# Setting up to RECEIVE PERSONAL MESSAGES? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 1, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950 "2015-03-01T20:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/1 "2015-03-01T20:35:42Z")
HOW do I do this? I guess my sense of logic is backwards … of course, I’m left-handed and female. I can SEND PM’s, but not RECEIVE them. :smack: Please advise. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/2 "2015-03-01T20:44:08Z")
NM. I posted wrong info. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/3 "2015-03-01T22:07:21Z")
Click on User CP on the upper left (user control panel), then when that comes up, click on Edit Options about halfway down on the left side. Under Messaging & Notification there are a couple of check boxes that control private messaging here. Enable Private Messaging will enable or disable private messaging in general. Since you can send PMs I’m guessing that you have this checked already, so I’m mentioning this mostly for the benefit of anyone else who stumbles across this thread while looking for similar problems. Receive Private Messages only from Contacts and Moderators is probably checked on yours. This will allow you to send private messages but you won’t be able to receive them from most people. The Show New Private Message Notification Pop-up must be checked, or you won’t receive the notification pop-up that you have a new message when you access the SDMB. Note that if you are using a script blocker, this will also prevent the pop-up notification from appearing. In both of these cases, you will see that your count of unread private messages has increased in the upper right hand part of your screen, but that’s a pretty small thing and is easy to miss. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/4 "2015-03-02T02:10:59Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > HOW do I do this? I guess my sense of logic is backwards … of course, I’m left-handed and female. Well, being left-handed you probably do everything backwards compared to normal right-handed folk. And being female, you probably do everything backwards compared to normal male folk. So if you’re backwards of backwards, that means you’re actually, y’know, _more-or-less normal_ doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/5 "2015-03-03T02:40:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Well, being left-handed you probably do everything backwards compared to normal right-handed folk. And being female, you probably do everything backwards compared to normal male folk. So if you’re backwards of backwards, that means you’re actually, y’know, _more-or-less normal_ doesn’t it? That’s two-dimensional thinking. In 3D, being those two things is like both facing backwards _and_ being upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/6 "2015-03-03T23:59:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That’s two-dimensional thinking. In 3D, being those two things is like both facing backwards _and_ being upside down. Why, in a mirror, do we see ourselves standing upright? Feynman went into this, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/7 "2015-03-04T00:06:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That’s two-dimensional thinking. In 3D, being those two things is like both facing backwards _and_ being upside down. So you’re saying Senegoid is Khan? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-to-receive-personal-messages/713950/8 "2015-03-04T02:03:42Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Why, in a mirror, do we see ourselves standing upright? > > Feynman went into this, I believe. Light reflects off of where it impacts the mirror. Leftmost things hit the mirror on the left and reflect on the left. Rightmost things hit the mirror on the right and reflect on the right. Topmost things hit the mirror at the top and reflect from the top. Bottommost things hit the mirror at the bottom and reflect from the bottom. Because our feet are at the bottom and our heads are at the top, they reflect in the proper places. Our right hand is on the right and left hand is on the left, so they reflect on those sides. But the reflection shows us our front, not our back. So it looks like it reverses left and right. Actually, it inflects us front to back.