Q; telling left from right

[KLIK]

Idle questions for the weekend which I’ve not researched or googled.

A girl at work left me a note to look on the right hand side of a display monitor for something which I didn’t see, she then watched it with me and said ‘look, there on the bottom right’, I said, ‘you mean bottom left’.

She admitted she has problems telling left from right but the interesting point is that when I ask if she is left handed she says ‘No, right handed’ and holds up her right hand when asked which one she writes with.
So she knows she is right handed and which one she uses to write but still can’t tell left from right when giving or receiving directions.

I’m left handed and always know which is left and which is right; it seems as obvious as front/back or up/down.
My g/f is right handed and wore Rings on Right hand for her driving test and now when she is driving I will give directions by saying ‘next crossroads, turn your way’ rather than ‘turn right’ , or ‘turn my way’ instead of ‘turn left’. (in Britain we drive on the left so driver sits on the right).
My g/f also knows she is right handed but telling her left or right confuses her.

It seems to me (via very small samples) that left handed people know left from right more often than right handers (always?), and that people who don’t know (or struggle to know) are normally right handed.


So, question are:
Do you struggle to tell left from right?
Are you left or right handed?
Is it equally men and women who struggle?
Might it be because left handers are normally told they’re left handed from an early age?
If you have problems telling, do you struggle to follow sat-nav directions?
Will having to follow sat-nav instructions improve telling left from right?


Have a good weekend and I’ll check back next week. klik

[SeanF]

I'm male and right-handed, and I have no trouble telling left from right. As you said, it's almost instinctive, like front-back or up-down.

[Delvo]

With the monitor, maybe she was thinking of the monitor facing you two instead of you two facing it.

It's always bugged me that some people talk about the "right-hand" side of an object with no hands, instead of just the "right" side. But in light of what you're saying, although I never noticed it myself, maybe it's a memory aid for people who remember right & left more easily in application to hands than in other applications!

[Noclevername]

I have trouble with telling right from left all the time (I'm right-handed). Apparently I was born without this "instinct" (which is actually a conditioned reflex, as directions don't have instinctive names, that's just the arbitrariness of language) and I have to stop and consciously think about it every time. I also sometimes get letters or numbers reversed, so I may have a touch of dislexia, aggravating the problem.

[Donnie B.]

People sometimes use the term "right-hand" rather than just "right" to distinguish right/left from right/wrong. For example, "Take the right fork" could be ambiguous, but "Take the right-hand fork" is not.

Handedness (and the left/right distinction) is an interesting thing, and entire books have been written about it. On the human scale, there's ambiguity because our bodies have (external) bilateral symmetry. There's no fundamental difference between left and right on that level, as there is between, say, far and near.

Even at a more basic level, there's no significant physical difference between left and right. Martin Gardner once posed the question, suppose you were communicating with distant intelligent aliens and had to get across the concept of left/right -- and distinguish one from the other. How would you tell them which was which? It's not as simple as it may seem. A television picture (or other coded image) could be reconstructed either way; planets and galaxies aren't all spin-aligned; and so on.

It turns out that there are some subtle right-left (or spin direction) differences in certain very small scale (subatomic) processes that could be exploited to define an arbitrary left-right standard. But these have virtually no impact on the macro level.

So the real question is not why some people have problems with handedness, but how on Earth do any of us tell left from right?

ETA: Gardner's book is called The Ambidextrous Universe. There's a thread on this topic in Q&A. Here's a link to grant hutchinson's solution for the problem of defining left/right to a distant alien:
http://www.bautforum.com/questions-answers/49542-how-can-we-define-left-right-alien-life-form-2.html#post869254

[grant hutchison]

Left handed. Hopeless at telling left from right. Used to scare hell out of the man who taught me to fly.
("Bit more left rudder. LEFT rudder. OTHER LEFT!")

Grant Hutchison

[Frog march]

I'm right handed, and have no trouble with left and right.

I think that it is the make up of the brain, left hemisphere commanding right hand and is the logical side, and right hemisphere commanding the left hand is the artistic side.

