October 13, 2007
Spinning woman illusion Look at this animated gif and post which way you think she's spinning (CW or CCW observed from above) when you first look at it. This may change later, but we're interested in the first direction you see.
They say it's about left brain / right brain.
I tend to see clockwise but I seem to be able to make it change by blinking a bunch. It's also fun to watch two of the images side by side and see them switch from same to different directions.
It's only clockwise for me and I can't yet reverse the direction (nor even see how it would be possible to see it that way). That makes me sad because all the logic and math/science crap is in the other column.
me too, mr. dogg. I think that goes to show this is bogus. if I just look at the shadow, I can sort of see ccw.
I too can only see CW and can't get it to go the other way. I feel natedogg's pain.
I was somehow able to see it go one way (clockwise) and then when I looked at it again after reading some of the comments it was going the other way (counter-clockwise). I was not able to make it switch directions by focusing on anything. When I looked at it again after about 30 min of other browsing it was turning the original way again (clockwise). I convinced myself that it was some trick of the animated image, but someone in the comments said the file only had 34 frames or something, so it's not like it's on a timer. Anyway, all this makes my "left brain" say that it is crap.
My first impression was counterclockwise. Carl and I looked at it at the same time and couldn't agree (I think CCW and he thinks CW). I can't get it to spin clockwise.
Obviously I am better at math and science than all of you.
OK -- inspired by something Ned pointed out: I can get it to switch pretty easily by putting my head close to and below monitor level, so I'm looking up at the image (CCW) or close/above so I'm looking down at the image (CW).
Lulu isn't better at math and physics, she's just shorter :)
I originally saw it CCW and then when I was reading the information on the left, it flipped. Now I can get it to flip pretty regularly by not looking directly at it. When I first see it though, she is going CCW.
only CCW for me. phew! i was worried for a second that i might use feelings. suckers.
Flip showed this to me a few days ago...I think when I initially looked at it I saw it spinning CW but it quickly changed. I did notice that I could make it change almost every time I glanced away for a second and then refocused my attention on the image.
Reading these comments is funny. The CW folks seem perturbed by fact that it puts them in the "touchy feely" category. I subscribe to the belief system that being good at math/science and good with people and feelings need not be mutually exclusive events. I know...I'm a blasphemer but I'm comfortable with that.
Well now those at freakonomics are going to get to the bottom of this with good hard data.
yer, I can only see clockwise. I think as i gets older I am getting more touchy feely. I notice now I have a much stronger emotional reaction to stories and tragedy (cry a movie??? me?) and also feel much more empathy than I did when i was younger...
But I digress...
So I called my wife into the room and she first saw it turning counter clockwise. Now Im all engineering and shes all dance and art (tho she has really strong math skills, and both parents are scientists...damnit!). I think they have their definitions wrong. I think clockwise is left brained and counterclockwise is right brained. I only say that because apart from my wife and my example in the freakonomics article allot of the replies seemed backwards to what the person did. In the end it switched on me. I started seeing it counterclockwise.
Area of further research!!! Perhaps when we are staring at it and start thinking about it we start stimulating different parts of our brains, and all of a sudden it starts flipping left and right depending on which hemispheres begining to stimulate?
I love the idea for further research (that would be my CCW talking). Start watching Mythbusters, check the spin, switch over to a rom-com and check again. I'm on it.
clockwise
Why the haters always gotta make things more nuanced?
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.
fixed
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That's funny -- I just came in to post this. If you're having problems switching direction, try concentrating on a spot right below the dancer.
I see the dancer spinning "clockwise," if by clockwise you mean that her foot spins right to left when it appears to be pointing forward; and the association is very strong (I have a hard time reversing it). Jennifer seems to be able to switch back and forth fairly fluidly.
The list of putative left-brain/right-brain traits on that page has an astrology-level number of multiple endpoints. (What the hell is "can 'get it' (i.e. meaning)"?) With that said, I identified with more of the right-brain traits, consistent with the "right brain = clockwise" assertion. (I also had some tests done which showed that I don't pass information between the two halves of my brain as well as most.)
The Left-brain Right-brain thing is easily exaggerated in terms of being a major determinant of your personality and
abilities. However, people have been found to have dominant eyes and ears just as they have dominant hands, so perhaps that is part of it. Closing either eye doesn't seem to change the rotation for me.
Also: here's a frame-by-frame dissection of the animation to find what visual cues and ambiguities power the illusion.
posted by mrflip at 10:21AM CST on October 13