Poor Atwat....

[glasscigarette]

The funniest part about not being able to make the dancer go counter-clockwise is that I'm not entirely "right-brained," as it is traditionally described. I'm quite good at math and even started college as a physics major; I switched to literature not because I wasn't good at science (I was top in my class), but because I like literature more. Does this mean I have both sides of my brain working, but I intentionally block the left side out? Seems possible. 

But I still. Can't. Make. It. Switch. Directions.

I really am impatient. 

[Hecubus]

Okay, the NY Times has bailed me out again - with this explanation and links to visuals to help understand the illusion: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/the-truth-about-the-spinning-dancer/

[cookiepirate]

I can also get her to switch back and forth (so much so my eyes started to hurt... ), but at one point, she would freeze for a second before turning the other direction.  Why?  Is my brain slow to switch?

[glasscigarette]

I see a little freezy skip on every rotation. 

[Pooki]

I was able to make her change directions back and forth. Pretty freaky.

[celligirl]

Celligirl, I was kind of the same way with math in school, especially with geometry. I used to frustrate my teachers because I'd usually get the right answer but never be able to show my work. How was I supposed to do that, though, when my method consisted of drawing random shapes and moving them around in my head for a while until I suddenly knew the answer was 42 degrees?

Yeah, I see numbers as pictures and as parts of ten, which I then manipulate in my head, not on paper. So, kind of the same thing. I had a similar problem with geometry. My brain just doesn't think sequentially in steps, but in blocks of data which it then moves around. Music makes sense to me not because it's "math," per se, but because it's parts of 4 (or 3 or 6 or 2 or 9 or 13 or whatever, depending on the meter). So, I pretty much always get the right answer in math but not by using the "right" method. I always thought it was silly that they only teach one way to do arithmetic and that everyone has to follow the stupid steps. Who cares, so long as you get the right answer and aren't just copying answers from the person sitting next to you? 

As for the whole right brain/left brain thing...I don't know; I'm pretty skeptical of it. I was in high school when it became a big thing and everyone in this class I was taking took this test for it and blah, blah. Given that and my strange math thing, I was held up as a shining example of right-brainedness. I think it's a lot more complicated than just what half of your brain you use.

[uknortherner]

Actually I also see it totally clockwise, but I find that if I stare at the foot on the ground and focus really hard on making it change, I can sometimes get it to happen.
You have to be patient though it can take awhile

 Like more than 8:58:15 till 9:03:24.

*Sorry GC  but I had to tease you on that one 

I find it goes clockwise, until I look at the reflection at the bottom - the reflection always goes the opposite way, and it became quite easy to trick my brain into thinking it was going anticlockwise... And back again.

[Zazazu]

I could only get her to go clockwise, but then as I was reading the article and had scrolled down, I glanced back up at her feet and suddenly she was going counter-clockwise. Huh.

[Feverish]

I'm kinda angry now because I only see her spinning clockwise. I've tried to look at different spots, tried to blur my eyes, tried to lok away and back and she still only spins clockwise. It's annoying.


EDIT: Nevermind! I did it! Yay. It's really hard to do.

[LadyDea]

I was starring at her, trying to will her to go counter-clockwise, but then I noticed her rather pointy nipples. XD

[deelink]

I tried to be fair and not read the article or any of the responses and stared at the girl. Turning clockwise.
Alright! I said, turning to the article, when I read the entire thing, and understood that it was defining which area of the brain saw her turning clockwise, I turned to stare at her again, only to have her going anti clockwise! WTF? I said and tried to make her go clockwise again. She wouldn't.
Then Freddy came and sat on my lap, I gulped some coffee, scratched under his chin and stared at the girl again. Clockwise...

So perhaps celli is right, it really depends what side of your brain you are using at the time
I have an analytical mind, am quite grounded in logic, but I am also batshit crazy and totally random Awesome.

[Quinctia]

I think it's however you catch it, honestly.  I'm not really any brained (I think all that stuff is bunk), and it depends on the day which way the thing's turning, or if I can make it switch.

It's just what you immediately process.  It's a more complicated version of what I think of as the Crow effect.  Ever seen Mystery Science Theater?

Well, look at the silhouettes of the robots.  If you think about it, you can process Crow as either facing the screen or facing you:


(Crow is the one with the metal catcher's mitt contraption on his head, for those not in the know.)


It's like the curvature of the head makes it easier to process that either way of facing the screen could be correct.

It also reminds me of the right half of the Windows XP logo, which can alternate between convex and concave, to me.  For some reason, I can't get the left side to do double duty like that, though.

[Hecubus]

And here I thought the Crow Effect was the compulsion to sing the credits.

[Pooki]

Damn I miss that show.

[alliecat]

Huh. The first time I saw that dancer thing it was really easy for me to switch it back and forth, but this time it was not. I wonder what makes the difference.