I think that I have always found the left side more darker, associated with perhaps art(I had a place at art college at one time, so drawing was a big part of my life at one stage), and the right side I feel has more to do with maths and thinking, reading.

I think this is how I tell the difference.

[Click Ticker]

Hold your hands straight up in front of you with your thumgs at a 90 degree angle to your fingers. Your left hand makes an 'L'. That's how you tell the difference.

On a more serious note - I tend to give directions using north, south, east, west. I think it's more clear as one doesn't have to worry as much about every subsequent direction getting screwed up if they mess up one. And I use street names for clarity. My wife hates it though. She prefers, "Turn left on the first street past the gas station."

I'm very right handed and I have no trouble telling left from right. The only time it can be a bit confusing is if the perspective is confused. For example, on the monitor issue. Is it the right side of the monitor as you look at it? Or is it the right side of the monitor from where it sits facing you? To be more clear - when I'm facing you - your right hand is on my left hand side. - edited to add - I see Delvo addressed this already.

[Click Ticker]

Final thought on this one.

The vast majority of individuals we meet will be right handed - so I would guess you'll meet more right handed individuals who struggle with right/left relationships that left handed. You'll also meet more who don't struggle.

[Noclevername]

On a more serious note - I tend to give directions using north, south, east, west. I think it's more clear as one doesn't have to worry as much about every subsequent direction getting screwed up if they mess up one. And I use street names for clarity. My wife hates it though. She prefers, "Turn left on the first street past the gas station."


I'm with her. I need landmarks, and I need to know where to turn. Trying to drive and read (especially with my bad eyesight) or drive and check a compass, is distracting and dangerous. I'm a monotasker, I guess.

[SeanF]

I'm very right handed and I have no trouble telling left from right. The only time it can be a bit confusing is if the perspective is confused. For example, on the monitor issue. Is it the right side of the monitor as you look at it? Or is it the right side of the monitor from where it sits facing you? To be more clear - when I'm facing you - your right hand is on my left hand side. - edited to add - I see Delvo addressed this already.
Ought not to be confusing - it's a long-existing standard. When a photograph caption lists the people "left to right," do you wonder which side you're supposed to start on? Don't we (in English, anyway) always read printed words "left to right"?

Why would a monitor screen be any different?

[Click Ticker]

Ought not to be confusing - it's a long-existing standard. When a photograph caption lists the people "left to right," do you wonder which side you're supposed to start on? Don't we (in English, anyway) always read printed words "left to right"?

Why would a monitor screen be any different?

While you and I may agree on the standard - another person who also has no trouble telling left from right, but is ignorant of the standard could easily lead to confusion.

When facing a person, do you say:

On the right.
On your right.
On my right.

The second two are clear, but the first could be ambiguous and lead to confusion. What if the monitor is between the two people communicating? Then what's clear?

All I'm saying is that right left confusion doesn't always mean the person can't tell left from right.

[SeanF]

While you and I may agree on the standard - another person who also has no trouble telling left from right, but is ignorant of the standard could easily lead to confusion.

When facing a person, do you say:

On the right.
On your right.
On my right.

The second two are clear, but the first could be ambiguous and lead to confusion. What if the monitor is between the two people communicating? Then what's clear?
Well, yes, standards only work if you're aware of the standards - and "left" and "right" themselves are arbitrary standards. Nonetheless, anybody who wouldn't be confused by "I'm the guy on the left in that picture" ought not to be confused by "the icon is on the lower left corner of the monitor."

I think the girl in Klik's OP who referenced the monitor is clearly somebody who has trouble - in general - with "left" and "right," not someone who's only confused about computer monitors.

[Fazor]

As scatter-brained as I am, I have no problem with left/right. Now communication issues can still arise; for instance, when describing left and right, one needs to know if you mean the observer's left/right, the speaker's left/right, or the described object's left/right. This is what makes left/right description's pretty ambiguous.

