# What causes location disoreintation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-location-disoreintation/223349>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 8, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-location-disoreintation/223349 "2004-01-08T02:37:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-location-disoreintation/223349/1 "2004-01-08T02:37:30Z")

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What causes you to feel like you’re traveling north when you KNOW you are going south?

Here’s what I mean…

I was taking the Irving Park bus east. Normally I get off on the Brown Line station and head south to Belmont. But it was bitter cold last night and I said “I’ll just go further east and get off on the Red Line station and go to Belmont” The Red Line runs more often so I figure  
I’d wait less in the cold.

(The Brown and Red Lines merge at Belmont. The Brown runs diagonally and it’s usually quicker to take that line than ride a bus due to traffic.)

Anyhow I got off at the Red Line (Irving Park Road and Sheridan Rd) and went up the platform. When I got there I thought I went up the wrong side cause it felt like South was the other way. I checked the signs and it said I was on the correct side to go to Belmont.

I got on the El Train and it still felt like I was going north. Even thought I knew I was going south. Then all of a sudden I saw Wrigley Field (home of the Cubs) and boom suddenly my orientation switched and it FELT like I was going south.

This was at night by the way.

What causes your brain to function like this. I KNEW I was going the right way it just FELT wrong.

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**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-location-disoreintation/223349/2 "2004-01-08T06:41:47Z")

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Well, for me my sense of direction is largely dependent on the freeways if I’m driving very far. 880 in the East Bay is nominally north-south oriented, but around where I live sections of it actually run east-west. This will sometimes lead me to believe I’m traveling east on a local road when I’m actually going north.

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-location-disoreintation/223349/3 "2004-01-08T06:50:09Z")

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I always liked going south. Somehow, it reminds me of going downhill.

Really, you have an innate sense of direction? I’m pretty good myself about determining which way is North in a hurry, and things like that, if I’m inside, or if I can see the sun or stars. But I never “feel” like I’m facing in a certain direction, and I wouldn’t be able to hazard a guess without some sort of landmark.