Which way is the dancer spinning… clockwise or counter-clockwise?
Most people will see her turning counter-clockwise, which apparently means you’re more left brained (logical). I see her spinning that way, and it’s at first almost impossible to imagine her going clockwise. But it happens, usually by focusing or when something unexpectedly alters your perception.
Here’s the typical run down on left versus right brain:
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking
Many people associate the right brain with creativity and lateral thinking, and there’s certainly something to that. Our left brains create structures that can act as barriers to alternative solutions and perspectives.
But your left brain plays a crucial role in creativity as well. Seeing logical associations between seemingly unrelated things is a hallmark of creativity. And the critical-thinking skills necessary to tell a good idea from a bad one are pretty important too.
So… tell us which way your dancer spins for you in the comments. And weigh in with your opinion about the right brain versus left brain for creativity… isn’t it a really a “whole mind” thing?
P.S. Want to know how this optical illusion works? Read this.
About the Author: Brian Clark is a new media entrepreneur and co-founder of Lateral Action. Subscribe today to get free updates by email or RSS.
No matter what I do, she’s spinning clockwise. I’ve seen this many times and she’s always spinning clockwise.
The idea that I’m right brained is not exactly a surprise.
i do not want to dissappoint you guys, but it IS a trick. just stare at her legs, and you’ll notice that she switches the leg she spins on.
Because right eye goes to left brain, and vice versa, if I close one eye, the open eye’s corresponding brain side always chooses the spinning direction just as you describe.
Would someone born blind in one eye have a much less-developed corresponding brain hemisphere?
I was born lazy-eyed, and the ‘good eye’ made me a typical left brainer. I always sensed my creative side was ‘blocked’ and this could explain it.
I’ve been working to restore the lazy-eye’s contribution (I’m 56) and my brain has been adapting to the new input, while the good eye is kept closed. And I’ve become a Christian during this time, after a being a lifelong logical atheist. I wonder if there could be any connection.
Brilliant site. Thanks.
This was fun and interesting. Clockwise. Thought it was a trick until I relaxed my gaze downward and saw her spinning counter-clockwise in my peripheral vision. Funny, I’m happiest living my life right-brained, but my left-brain always insists on enforcing boundaries and rules.
first, i see it spinning clockwise, but then when i tried clearing up my mind. i looked at it again and it changed to counter-clockwise. i blink my eyes repeatedly and sometimes it changes the way it spins.. i really dont know how and why..
definitely spinning clockwise for me, no doubt about it!
For those of you who still think this is some kind of trick, read this:
http://www.randominc.net/spinninglady/
I’m a mathematician, and it is definitely turning clockwise, I can’t see it turning in the opposite way. So I must be right-brained, but gee, I’m a f*cking mathematician..
i see her going right.. or clock-wise.
i cant seem to figure out how she could be going left xD
hahaha my brain is getting sore
Oh come on people, don’t get sucked in by this, she spins one way a while, then she spins the other. There is no optical illusion. no “left brained or right brained” If you haven’t seen here spin both ways, you just aren’t watching long enough.
This time, I see the dancer spinning clockwise, but I can also see her spinning counterclockwise. I’ve seen this image before, and I think it switches for me each time.
I always get hung-up on the right brain/left brain theory. I think everyone can be creative and that it’s not just based on which side of the brain you use more often. I think it’s your ability to make connections between different things – which might involve your ability to connect the different sides of your brain.
When people tell me they’re left-brained as an excuse for not being creative, it feels like a cop-out. I’m quite left-brained myself (an INTP, like one of the above commentators) and I am very good at being creative. For me, the logical aspect comes into play when I try to connect two very different things (eg. frogs and how to improve a car). My mind wants to make the connection local so much that an idea suddenly appears.
To me, it’s not about being right-brained or left-brained. It’s just about learning to use your strengths to come up with new ideas.
everyone who says it’s not possible to make her turn the other direction you’re wrong, you’re just not trying hard enough. Im extremely right brained but i can make it turn the other direction if i concentrate hard enough. i can’t make it last though.
I am a computer programmer and assume that I am left brained (and programming is creativity at times, I step away to get ideas). BUT I see clockwise and I am certain. I cannot see counter-clockwise. I am with Qrystal and Tom Chapin. I have seen this elsewhere without the tell-tale signs of a certain rotation. I also see that you use DAZ studio or Poser. I don’t believe that you have the illusion that you were shooting for.
I see her going clockwise.
I’m a dancer, and the only way I can see her going is clockwise (until I looked at the explanation for it). I don’t know whether anyone else did the same thing, but I imagined myself as the dancer, I couldn’t figure it out before I did that. It’d be interesting to see if anyone else places themselves as the dancer, and what other dancers think about it, especially as most dancers would put themselves in the right-brained category.
