knowing your left from your right
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I guess when you`re starting to discuss directions with aliens better than explaining left and right, you should explain North, South, East and West. They could measure the magnetic field of their planet -> so they would know north from south. Slightly more difficult would be east - west, (similar to left right). I guess for that they could walk to the northern hemisphere of their planet(since they now know north from south it should be easy), once there they should flush a toilet, the water will rotate in a Clockwise direction (that way you immediatly explained clockwise too), and tell them that when looking at the toilet, the water closest to the north will flow in a eastern direction, the water closest to the south flows in a western direction. Explaining left from right could also be done then by saying if you face north, the hand or paw or eye or tail or tentacle that is furthest to the west is their left hand/paw/tentacle/... and the one furthest to the east is their right one. Hope this helps you when you will need to explain the next alien that asks you the directions to the nearest gass-station. ;)
http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm[^]
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
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David Wulff wrote: I still need to do this to check my left from my right - I have never been able to do it naturally, though after a second or so of thinking I can normally get it right. If I'm wearing a watch it is easier because I always wear mine on my right wrist, but I still need to glance at it or touch it to make sure. I always thought I was alone! I can tell you north, south, east, west, but I have to look at my hands to give directions in "right or left" turns. People love to make fun of me at work when I give directions, they always ask "is that a right turn or a left turn" and I have to check.... _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Jeffry J. Brickley wrote: I always thought I was alone! It is a pretty common problem, though many people you see doing it will deny it till their death. I am convinced it is because people like us were taught from an early age to use the hand shapes to tell left from right, and it has just stuck. When someone asks us for a direction our brains automatically make us look at our hands to recall it (my left hand will already be in position and held straight before my eyes hit it so it's not a case of looking to find out because my bain already knows which side it is). I am the same with my nine times multipication table - if I think about it I can receit it ok but it is much quicker for me to just look at my hands and use that finger folding trick.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
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http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm[^]
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
I`ve actually seen a documentary once of a guy that was proving that he was standing on the equator. He took a basin of water filled it went 50meters to one direction - opened the drain the water swirled clockwise, went 100 meters to the other did the same thing(with same basin->water swirled counterclockwise... Also all the sinks at my place + my parents place swirl clockwise, seems a little too much for it to be a coincedence... Offcourse I don^t know people in the Southern hemisphere to confirm this.... I think Bart Simpson confirmed that ibn one of the episodes. Offcourse there the embassy of America had installed a system to make water swirl clockwise in Australia so fellow Americans would feel at home:) Cheers, Davy
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Jeffry J. Brickley wrote: I always thought I was alone! It is a pretty common problem, though many people you see doing it will deny it till their death. I am convinced it is because people like us were taught from an early age to use the hand shapes to tell left from right, and it has just stuck. When someone asks us for a direction our brains automatically make us look at our hands to recall it (my left hand will already be in position and held straight before my eyes hit it so it's not a case of looking to find out because my bain already knows which side it is). I am the same with my nine times multipication table - if I think about it I can receit it ok but it is much quicker for me to just look at my hands and use that finger folding trick.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
David Wulff wrote: I am convinced it is because people like us were taught from an early age to use the hand shapes to tell left from right My first grade teacher wrote R and L on the back of my hands in permanent marker and hit the hand with a ruler when I got it wrong.... I carried my hands in my pockets to hide them outside of class, I never learned the "L" trick until I was much older. I didn't get Right and Left down until middle 2nd grade. I alternated letter facing constantly and randomly, they all looked the same to me. Not like dislexia, the opposite, I read it backwards or forwards equally well. Me and English never got along well after that. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I`ve actually seen a documentary once of a guy that was proving that he was standing on the equator. He took a basin of water filled it went 50meters to one direction - opened the drain the water swirled clockwise, went 100 meters to the other did the same thing(with same basin->water swirled counterclockwise... Also all the sinks at my place + my parents place swirl clockwise, seems a little too much for it to be a coincedence... Offcourse I don^t know people in the Southern hemisphere to confirm this.... I think Bart Simpson confirmed that ibn one of the episodes. Offcourse there the embassy of America had installed a system to make water swirl clockwise in Australia so fellow Americans would feel at home:) Cheers, Davy
It's not real, just a widely believed myth, and it is pretty easy to proove it wrong if you have a basin with two taps and some patience. The style of toilets that I've used all my life are hard to watch draining because they jet water straight down from under the rim as soon as you flush. With sinks though, assuming you don't have a mixer tap, if you fill from one side it will drain one way and if you fill from the other it will drain the opposite way. Without exception. Once time when I really had too much interest in finding out about this I filled my bath with water and left it to settle overnight. In the morning it still drained the same way as I filled it (which was wrong according to the Bart Simpson effect). You have to be very careful removing the plug when the water has been standing for a while because that will impart a spin (typically right handed people will make it spin one way, and left handed people the other). Unless your basin is particularly flawed or at an angle so the plug hole imparts a spin, you can reproduce these results with almost certainty.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
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I'm not sure how I started off on this whole thing, whether it was something I read which buried itself in my subconscious, or if I just got tired of watching paint dry, but the thought occurred to me somehow. How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Up and down would be pretty simple I guess as you would have the gravity of their planet as a frame of referencce.
