# Otherwise intelligent human who can't tell Left from Right **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713 "2001-11-22T03:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/21 "2001-11-22T08:50:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rushgeekgirl \* > **Why is it so easy to remember UP and DOWN, but not right and left?** because you learn that your legs go down and your head goes up fairly quickly (especially since babies don’t do handstands)… me, i can’t even do that left-hand-is-“L” thing because i have paws, and the fur obscures the L… so i’m fairly slow at such things. _sigh of relief_ at least i’m not the only one! ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@Dragon\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/22 "2001-11-22T10:19:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cougarfang \* > \*\*me, i can’t even do that left-hand-is-“L” thing because i have paws, and the fur obscures the L… so i’m fairly slow at such things. _sigh of relief_ at least i’m not the only one! \*\* it doesn’t help having wings either . . . i have the same troubles ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/23 "2001-11-22T12:10:39Z")
My brother also has/had this problem. FWIW he is lefthanded and blue eyed. /Coil ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/24 "2001-11-22T12:24:20Z")
[ul] [li]Right Handed[/li][li]Brown Eyed[/li][li]Went to elementary school in Maryland and Colorado[/li][li]Has to do the “which hand do I write with” thing"[/li][li]Get (friendly) mocking from friends when I do the “So you drive 3 miles then turn…Umm…::glances at hands::…left”[/li][/ul] I don’t have the North/South/East/West problem, but that’s because I live in Denver. It’s impossible to forget that the mountains are West, and if you know that, everything else follows. I tend to drive people nuts by giving N.S.E.W. directions rather than L.R. directions: “So you drive 3 miles, 'till you get to the Quickee-Mart, then turn South. Go 1 block, turn East. Two more blocks and the road’ll make a big loop and you’ll find yourself going West.” For some reason, it drives people nuts. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/25 "2001-11-22T13:24:38Z")
I have a little difficulty with this, and my daughters have a lot of problems with it. They are all blue-eyed; I have greenish eyes. I had difficulty with this in kindergarten (Illinois, 1960). (I also got in trouble in kindergarten for tying my shoes with two loops instead of wrapping around one, and I used the black crayon too much.) ---
**Author:** ![freckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@freckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckles)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/26 "2001-11-22T13:43:34Z")
I can’t tell the difference between Left and Right and have to use the handwriting trick too. Nobody asks me for directions as they know that I will get them wrong. I also have to think about East and West. However a friend of mine told me that the reason for not knowing your right and left is connected to your hearing. I was born with a hearing disabililty (it’s fine now), and he said that was the reason I didn’t know my left and right. I don’t know how factual this is but I thought I would give it a mention and see did anyone else ever come across it. ---
**Author:** ![Frosfir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac91a4/32.png) [@Frosfir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosfir)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/27 "2001-11-22T14:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cougarfang \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Rushgeekgirl \* > > **Why is it so easy to remember UP and DOWN, but not right and left?** > > because you learn that your legs go down and your head goes up fairly quickly (especially since babies don’t do handstands)… > > me, i can’t even do that left-hand-is-“L” thing because i have paws, and the fur obscures the L… so i’m fairly slow at such things. _sigh of relief_ at least i’m not the only one! \*\* What i don’t understand is WHAT it rilly means to do the left-hand-is-“L” thingy… it doesn’t work out! How can i use my left hand to sign “L” if i don’t know which one is my left hane??? ---
**Author:** ![Rye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e56c9b/32.png) [@Rye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rye)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/28 "2001-11-22T14:26:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Frosfir \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Cougarfang \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Rushgeekgirl \* > > > **Why is it so easy to remember UP and DOWN, but not right and left?** > > > > because you learn that your legs go down and your head goes up fairly quickly (especially since babies don’t do handstands)… > > > > me, i can’t even do that left-hand-is-“L” thing because i have paws, and the fur obscures the L… so i’m fairly slow at such things. _sigh of relief_ at least i’m not the only one! \*\* > > What i don’t understand is WHAT it rilly means to do the left-hand-is-“L” thingy… it doesn’t work out! How can i use my left hand to sign “L” if i don’t know which one is my left hane??? \*\* you do it with both hands and the one with the correct L is your left hand, try it right now ---
**Author:** ![Nortia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Nortia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nortia)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/29 "2001-11-22T14:50:10Z")
I have thought that left is right and right is left many times, much to the amusement of my six year old daughter who knows left is left and right is right. I always have to think which hand I write with before I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713/30 "2001-11-22T15:24:31Z")
Catching up… Green eyes (check) Texas private kindergarden (maybe) No dyscalculia - I do math puzzles for fun Bad hearing? Only because I listened to too much loud R&R! I actually use driving turns to tell my right from my left; right is a short turn, and left is a long turn. Driving in England can screw me up on this. When I’m in this area, I always know East and West, but tend to flip North and South. Other areas depend on how familiar I am with the layout of the place. I actually have an excellent sense of direction. It’s just putting a name to the direction that I have problems with. Looking at the people in this thread, I think I am in very good company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-intelligent-human-who-cant-tell-left-from-right/94713.md?page=1)