That's why, when talking about damage to a car (something that comes up a lot when you work in insurance), I always say "Driver's side" and "passenger's side". Sometimes people act like you're stupid for saying that, because you must not know right from left, but I do it because it leaves no room for error.

[Gillianren]

Hold your hands straight up in front of you with your thumgs at a 90 degree angle to your fingers. Your left hand makes an 'L'. That's how you tell the difference.

That's how I learned it, too. Of course, even though I don't write longhand much anymore, there's still a callus on my middle finger from holding a pen a lot, so I can tell my left from my right by that if nothing else. Though I haven't been confused by it in, well, decades now. (Female; right-handed.)


On a more serious note - I tend to give directions using north, south, east, west. I think it's more clear as one doesn't have to worry as much about every subsequent direction getting screwed up if they mess up one. And I use street names for clarity. My wife hates it though. She prefers, "Turn left on the first street past the gas station."

The problem with your way of giving directions is that you have to know which way is north. There is no instinctive way of knowing that; your right and left hands are always with you.

[Fazor]

I also prefer North/South/East/West, because as I read through dirrections to some place, I get a great mental image of where I'm going and it's easier for me to remember. If I'm just reading "turn right. right. left. right. leftish. left again. then right." if I miss a turn, I end up totally lost. But with the former, if I miss a turn I still know what generally dirrection I need to aim for.

[KaiYeves]

I'm female and right handed. I've noticed that when stretched out, the pointer and thumb of the left hand make an "L" for "left", so I don't usually get confused.

[Disinfo Agent]

I'm left-handed for most things, and male. Sometimes I do need to pause and think about is left and what is right, though usually there's no problem.

What I find confusing is that left and right are relative. When you are facing someone, your right is their left, and vice-versa. If you take a 180º turn, your right and left switch directions, too.

[Donnie B.]

I'm female and right handed. I've noticed that when stretched out, the pointer and thumb of the left hand make an "L" for "left", so I don't usually get confused.
That's how I tell light from reft, too.

[Van Rijn]

I also prefer North/South/East/West, because as I read through dirrections to some place, I get a great mental image of where I'm going and it's easier for me to remember. If I'm just reading "turn right. right. left. right. leftish. left again. then right." if I miss a turn, I end up totally lost. But with the former, if I miss a turn I still know what generally dirrection I need to aim for.

I'm pretty much the opposite. If I have a physical map, I'm fine, but I don't do well building a map in my mind with someone telling me compass directions. If someone says "go north this way, then west that way, etc." I'll ask them to stop, and say "from this point, what cross street or landmark am I heading towards? Once I reach the intersection, do I turn left or right?"

It's pretty amusing when I'm trying to discuss directions with someone who thinks in compass directions but gets confused when translating between compass directions and left/right path directions.

[Frog march]

That's how I tell light from reft, too.

after you've had a few lites, you go and have a reft, on your bed.

[Noclevername]

Map, shmap! I'm trying to drive, I need clear instructions, not mental maps! It's very frustrating for me, and not at all amusing, trying to decipher directions from someone who thinks in navigational coordinates. I end up lost a good deal of the time.

I hate driving. Hurry up and invent that teleporter, already! ;)

[mike alexander]

As a kid I had this problem. I still have trouble with binary choices. For example, I can never remember which is the nucleoside and which is the nucleotide. Which explains why I'm not a biochemist.

I also had lots of trouble understanding why text books said a lens inverts an image upside down, but never mentioned left to right. Same thing with mirrors reversing left to right when they obviously don't.

[Frantic Freddie]

My wife's a southpaw,makes driving interesting,I'll say "Turn right honey....NO,YOUR OTHER RIGHT!!!!" Or she'll tell me to turn left,then ask me why I turned right.

One night while driving in downtown Laredo,with it's mess of one-way streets,I couldn't seem to get back to our hotel.So I pulled over & turned on the light to check the map she was giving me directions from.

She'd turned it sideways!!!!

She claimed she could "read it better that way".

I don't let her read maps anymore.

