# Can you walk down a flight of steps without looking at it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404 "2011-05-01T19:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/1 "2011-05-01T19:49:36Z")
Go on, try it. Can you walk down the stairs without looking at the steps prior and after being asked “Can you walk down a flight of steps without looking at it?”. After wondering about this question, I found that I can’t. Once I have forgotten about the question, I could. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/2 "2011-05-01T19:53:44Z")
Can I? Yes. Should I? No. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/3 "2011-05-01T19:55:44Z")
No, but I’ve always had a phobia of falling down the stairs. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/4 "2011-05-01T19:55:56Z")
Note, looking at the steps _prior_ isn’t the same as looking at the steps as you descend. I can skip one or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/5 "2011-05-01T20:14:18Z")
Yes. I was taught to do so in acting school because looking down at the steps looks bad on camera. The same instructor also taught me to descend stairs more smoothly than is normal, because the bouncing up and down caused by normal stair descent also looks bad in a tight shot. Mind you, I normally descent stairs in an ordinary manner; I just know how/when not to. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/6 "2011-05-01T21:11:12Z")
Hey, I’ve walked down stairs _ **backwards** _ while carrying my half of a sofa. ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/7 "2011-05-01T21:14:00Z")
Don’t feel like breaking any bones today. I’ll let you guys try:D ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/8 "2011-05-01T22:33:23Z")
No. hell, I can’t even walk down normally, I have had shitty balance all my life, and have done the little kid way, step, bring the other foot down to the same step, then the next step … and one hand in a stranglehold on the railing. It is worse now I am on crutches, but I can grip the second crutch in my off hand [took a lot of figuring and practice] if I don’t have mrAru around to log it down for me. As you may surmise, I seriously avoid stairs wherever possible. At mom’s house I have an umbrella stand at the top and bottom of the stairs, and I keep a spare pair of crutches upstairs, and use my old cane in the non railing hand. The cane just goes up and down stairs as I use them. I have pretty much stopped sleeping upstairs, and only go up if I need to shower. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/9 "2011-05-01T23:16:10Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Can I? Yes. > > Should I? No. Yes, this. I look because I don’t enjoy falling down the stairs; the last injury that made me cry was doing just that. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/10 "2011-05-01T23:42:04Z")
No. I also have problems stepping onto escalators without watching my footing. At one point I forgot how to get on one. That was embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/11 "2011-05-01T23:43:01Z")
I don’t routinely look at stairs. I look as I take the first step. I look when I get near the bottom or top so I don’t try to take and extra step for a stair that’s not there. If it’s a familiar staircase, I know how many steps there are and I don’t even have to do that. I had no idea this might be unusual behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/12 "2011-05-02T01:42:35Z")
I’ve learned to look at most, if not all the steps of staircases after one particular incident. It involved the building I used to work in until late last year. There was one little staircase of three steps that I used in each direction at least once most days. I had gotten to the point of taking the steps each way without thinking about it. Then one day I missed the first step while going down and fell very hard into the staircases metal hand rail. I was diagnosed with a bone bruise in the left side of my rib cage, which was the point of impact against the hand rail; very painful. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/13 "2011-05-02T05:27:23Z")
I can, but I don’t like it. I have to carry boxes to the basement at work a couple times a week. No mishaps yet, but I’m really cautious about it. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/14 "2011-05-02T07:15:49Z")
I have awful depth perception. I practically hug the wall when going down stairs. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/15 "2011-05-02T08:21:02Z")
When I was on Imipramine, this was a bad idea. I couldn’t take stairs up or down without losing all muscle tonus in my legs and collapsing. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/16 "2011-05-02T08:49:27Z")
I can, but since I don’t have insurance, I don’t ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/17 "2011-05-02T10:35:10Z")
fred astaire and ginger rodgers can do it while dancing but only for short ways (4 steps at most.) in one movie about lady diana, there was a matron teaching the bride/princess-to-be on how to descend. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/18 "2011-05-02T11:00:29Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Go on, try it. Can you walk down the stairs without looking at the steps prior and after being asked “Can you walk down a flight of steps without looking at it?”. > > After wondering about this question, I found that I can’t. Once I have forgotten about the question, I could. I used to- then I spent a year during college on crutches. Since then, walking downstairs without looking is an act of will. Probably my home stairs are the only I can do without thinking about it too much. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/19 "2011-05-02T14:03:52Z")
I look before I start, but rarely while descending, at least on the steps in my house. On strange steps I am more careful. I went through too many years not being able to see my feet. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/20 "2011-05-02T14:17:18Z")
Yes. Even while reading a book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404.md?page=2)