Katie,
Just had to point out that INTP is actually far more right-brain oriented than left. Each of the 4 MBTI axes can be broken down to a left or right brain preference, with Extroversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judging representing a left brain preference and Introversion, iNtuiting, Feeling, and Perceiving representing a right brain preference. Given that, you skew right brain on 3 out of 4 preferences, and your primary means of relating to the outside world is through intuition!
Classifying INTP as a left brain dominant is a misunderstanding of both MBTI and brain lateralization. Having a need for logical coherence or intellectual rigor in your inner life does not make you “left brain.”
– Jeff
I saw her spinning clockwise. I saw this same spinning silhouette about a week ago and she was spinning counter clock wise. It seems to day I can see her spinning in whichever direction I want, almost every time I want to.
For about 10% off the people the whole left-right brain is swapped (most of these people are left handed). It is therefor not a good idea to read to much into these type of things.
It is great to use it to ‘loosen’ your thinking, but don’t get fixed on this.
The freaky thing is that when I saw this in my RSS reader, she was spinning clockwise, but now she’s spinning counter-clockwise, and I can’t make her “switch” either way!
If I try I can see it both ways but the stance I think would suggest clockwise motion and clockwise is what I see instinctively but I’m a science student. I’ve previously been an arts student and science suits me much better but then my maths teacher said the best minds are balanced, Einstein was a concert grade violinist. To be a good scientist you need imaginaton and to be a good author or artist you need good technique.
At first glance she was turning counter-clockwise, then clockwise, then about a 50/50 mix of her turning one or the other.
Now, it is pretty easy to make the switch at will.
Here’s my little trick:
When she is moving counter-clockwise I just turn my head to the left and only see her with the peripheral vision of my right eye. She will shortly begin turning clockwise.
Next, I turn my head to the right and only see her with the peripheral vision of my left eye. She will shortly begin turning counter-clockwise.
Try it.
I am pretty sure it is just the animation changing itself. At first I saw it clockwise (I fit the counter-clockwise, “logical” description much better, by far), and then later on I saw it go counter-clockwise.
If you watch long enough, it just changes back and forth. It has to do with her arm/upper body swinging in a certain direction that makes it hard to see when she actually switches.
Dude! I can make her go one way, then switch and go the other way, then change back again, just by looking at here! thats soo cool!!!
Please look at the shadow of the forward foot everyone. I have been reading all of the comments today and noone is paying attention to the shadow of the forward foot. I cannot see it counterclockwise because she is not spinning counter clockwise. If the shadow moves from right to left, please let me know…I haven’t seen it.
James,
I disagree because I was observing this with two other people at the same time and we had very different results.
It is your brain doing the switching.
if i concentrate i can make her spin either way.
if i dont concentrate, she spins both ways!
im a genius
This is a demonstration of the ambiguity of silhouettes. It has nothing to do with ‘left brain right brain’ people, which is in itself complete nonsense.
Anybody can make it spin either direction, you just need a cue to facilitate it.
no matter what, she always spins clockwise. am i normal?
Very cool. If you read the beginning of the post while keeping the image in your peripheral vision, you’ll see her spin both ways depending on when you notice the image.
Focusing on her bottom (legs), I see it clockwise.
However, if I focus on her top (body&head) after hiding it for a second, I see it counterclockwise. Then I can hide it again and switch directions that way.
Without hiding, my brain takes about 5 seconds to switch direction. Not changing where I focus, it takes 10-15 seconds.
Sam,
Brain lateralization is sound (even noble prize-winning) science – even if some popularized notions based on it can degenerate into nonsense. And I can also tell you from working with the MBTI preferences that they are also very real.
Yes, we all use both hemispheres of our brains every day, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have characteristic ways of perceiving and processing. People DO have those preferences and there is a large body of evidence to show that those preferential ways of perceiving and processing have biological correlates. Using “right brain” or “left brain” terminology can be a useful shorthand in talking about, making use of, and even transcending those preferences – even if that shorthand is often only directionally true, rather than perfectly/technically accurate.
– Jeff
I saw it rotating clockwise and no way am I able to see it otherwise. So what does it mean for me??
when I see her completely then it is spinning in right counter clock wise, but when i hide the pic and c only her legs then it is clockwise
i find that if you look at the foot in the shadow, you can get her to spin the other way.
I see her doing it clockwise, and I swear, only clockwise.
Then I notice her changing direction. Then again, then again, at random intervals.
I began to think that this was a hoax–seriously, it was just too obvious, right?
If this is real, whoever came up with this is pure genius.
I , in no way, can see her turning counter clockwise. No matter how hard I try. I would agree that I am totally right brained.
