I was playing an online game which involves spotting sets of cells in a two dimensional grid. And my mind was wandering around as I played.
I’ve noticed when I play this game that I’m much quicker at spotting sets along the horizontal rows than the ones in the vertical columns. And the random thought occurred to me that this might be an evolutionary trait. A hundred thousand years ago, when our ancestors were still hunters in the African savanna, being able to quickly scan the horizon and spot signs of predators or game would have been a significant advantage. There would have been no similar advantage in being able to quickly analyze a vertical line. (And notice how we have a word for horizon but don’t have an equivalent word for the other direction. Verizon’s just a brand name.)
Then I thought of a more relevant skill in my life; reading. I read all the time and that’s taught me to quickly scan a horizontal line of characters and decode their meaning. So I thought being able to scan a horizontal line better might be an acquired skill rather than a inherited trait.
Then I thought; maybe it’s connected. Maybe the reason we write in horizontal lines rather than vertical lines is because we have an inherited trait of being able to scan horizontal lines better than vertical lines. (I realize some Asian societies traditionally use vertical writing but horizontal writing has always been more common worldwide and the Asian countries which traditionally used vertical writing seem to be switching over.)
Yes. Humans - particularly males - are specialised at detecting movement. Movement during hominid evolution has been more often lateral / horizontal than vertical - animals on the savannah as you suggest
Actually, it is thought animal that primarily need to detect motion (ambush predators) tend to have vertical slits for pupils. Animals that need a panoramic view to best detect any approaching predators frequently have horizontal slits for pupils. Round pupils seem to be associated with taller hunters that actively chase their prey Eye Shapes Of The Animal World Hint At Differences In Our Lifestyles : Shots - Health News : NPR. We seem to fall into the last category.
Personally, I think you first instinct was correct.
Humans in their prehistoric environment didn’t live in some kind of Flatland where they only had to scan the horizon. Some nasty shit would be coming at you from a lot closer, so you have to look up and down when in the bush - leopards in the trees, snakes in the grass.
I’m not saying our ancestors were able to ignore other things in viewing range. But I feel looking at the horizon was a special case; it required somebody to look at a relatively large object that was off at a distance and be able to very quickly pick out details and determine which were important and which could be ignored.
Anyone have thoughts on my theory that this ability makes horizontal reading systems more accessible?
I don’t think early humans spent as much time looking at the horizon as you seem to think. Savanna is not empty to the horizon, despite what all those aerial shots of the Serengeti make it look like. Even less so when you’re on foot and the grass is as tall as you.
And the things that concern early humans don’t often appear silhouetted against the sky - the buck in the bushes, the crouching lion in the elephant grass - plus, you’re better off watching the skies than the horizon, if you want an easy meal, because that way you’ll spot the vultures. Focusing on the horizon would be somewhat counterproductive.