After having realized that no one could come up with a good solution, I think I'll go back to watching some more paint dry :)
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David Wulff wrote: I am convinced it is because people like us were taught from an early age to use the hand shapes to tell left from right My first grade teacher wrote R and L on the back of my hands in permanent marker and hit the hand with a ruler when I got it wrong.... I carried my hands in my pockets to hide them outside of class, I never learned the "L" trick until I was much older. I didn't get Right and Left down until middle 2nd grade. I alternated letter facing constantly and randomly, they all looked the same to me. Not like dislexia, the opposite, I read it backwards or forwards equally well. Me and English never got along well after that. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Do you know the Days of The Month Rhyme[^]? My Grandma taught me a very similar version when I was about four or five and I still need to use that to remember month lengths, even those I know: Thirty days hath September, April June and November; All the rest have thirty one, Except for February which has twenty eight. * * I'm not counting leap years, it makes the rhyme too long to use everyday.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
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After having realized that no one could come up with a good solution, I think I'll go back to watching some more paint dry :)
How do you communicate with these aliens? (that sounds a little... odd) :suss:
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
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Do you know the Days of The Month Rhyme[^]? My Grandma taught me a very similar version when I was about four or five and I still need to use that to remember month lengths, even those I know: Thirty days hath September, April June and November; All the rest have thirty one, Except for February which has twenty eight. * * I'm not counting leap years, it makes the rhyme too long to use everyday.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
David Wulff wrote: Do you know the Days of The Month Rhyme[^]? Nope, today was the first, honest. I did learn the trick of telling which months were high and low by moving along your knuckles. Then I only needed to remember February was special. http://www.mrsjones.org/songs/months.html[^] I was good at word memorization, though lousy at numeric. So I remembered the months in order, and then alternated 30/31 based on knuckles/spaces and kept february as the exception. Seems complicated, but it was easier for me. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I guess when you`re starting to discuss directions with aliens better than explaining left and right, you should explain North, South, East and West. They could measure the magnetic field of their planet -> so they would know north from south. Slightly more difficult would be east - west, (similar to left right). I guess for that they could walk to the northern hemisphere of their planet(since they now know north from south it should be easy), once there they should flush a toilet, the water will rotate in a Clockwise direction (that way you immediatly explained clockwise too), and tell them that when looking at the toilet, the water closest to the north will flow in a eastern direction, the water closest to the south flows in a western direction. Explaining left from right could also be done then by saying if you face north, the hand or paw or eye or tail or tentacle that is furthest to the west is their left hand/paw/tentacle/... and the one furthest to the east is their right one. Hope this helps you when you will need to explain the next alien that asks you the directions to the nearest gass-station. ;)
Ahh... I am lost. Do I type 'A' with right hand :confused: "Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway." - Mary Kay Ash My Articles
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If you're going to send him something, you might as well send him a piece of paper with up/down/left/right written on it. :rolleyes:
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
You could reference a spiral galaxy that can be seen by you both, or send a chemical formula for a protein that folds into a right handed spiral etc. '--8<------------------------ Ex Datis: Duncan Jones Merrion Computing Ltd
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Assuming they have hands with an opposable digit, tell them to look at their hands palm down and the one that spells an 'L' with the thumb straight out is their left hand. If their hands are backwards, just flip them over. ;P I still need to do this to check my left from my right - I have never been able to do it naturally, though after a second or so of thinking I can normally get it right. If I'm wearing a watch it is easier because I always wear mine on my right wrist, but I still need to glance at it or touch it to make sure.
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
David Wulff wrote: I still need to do this to check my left from my right - I have never been able to do it naturally, though after a second or so of thinking I can normally get it right. I can't either. :( I blame it on my ambidexterity. :-D Vikram.
http://www.geocities.com/vpunathambekar "In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself." — Jiddu Krishnamurti.
