I was going over a set of blueprints with some of my coworkers and since there was no room on one side of the table, I went to the other side. I was looking at the prints upside down from this side. I began to quote some things off the plans and all 5 of them looked at me like I was the antichrist and asked me how in the Hell I was reading upside down…none of them could do it!!! I had never thought about it, I guess I just assumed everyone could read upside down, am I in the minority or can everyone here also read upside down as well as they can right side up?
I have no problem either way…as a matter of fact I wanted to write this upside down, but I could’t figure out how to do it (if there is even a way).
Chalk me up as someone who also thought everyone else could read upside down too. Although sometimes if I do it long enough, the words begin to appear right-side up and reversed, which messes with my head.
I, too, assumed everyone could read upside down, but not until a few months ago did I fully hone my skills. My flatmate and I have to share one copy of the New York Times between us, since neither of us feels like ordering another subscription. Rather than split it up so that one person gets the front “good” section and the other gets the random news from third-world countries, he now spreads it flat on the table and reads it right-side-up while I sit on the other side and read it upside down.
I can read and write upside down and backwards. I think I could always do it, but I honed my skills working in pre-press, where you look at upside-down, bass-ackwards text all the time.
I read a little slower upside-down. Wait, I mean, I read more slowly when my reading material is upside down. I think I have to take a little more time to avoid making transposition errors and misreading u’s as n’s. I bet if I practiced a little I’d have no trouble at all. It’s surprising to me that anyone would be completely unable to read upside down.
I can do it. I know many people who can…but also a good number who can’t. I’m not at full speed, but I have no significant problems doing it. It was reasonably recently, though, that I found out it wasn’t a universal skill.
Am I the only one who’ll admit to not being able to read upside down?
I actually can do it after a fashion, but it’s very slow and I get a headache after a while. I always thought that Mr. Legend and our older Myth had a special gift for it (probably connected to their left-handedness) until I read this thread. They always take pity on me and let me have the right-side-up view when we play Scrabble.
I can read upside down just fine, and I can usually write upside down at about the same speed as I can normally. I’ve had a few people comment on the writing, but the reading part is not big deal, I figured everyone could do it.
This moderately interesting google search (which took me about 10 minutes to refine sufficiently ) illustrates a (an?) historical religious necessity behind reading upside-down and sideways.
