What's the most basic thing you can't do?

CraigOhMyEggo@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 106 points –
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Wait, are you saying you didn't have to actively think about which is right or left before? I've always had to think about it, only for a second, but it's definitely an active thought thing for me.

Really?

Yeah, definitely. I didn't know people didn't have to think about it for a second.

You're not the only one, it takes me a second or two. Sometimes I make an L shape with my hands to see which way is left. Then again, sometimes I forget my age and name haha.

I always look for my ring, then I know which hand is left.

My wife has trouble with this as well. She's also not very good with spatial reasoning, I wonder if those are linked

I am pretty alright with spatial reasoning but have a hard time with left and right. Especially in multitasking scenarios. When driving during complicated situations and in unknown environments for example. I always get my guide to point or have a look at the nav.

Do you have to herd her around the supermarket? I'm forever guiding my mrs out of the way of other shoppers. No spatial awareness bless her.

Lmao it's not that bad. Or rather, it manifests at a larger scale : she'll wonder how we came to face this way by taking that route, or how we're able to see our home from some vantage point. She isn't very agile but I wouldn't say she's dyspraxic either.

Is it ever an issue for you both ?

No it's not an issue. It's probably more a me thing than a her thing. I'm probably hyperaware of avoiding the personal space of others.

This is wild and I genuinely can't wrap my head around it.

So say, if you were blindfolded and run, if I give you command a la those rally drivers you will have a noticeable lag to my cue ? Like not instant ?

I mean, it's a split second, but yeah, I gotta think about it. I don't think there would be noticeable lag, but it's definitely a conscious thought. I just thought everyone had to have the thought go through their head, it's not just like an instinct or anything.

Now that you mention it, it's odd that some people (like myself) have to think about it. Like I wouldn't have to hardly think about what you meant if you said "up" or "down."

Think of it like telling someone the directions like "twelve o'clock" versus "six o'clock" or "three o'clock" - you probably have to take a tic (heh) to picture it.

Yeah, the BBC article I posted above also mentions that.

At first I thought it would be like if someone told me to touch my nose and I have to consider which part of my face it is, because for me my body is split in the middle the left and right feel distinctly different I can't confuse one with the other. Fascinating.

Are you ambidextrous by any chance?

I guess I just felt that "right" is my stronger hand direction, "left" is my weaker hand one. Now, after several years of recovery I feel it almost the same way as before, so my mind makes the same shortcut instead of thinking for a second about it. But if I ever feel the balance of my stronger-weaker side tipped (e.g. right hand has fallen asleep) I guess it's thinking time again.