise. But I can't can't can't make the real one do it.

AGHHHHHHHHHH!

I am in the same boat as acentmonkey, I can only see counter clockwise with the blue leg. What is worse was that even as the question was posed I could see how the animation would result in both directions and I can play the animation anti-clockwise in my head. All means I am right brained, according to the link which is not my self image of myself.

No, no, I can make her do the anticlockwise even without the blue leg! I have bent her to my iron will.

They had a thing about hemispherectomies on the documentary series House last series. A man stopped being able to play piano.

They had a thing about hemispherectomies on the documentary series House last series. A man stopped being able to play piano

i was reading about "split-brain" patients this morning -- ie where the connecting commissures between the hemispheres were cut (a rather drastic treatment for epilepsy, IIRC) and all sorts of wacky shit ensuing. one experiment on such a patient involved displaying a picture of a horse in the left visual field (which is processed by the right hemisphere) and asking: "what would a rider put on this?"

the left hemisphere has all the verbal information for the response ... but can't do anything about it because the image hasn't reached it. the right hemisphere *can* see the horse ... but lacks the language skills to process and produce a verbal response. so the subject couldn't come up with a verbal answer ... but when they were asked to *draw* the answer, they did a saddle.

there's a lot of other similarly fascinating stuff to do with laterality, but the whole "I AM A RITE-BRANE PERSON" thing is shite.

OTM about the hemispherectomy/epilepsy. (the somewhat less drastic epilepsy surgical treatment is frontal lobotomy)

is -> was, probably. I think frontal lobotomies aren't being done anymore - at least not for epilepsy/schizophrenia

This is supposed to be clockwise, but I still can't see it :-(

http://koti.mbnet.fi/diablosk/itam/random/dancerclockwise.gif

OK, that was immediately clockwise. You are a total leftie, Stan.

And now they're all clockwise!

even the blue one?

Bugger, I looked at the blue leg, now they're back to being anti-clockwise

I think I'll just have to accept it, I'm clockwise-challenged.

Last night I saw this as counter clockwise for about 3 seconds but since then I've only been able to see each picture as clockwise no matter how hard I try!! This is sooooooo frustrating.

I can still make it go anticlockwise, even with the red line. I wonder if this makes me whole brained or schizophrenic.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/diablosk/itam/random/dancer2.gifhttp://koti.mbnet.fi/diablosk/itam/random/dancerclockwise.gif

WAU I can get them both going in opposite directions!

OK, now they're going clockwise and anti-clockwise alternately, which is quite a nice effect

They're both going clockwise!!! Are you guys really seeing go in different directions? ACK! I have no left brain.

... she's not turning round completely now but sorta sashaying to and fro

I apologise in advance...

http://i22.tinypic.com/2elbayu.gif