LOL
I can make her top half spin clockwise, and legs spin counter-clockwise, and vice versa. Therefore, I think I lack a brain at all, or my brain is twisted together.
I see her spinning clockwise.
Definitely right-brained. 🙂
My tendency is to see it as clockwise but I can see it both.
The easiest way I’ve found to cause the switch is the rapidly blink my eyes while looking at the image slightly de-focused.
I see her spinning clockwise at first glance every time I’ve seen this. But I am definitely a left-brained person, no doubt about it which is what I always find strange. I can change which way I see her spinning though
i definitely see it going clockwise. but i’ve always assumed i was left brained since im right handed. but at the same time, im a much more creative/artistic fantasy based thinker for sure as the right brained description suggests.
WTF at first I saw it Clockwise, then counter clock wise, and now I can actually make it go any way I want to.
I’m I dying?
ok wierd i stared at it for about 30 seconds and now its going the other way o_O
She goes clock-wise no matter how I squint my eyes or if I look at her torso or even if I look at her foot’s shadow.
’round and ’round she goes
I am most definitely a lefty! My right hand only functions on a baseball field for batting & throwing and then again when I think about you (and I touch myself).
Otherwise I eat, write, shoot pool, bowl, throw darts, defend myself (knee up or left-fist-first), snowboard (goofy), operate staplers, knives and I even pour drinks left-handedly! I arrange my work area, living area and kitchen for lefties …
I can’t play tennis because I have no forehand. Instead I have a racquet that jumps between hands depending on which side the ball hits. haha Shooting hoops never worked well either; no one made me decide which way to shoot so I became OK at both but great at neither.
😉
Z
She changed directions when I would go back. I got her to change directions at will by looking away closing(or covering) one eye then looking back then look away and switch eyes. I was even able to due it fast enough for her to look like she switched directions in the same turn.
While I think it is due to left and right brain perception, I really don’t think it will show your dominate half, just witch one take over when first seeing the picture.
It’s perfectly obvious to me. When I loaded the page she was spinning clockwise, and while I watched she alternated to counter clockwise, and back, etc.
PS: Since the Earth rotates counter clockwise, shouldn’t that be “Earthwise” and clockwise be “counter Earthwise”?
The reflected foot is near to you (gets cut off) when her foot sweeps from left to right. Isn’t that enough to determine she is turning counter-clockwise?
Which I suppose is a left-brain answer.
This freaks me out every time I see it. I initially see it spinning clockwise, but if I look away, she spins the other way. Definitely not a hoax, IMHO. Just an incredibly innovative illusion.
I think the brain is more complicated than logic on one side and creativity on the other, as most have already said. Logical situations often require a sense of creativity also and vice versa.
I see her turning both ways….I’m an ALL Brainer 😉
i can pick the way i see her going super brain!!!!!!!
i went to here!
P.S. Want to know how this optical illusion works? Read this.
and see here going both ways at the same time!
I control dancer.
She just keeps going clockwise no matter what. I’m trying to get her to spin the other way, but it isn’t happening.
she goes clockwise at first, but then she changes in the middle. just follow the motion of her leg and ass. you can see the switch. but you have to catch it tho. unless you gonna be staring at it forever. hahaha
I can only ever see her rotate clockwise. Seeing the “how it works” page is fun — when I look at one, the other goes the same way!
In a way, I find it surprising that I see her rotate clockwise, since primary primary strengths are logic and maths/science and I’m a computer programmer. However, I also have good spatial reasoning, and strengths in several of the “right brain” functions.
Interesting.
*wonders if anyone ever expected this many comments…*
I can make her spin in both directions easy .
OMG i am schizophren
I see it spinning clockwise but my wife can change the direction at will. What the hell does that mean?
At first i saw her spining clockwise….. but i can make her change directions whenever i want XD…. it’s really funny
ok, i’ve sussed it out. anyone who saw my previous post would see that i insisted that she ONLY goes clockwise. however, i just looked at her again and she was going COUNTER-COCKWISE……THEN, before my very eyes, she started to go the opposite way again. conclusion? she was programmed to spin randomly in both directions by somebody who is very clever……tra-la!
Francis, you can’t “program” an animated gif that way. Check the link at the bottom of the post for an explanation of the illusion.
Brian is right, gifs cannot be “randomly programmed”. they are animations, and go from frame->frame->frame continuously – no randomization.
I can see both directions. it starts counter-clockwise every time, but if i stare at it and tell myself – it’s going in the other direction – soon it does 😀
I like IT!!
I see it as clockwise. I genuinely find it hard to see it as going the other way.
I can only see clockwise – but I fit into the left brain category. I think this isn’t test isn’t really true.
whenever i want i see it turning on the left and whenever i want i see it on the right!
it’s so weird though!!!
It keeps changing! first it was clockwise, then while i was staring at it, it changed! wtf????