[steve000]

Map, shmap! I'm trying to drive, I need clear instructions, not mental maps! It's very frustrating for me, and not at all amusing, trying to decipher directions from someone who thinks in navigational coordinates. I end up lost a good deal of the time.

I hate driving. Hurry up and invent that teleporter, already! ;)
:lol:

Damn right! hurry up with these inventions for us lesser brained folk too make use of... :wall:
*sharp exit... he types quicker than me*:p

[Donnie B.]

after you've had a few lites, you go and have a reft, on your bed.
If I can find it.

[KLIK]

Thanks for the answers, food for thought there.

Interesting responses from you all as to me it's natural but I know it's not for a lot of people

I know "NO, the OTHER right!" very well,
sometimes followed by the smell of burning rubber...
thats why I always try and use "turn your way/my way" when driving

I'm guilty of assuming that the right hand side would be as both of us are looking at it (although to be fair I think a monitor should be described as we look at it, but I can see how looking at a car from the front could be ambiguous)

I didn't know the 'L' with left thumb and finger; I shall try and remember that.

I hadn't considered the fact that there is no obvious difference (rather like clockwise depends on you view point).

It will be interesting to see if people get better with Sat-Nav usage. I'd like to think manufacturers wil program them to say "turn your way/my way" but I can see that too confusing if you drive a car with the controls on the opposite side.

As a complete aside we are getting lots of lorries stuck in country lanes due to the drivers following Sat-Nav instructions rather than common sense.

[closetgeek]

Right handed female here, yes I get confused all the time. If someone says "raise your right hand" I have no problem and without thought, respond by raising my right hand. In directions, however, I am constantly confusing the two

[eugenek]

I've never instinctively known left from right. I have to visualize one of a few scenarios to decide which is which. When driving turning right onto a road is easy when compared to a left turn which means crossing in front of oncoming traffic. I know which way the easy turn is and that it is a right turn so there's my connection. In school the teachers always wanted us to put our names in the upper right corner of our papers. In the military a salute is done with the right hand. After 40+ years I still need to use one of these aids to figure right and left.

[Noclevername]

At least if I were a grave-robbing moster trying to weave cloth, I could tell Wight from Weft.

[HenrikOlsen]

Even at a more basic level, there's no significant physical difference between left and right. Martin Gardner once posed the question, suppose you were communicating with distant intelligent aliens and had to get across the concept of left/right -- and distinguish one from the other. How would you tell them which was which? It's not as simple as it may seem. A television picture (or other coded image) could be reconstructed either way; planets and galaxies aren't all spin-aligned; and so on.

It turns out that there are some subtle right-left (or spin direction) differences in certain very small scale (subatomic) processes that could be exploited to define an arbitrary left-right standard. But these have virtually no impact on the macro level.
There are, which is why you could defined handedness over a radio link to someone far away.
But, as someone (probably Gardner) mentioned, if the guy you'd been chatting to greets you with an outstretched left hand, don't take it.
The handedness is mirrored for anti-matter.

[Moose]

I've got pretty good spacial orientation, which means I can read a map just about equally well from any side.

I do, however, think more in terms of a unlabelled "dominant side" vs "not dominant side". I usually end up having to translate the concept in my mind first for when I'm talking "right vs left" or "clockwise vs counter-clockwise". So I'm generally accurate, but certainty requires some latency. It's only a problem if I'm otherwise busy (driving in heavy traffic, for example.)

[djellison]

My Uncle intentionally taught my Mum left and right the wrong way around. She's 50+ and still struggle to get them right - and is usually wrong when in a hurry.

Doug

[Neverfly]

My Uncle intentionally taught my Mum left and right the wrong way around. She's 50+ and still struggle to get them right - and is usually wrong when in a hurry.

Doug

Why did he do that?:neutral:
Did he figure that that way, when she got them wrong she would still get it right?:doh:

[farmerjumperdon]

I'm almost totally ambidextrous, able to do most things either way, and often mix up left and right. I never thought about the 2 being linked.

I much prefer my directions in N/S/E/W; but then . . . I'm an excellent geographer.