That "turning woman" thing--what the hell?

[amanuensis1]

Oooookay, no one seems to be answering my comments at this hour, so, since this is driving me bonkers, I'm seeing if anyone else has answers.

That "which way will the dancer turn" thing? I first saw it at a spot I can't link because it's a locked post, but the picture was still. It asked, "Which way is she turning?" and I looked and gave my answer based on how she was standing--how it looked like she would turn based on that pose--then you scroll down further and it says, "Click the picture to see her turn," and I did and I was correct, she was turning in that direction. Some people, the explanation goes, will see her turning in the other direction--but I assume once they click they find they were wrong, correct? And the question is "Were you wrong or right," and that links into the whole right-brain left-brain thing, whether that's accurate or not.

Because I'm really confused--people are starting to link to a page where the woman is already spinning. But why ask "Which way is she turning?" when she's already turning?? And why are people still saying they see different directions when she's already turning??

Comments

[penknife.livejournal.com]

No, it really does appear to be spinning in different directions for different people, and you can make the direction of spin appear to change for yourself -- it's a fairly freaky optical illusion.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Seconded. It's quite startling. At first I saw her turning clockwise and then when I looked up again she was so clearly turning anticlockwise that I couldn't understand how anyone could see clockwise even though I had done so seconds before.

Then a little later she was clockwise again. I wondered if 'it' was 'watching' me and changing the direction when 'it knew' I wasn't looking, so I spent a few minutes trying to catch 'it' out. Gah. And they call me intelligent.

[wilde_stallyn.livejournal.com]

It's an optical illusion. It can look like she's spinning either way, depending on how your brain's wired. I can make it switch back and forth with a little concentration.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It can look like she's spinning either way--while she's spinning? Not "which way is she about to spin," but people give different answers while she's actually spinning? That's how it's supposed to be answered?

[busaikko]

Gah! She's going clockwise and I can't make it happen any other way... never could do other optical illusions, either. *is depressed*

But then again, I keep getting mesmerised by her incredibly perky breasts, every time she whirls by....

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've got the explanation now--the way I was introduced to it I assumed there was a "wrong" and a "right" way to see it and since I can only see her turning one way (clockwise) I assumed that was the end of it. So the idea that people are seeing her move differently as she's spinning blew my mind. Still does!

[pandarus.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the link - that's fascinating. And weird - when I looked at it, I saw her turning anticlockwise, and then there was a flippy thing (a bit like that perception shift you get looking at an Escher print, or one of those 3D dot picture thingies) and then she was turning clockwise. And now I can't make her turn anything but clockwise. Can't even trick myself into it.

Fabulous.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can't see her turning anything but clockwise, and I assumed from the way I was introduced to it (with the still picture) there was a "right" and a "wrong" way to look at it! Now I'll probably go blind trying to see it the other way. ^_^

[treewishes.livejournal.com]

You have the most interesting brain, ya know?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Well, the picture was STILL! It didn't say to click it until you SCROLLED DOWN TO THE RESULTS! So I made my decision based on how she was standing, and when I clicked it and she moved in an obvious unidirection--clockwise--I assumed that meant there was a right and a wrong answer, hello! :D

The text said, "Most people will see her move counter-clockwise," which I took to mean, "Most people will EXPECT to see her move counter-clockwise but of course when they click and see she moves clockwise they discover they were WRONG." I am not responsible for having the meme presented to me CONFUSINGLY! *tantrums*

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Try covering everything but her foot with your hand, and visualizing the direction of spin one way or the other. You will feel an actual kind of click when the direction changes--it's your brain switching sides. *g*

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I will give it a try, but--the thing is, I'm not particularly distressed that I can only see it going one way! I kind of like my brain's stubbornness. ^_^ I was just upset that the way it was presented I interpreted the whole trick wrong--I thought there was a "wrong" and a "right" answer and when I saw the meme presented with the "answer" already "given away" (i.e., with her already in motion) I was confused as hell.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

It spins clockwise if I look directly at it, and anti-clockwise if I look at it from my peripheral vision. With a little practice, I can make it switch back and forth, which is rather disorienting.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, now that everyone's explained that you're supposed to make your interpretation while she's in motion and that some people see it differently, I can understand! But she still only goes clockwise for me. ^_^

[mieronna.livejournal.com]

Try as I might, I can't make her spin in counter-clockwise, even though it's supposedly possible. My mum saw her turning counter-clockwise at the same time and then she went away and came back and saw her turning clockwise, as I. So apparently people really can see her spinning in different direction while she is moving. Or more like - not spinning in different direction but either facing us or having her back turned to us and spinning accordingly.

[mieronna.livejournal.com]

Oh wait, I can do the trick with looking only at the feet from my peripheral vision that matociquala described - then I can see her turning counter-clockwise with *a lot* of effort.

[letmypidgeonsgo.livejournal.com]

my cousin sent me this, and i saw both (no clicking involved) so i decided to save it & open it up in a program away from teh intarwebz. turns out the whole thing is only, like, 10 frames long, or something, and at first i couldn't see how i could ever have seen anything but what i first saw (clockwise, & wow that was an odd sentence!). but then i scrolled backward through the images, making my own movement, & she appeared to be spinning clockwise even when the images went backwards. that should have been a big clue, but wasnt.

basically, what i found was that, when i went from not looking at it at all (like, not even a foot or the shadow) to looking at her legs, she appeared to be going clockwise. if i went from not looking to looking in the general area of her chest, she appeared to be going counterclockwise. so my conclusion is that, since the legs are sort of dark mixed in with light, whereas the chest is more dark surrounded by light, this is no different from those black & white blobs where, if you see the positive (black) it's one thing, but if your mind goed straight to the negative (white) part of the image, it's another

/rant

[letmypidgeonsgo.livejournal.com]

err, when i say 'no clicking involved', i mean somehow it was already in motion once the page finished loading *shrug*

[askani.livejournal.com]

i saw it both ways. pretty creepy, really.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

emperor's clothes I think. I've only been given a link to the spinning one, and it's only one way that's for sure.