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How do you communicate with these aliens? (that sounds a little... odd) :suss:
Ðavid Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Audioscrobbler :: flikrDie Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen
It's really just a brain teaser. The idea is that you can only talk (e.g. a phone call) to them in a common language that doesn't include the means for conveying directions. Other than that, there is no other means of communication.
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I'm not sure how I started off on this whole thing, whether it was something I read which buried itself in my subconscious, or if I just got tired of watching paint dry, but the thought occurred to me somehow. How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Up and down would be pretty simple I guess as you would have the gravity of their planet as a frame of referencce.
Draw it? :-D
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I'm not sure how I started off on this whole thing, whether it was something I read which buried itself in my subconscious, or if I just got tired of watching paint dry, but the thought occurred to me somehow. How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Up and down would be pretty simple I guess as you would have the gravity of their planet as a frame of referencce.
Garth Watkins wrote: How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Tell them to face north and their left will always be to the west. Another possibility is that left is from the Old English word "lyft" meaning weak or useless. Assuming that the alien is right-handed, their left hand is probably going to be weaker.
"Opinions are neither right nor wrong. I cannot change your opinion. I can, however, change what influences your opinion." - David Crow
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Garth Watkins wrote: How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Tell them to face north and their left will always be to the west. Another possibility is that left is from the Old English word "lyft" meaning weak or useless. Assuming that the alien is right-handed, their left hand is probably going to be weaker.
"Opinions are neither right nor wrong. I cannot change your opinion. I can, however, change what influences your opinion." - David Crow
DavidCrow wrote: Tell them to face north and their left will always be to the west. Assuming that his planet rotates like ours relative to the sun. :(
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Garth Watkins wrote: How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Tell them to face north and their left will always be to the west. Another possibility is that left is from the Old English word "lyft" meaning weak or useless. Assuming that the alien is right-handed, their left hand is probably going to be weaker.
"Opinions are neither right nor wrong. I cannot change your opinion. I can, however, change what influences your opinion." - David Crow
Well if there's anything good that came out of this debate, it's the enlightenment you've given me on the origin of the word left. Thanks
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I'm not sure how I started off on this whole thing, whether it was something I read which buried itself in my subconscious, or if I just got tired of watching paint dry, but the thought occurred to me somehow. How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Up and down would be pretty simple I guess as you would have the gravity of their planet as a frame of referencce.
First I would explain west and east - realtive directions, which see the planet as the immobile environment. West is where you see the sun set in the evening, an east is where you see it rise in the morning. Of course, earth always moves on, so east and west also move, but they move relativley to earth's movement. For a person on earth east and west stay the same, because the whole system (planet, person, and directions) move synchronously. Left and right are something like east and west, with the persons body as the immobile environment. If the person moves, the directions move with him, so that they stay the same for the person. Directions relative to a planet's position: north, east, south, west. Directions relative to a person's position: left, right. _________________________________ Vote '1' if you're too lazy for a discussion
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I'm not sure how I started off on this whole thing, whether it was something I read which buried itself in my subconscious, or if I just got tired of watching paint dry, but the thought occurred to me somehow. How would you explain to someone on another planet what direction left or right is ? Up and down would be pretty simple I guess as you would have the gravity of their planet as a frame of referencce.
Left or right is simply a transformation of the axis used to describe up or down? ;) Actually, I'd describe 'left', as my wife since I'm now on some alien planet and I'd describe 'right', as leave now since she probably wants me back home. :) Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] Gently arching his fishing rod back he moves the tip forward in a gentle arch releasing the line.... kersplunk [Doug Goulden] Nice sig! [Tim Deveaux on Matt Newman's sig with a quote from me]
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David Wulff wrote: I am convinced it is because people like us were taught from an early age to use the hand shapes to tell left from right My first grade teacher wrote R and L on the back of my hands in permanent marker and hit the hand with a ruler when I got it wrong.... I carried my hands in my pockets to hide them outside of class, I never learned the "L" trick until I was much older. I didn't get Right and Left down until middle 2nd grade. I alternated letter facing constantly and randomly, they all looked the same to me. Not like dislexia, the opposite, I read it backwards or forwards equally well. Me and English never got along well after that. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Jeffry J. Brickley wrote: My first grade teacher wrote R and L on the back of my hands in permanent marker and hit the hand with a ruler when I got it wrong.... That teacher would have gotten a hard smack back from me with more than just a ruler.
George Carlin wrote: "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: If the physicists find a universal theory describing the laws of universe, I'm sure the asshole constant will be an integral part of that theory.
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