# Which way is she moving? Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101 "2008-09-18T04:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/1 "2008-09-18T04:53:48Z")
A website called Switched has an article about the [25 best optical illusions](http://www.switched.com/2008/09/17/top-25-optical-illusions-on-the-web) on the web, and I want to ask you about one of them. This illusion is supposed to tell you if you’re right or left-brained. Look at [animated picture](http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/left-vs-right-brain-test-for-creativity-or-logic/). Is she moving clockwise, or counter-clockwise? I looked at it for a minute or so, and was surprised how many people said that it was moving in the opposite direction thanI saw it, and even more so by the people who said they could see it moving _both_ directions because it was clearly moving in one direction. But I figured out how to get it to consistently switch directions! Without reading the comments on that page or the spoiler, see if you can too. We’ll wait. Okay, if you **did** get it to switch directions, did you do it by focusing on where the gray shadow foot meets the black silhouette? That’s how I get it to move, but someone else said it’ll move if you hum or do math problems in your head, and it seems to work too. So… A. Which direction did you initially see it moving in? B. Could you get it to switch directions? How about while trying the two things in the spoiler box? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/2 "2008-09-18T05:10:40Z")
I’m not sure how you’d search for them, but there have been at least two threads in the last year about this illusion. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/3 "2008-09-18T05:28:53Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’m not sure how you’d search for them, but there have been at least two threads in the last year about this illusion. Even if we could find them, zombies get no love around here. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/4 "2008-09-18T05:36:30Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > A website called Switched has an article about the [25 best optical illusions](http://www.switched.com/2008/09/17/top-25-optical-illusions-on-the-web) on the web, and I want to ask you about one of them. > > This illusion is supposed to tell you if you’re right or left-brained. Look at [animated picture](http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/left-vs-right-brain-test-for-creativity-or-logic/). Is she moving clockwise, or counter-clockwise? > > I looked at it for a minute or so, and was surprised how many people said that it was moving in the opposite direction thanI saw it, and even more so by the people who said they could see it moving _both_ directions because it was clearly moving in one direction. But I figured out how to get it to consistently switch directions! > > Without reading the comments on that page or the spoiler, see if you can too. We’ll wait. > > Okay, if you **did** get it to switch directions, did you do it by > > focusing on where the gray shadow foot meets the black silhouette? That’s how I get it to move, but someone else said it’ll move if you hum or do math problems in your head, and it seems to work too. > > So… > A. Which direction did you initially see it moving in? > B. Could you get it to switch directions? How about while trying the two things in the spoiler box? She spins clockwise at first glance. While I’m reading the attached article, she changes direction. I’ll look at her for a few moments going counterclockwise until she suddenly switches directions again. I can’t make her switch out of clockwise rotation without looking away and reading some more of the article. Then she’ll change for a few moments again. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/5 "2008-09-18T05:45:35Z")
I can make her switch directions by looking at her legs, then away, then back again. Much harder staring straight at her whole body the whole time, though I did it once. For what it’s worth ( probably very little ), I’ve taken a two or three left brain/right brain tests on the web and I invariably come out as very balanced between the two - almost dead center. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/6 "2008-09-18T05:53:54Z")
Hmmm. I see her spinning clockwise. Her grounded foot is sorta like the hour hand, and the raised foot would be the minute hand. I don’t seem to be equipped to see her reverse direction. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/7 "2008-09-18T06:04:33Z")
I always see it deiseil, and every time this pops up so do most of the people on the Dope, but the article always insists most people see it going widdershins. (yeah, I didn’t feel like saying clockwise or counterclockwise, sue me) I can easily get it to switch by reading the article, and get it to go back by humming a tune or just waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/8 "2008-09-18T06:15:02Z")
Odd. First look I saw her spinning counter-clockwise. And I am a highly creative kind of person, so I’m a bit dubious about this “test.” I made her switch to clockwise by staring at the space between her legs for a bit, defocusing, and then blinking. It helps if I don’t allow myself to see her arms at all. When I go back to looking at if after looking elsewhere I now see it moving in the same direction that I last left off. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/9 "2008-09-18T07:18:50Z")
Either way. It’s easy to get it switched. Just look away and look back again. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/10 "2008-09-18T07:39:47Z")
Clockwise almost exclusively. I have to ‘force’ her to move the other way ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/11 "2008-09-18T10:15:16Z")
I find the easiest way to get her to switch is just to move my eyes in a circle in the desired direction as I watch her. Hard to describe but hopefully you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/12 "2008-09-18T10:20:34Z")
[http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=483167](http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=483167) Not quite a ‘zombie thread’. The last post was only two days ago. eta. FWIW, we have established that the image doesn’t actually change direction, and that it is just our perception of it that alters. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/13 "2008-09-18T15:11:34Z")
I remember a thread about this specific illusion before, as well. Clockwise at first. I tried all kinds of eye movements to get her counter, to no avail. She only switched to counter-clockwise when I read some of the article, then glanced back. Very easy to switch BACK to clockwise - sort of a tenuous hold on the counter-clockwise image. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/14 "2008-09-18T15:39:50Z")
Counter at first. As I read the article and scrolled down and eliminated the top half of the figure, it changed. I wanted it to go counter, I’d look at the arms, to change to clockwise, I look at the reflection. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/15 "2008-09-18T15:41:12Z")
First glance clockwise. Fairly effortless to get her to switch directions though. Can even get it now to where she sways back and forth with her leg always facing you. Swings left, touches the left wall, reverse directions, swing right, touch the right wall, reverse directions, repeat. Like a pendulum. ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/16 "2008-09-18T15:50:10Z")
I’m trying like hell to get her to go counterclockwise, and I can’t see it. What am I doing wrong? I tried focusing on her feet, looking away and looking back a few times, etc. but I can only see her going clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/17 "2008-09-18T15:51:32Z")
At first glance, it was CCW. I couldn’t get it to switch at all. Then I read the article, and looked back, and it was CW. Couldn’t get it to switch again for a while. Then suddenly, it did. Weird. Now it’s pretty easy to get it to switch. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/18 "2008-09-18T16:31:46Z")
She’s going clockwise, and nothing I do will get her to go counter-clockwise. i tried squinting, covering one eye, looking away and back, looking at just her feet, her hand, her pony tail, but she only goes clockwise. Not even a tiny bit counter. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/19 "2008-09-18T16:41:08Z")
Clockwise exclusively so far. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101/20 "2008-09-18T16:44:39Z")
So it looks like I get to be the first person to mention her nipples this time around. Cool. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-she-moving-poll/464101.md?page=2)