[featherofeeling.livejournal.com]

Try it again--the spinning one itself can be seen in both ways. Even by the same person! :D

[neeteeus.livejournal.com]

It's actually not a right-brain vs left-brain thing. The image actually switches at a predetermined point. And the reason it's difficult to see the switch is because at some point both of her legs are on top of one another (when she's facing directly away and towards the viewer)and it happens so quickly the brain is tricked into thinking it made a mistake.

The best way to see it in action is to place your hand at the angle of her head when she's 'facing' you. You may have to keep at it for 45 secs to a minute to make sure you catch the switch. At some point you will notice that even though your hand is still at the angle where you started, the girl's head will be tilted in the opposite direction. The switch has happened.

Once you've done that a couple times you'll be able to spot it easily.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I agree it's not right-brain and left-brain - I think it has more to do with eye dominance. But what do you mean, "The image actually switches at a predetermined point." Because the image doesn't actually switch - there is no actual rotation.

The image is two-dimensional, and therefore can't rotate (because that requires the third dimension). The illusion of three-dimensionality is encouraged by the shadow, and our eyes want to see it as 3d. But if you look at the actual frames, they are simply black shapes. When her legs "cross" there is no reason to imagine a particular one in front of the other. So that's the easiest time to force the flip.

If you think about it (well, if I do) I can see her facing me always, swinging back and forth, left to right. OR facing away, doing the same thing.

I showed this to my husband, and it was amusing to have him insisting she was going one way while I was seeing her go the other way. Eventually he got the trick to making her swap directions as well. I think it just takes viewing it for a while and concentrating on her feet. But it is hard to do!

[aiji-yuywell.livejournal.com]

in order to see her spin the other way (counter-clockwise), I have to block off the entire image except her foot with my hand, imagine her foot going the other way, and then watch the whole image. It usually works and I can get it to change back and forth quite easily.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Grrr, that didn't work for me. I see her going clockwise, and I boggle at the idea of other people seeing her going counter-clockwise! *tries it more*

[marginaliana]

I, like you, am apparently stubbornly right-brained, though I can make it go briefly counter-clockwise if I try really hard. What a weird illusion!

[langenoire.livejournal.com]

I stared at the moving woman for a while and for the lfie of me I couldn't concieve that she was spinning any direction other than clockwise! Maybe if there was a post with her spinning the other way, apparently the way most people see it, I could understand. Do you know if there are any pages like that? Or can I simply not see the other direction?

[fer-de-lance.livejournal.com]

I can't see it any way other than clockwise, either.

I think if I could "pause" it for a second that I could get it to switch, because sometimes it seems almost-there, but without any way to stop it or slow it down I'm stuck on clockwise. :)

[mahaliem.livejournal.com]

If you want to see her turn in the other direction, try closing your eyes and picturing how she would look spinning in that direction. Imagine it clearly in your head, then open your eyes. If that doesn't work, try it a second or third time.

When I first read your post, I got to the part where you saw that it was still and thought, "Wow! that's not left or right brained."

[satanbaker.livejournal.com]

I'm like you... she's only turning clockwise for me. XD I honestly can't imagine how anyone could see it differently.

I'm right handed, too. This is strange, apparently?

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

I can't make her go counter-clockwise... *sends it to everyone she knows*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I found it resolutely clockwise at first, too, then started trying to make it switch. I made it work by blinking at different rates which I timed using an electronic timer on the screen of my computer. After serious focus on the task for a few minutes, it switched. Which made me wonder if I had actually started using the left side of my brain to create the experiment and if that had been the reason for the switch.

I, too, am right handed, and right footed.

[lady_songsmith]

I, too, am right handed, and right footed.

Ah-- but the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Bow and I were with you- SHE IS SPINNING CLOCKWISE DAMMIT AND ONLY CLOCKWISE SO THERE.

I do think this right brain/left brain explanation sounds like BS- there are some funny comments on it in Cleolinda's thread. Also, from the comments I've seen, I find it a bit hard to believe that *most* people see it anti-clockwise and that these are the left-brainers. But ... willing to be shown to be wrong.

[moonlite-tryst.livejournal.com]

Okay, anticlockwise. Apparently, that makes me left brain function, but hardly any of the list applies to me, whereas most of the right brain function list does. *shrugs* Try as I might I only gave myself a headache to get her to turn clockwise.

What i want to know is why does it have to be a naked woman. it could've been a man.

[moonlite-tryst.livejournal.com]

So I followed all the advice re looking at her foot and yes!, she changed direction. Couldn't get her to change back though. Clearly I don't focus very well.

[djinnj.livejournal.com]

Argh! I changed the directions and now I can't change it back! *cries*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've given myself a headache trying to make myself see her going counter-clockwise. I give up! :P Odd that the story said most people see it counterclockwise yet the majority of your comments here see it clockwise.

[kagyakusha.livejournal.com]

my sister and I can only see her going clockwise *shrug*

[kissed-by-fate.livejournal.com]

I can flip it just by shutting my eyes for a moment, and then flip it back the same way. Guess that makes me odd.

Nothing new there.