OK, most people are right handed. Right side is controlled by the left side, and the left side of the body controlled by the right side of the brain. Americans (or people in general) have the left side as being the dominant side, since, as stated before, most people are right handed.
Animals on the other hand also have two hemispheres, but since they don’t make rational, mathematical, or logical decisions, they do not have a dominant side.
So, the answer to this question is that she is spinning clockwise. The brain wants to tell you that she is spinning the opposite way because figuring this stuff out is on the right side, but most are left side dominant….therefore what they see is the opposite of what your brain WANTS you to see.
HOPE I COULD HELP!!!
I am Matrix lol. Very interesting. Love the explanation. I seen some replies that say they can’t see it going left (which was very difficult for me as well, but thinking there is no real box I looked out my window for a second or two and then looked back and she went left.
I first saw her spinning clockwise and had NO CLUE how you could see it any other way.. but for some reason i stared at her feet.. and then focused on her upper half and voila.. i saw it clockwise.. every time i look at her feet now and then look back up, my direction changes.. weird!
It spins clockwise if I look at it directly but if I look off to the side it changes direction. Looking at it again causes it to switch back…but then again, on every test of this type I’ve taken I never score differently enough in either side to qualify as either left or right brained, I’m center brained.
dude… you guys make it so hard on yourself. This is sooo easy.
The original post already gives away the trick to make the image spin in any direction you want.
If you want it to spin clockwise just think of something unreal… Like Final Fantasy. Just use your imagination and it totally spins clockwise.
Now if you want it to spin counter-clockwise just think of something factual. Maybe like a math problem: 7+7=14 , 7*2=14, etc.
you know.. use logic.
It is really how you use you brain.
Just a very simple trick.
What does this have to do with brain sides?
I see it either way each time I close my eyes and open again, it changes direction!
Clockwise for me; every time I tried this it was the same. The right brain definitely matches me best as well. I wierd thing is that I blinked really fast a couple of times and now she is spinning the other way lol and I can’t get her to go back!
Maybe some hormonal reaction to blinking?
I was looking at it, and my first thought was, “Hmm… hard to tell, I think clockwise” and then I looked down and noticed her reflection, and noticed that when her lifted leg was near the middle, the toes of her leg that are perpendicular to the ground were pointing away, meaning she was actually spinning counter-clockwise.
My suggestion to improve this image to better test… get rid of the reflection on the bottom.
I think she is hot!!
I would love to see her in colors…. 🙂
and once again, before my very eyes, she changed direction. i’m beyond caring now.
I can see the body going clockwise and I’m left-handed which would tend to indicate I’m left-brained.
BUT, I work in IT specifically with programming languages, and I speak five or six different languages; am very particular about things being in order and tidy etc. I’m not brilliant at art or music (although I enjoy both)
Then again, I tend to think outside the box, am impetuous, pretty rubbish at maths, interested in philosophy etc.
My work and general life seems to be dominated by my left-brain, but my personal life is generated by my right-brain.
Looked to me like she started out clockwise, then changed direction, then changed direction again….
Does that mean I’m completely insane?!
wo i see her going clockwise.. cool
i can slow her down if i concentrate really hard and i closed my eyes and tilted my head to the left and opened my eyes and i felt a click in my head and she was going the other way OMG!!!
i can make her go either way without shifting my focus but i started out with her going counter-clockwise. i can also make her just go left to right to left to right without doing a full circle. its kind of amusing.
I can see her spin either way depending on which eye I use . I have never integrated my vision.my ‘lazy eye ‘wasn’t ‘caught’ and patched as a kid . Interestingly I make my living as an artist but have showed in other such tests to be definetly ‘whole brained ‘. Strangely though switching eyes changes the direction but it is not consistent with which eye sees which direction .. hmm
Hmm I just tried something new:
I turned my screen upside down (it’s a laptop) and watched it for a bit until it started going clockwise upside down (counter clockwise upside right) and now I can’t make it turn back to clockwise…
It all depends on when you look at this image. It spins both clockwise and counter-clockwise. It spins for about 90 seconds and then changes directions.
I can change which way it spins myself but it takes a few seconds of concentration.
Try as I might to see it either way………she is turning clockwise for me period. I wish I could see it counter clockwise, but can’t
I see it both ways. Stare at her for a whole minute and she changes directions.
INTP here too. Spinning clockwise, but I can make her change directions at will.
First time it took me a bit to get her to spin the other way, but now I can do it with ease.
When I surfed over here I glanced at the image briefly, then read the text. Typical behavior — just give me the facts.
I’ve been a financial analyst, a budget analyst, an IT project manager, and for quite a while now, a successful futures investor. I have been accused of being left-brained to the point of not having a right brain.
Then I looked back at the image and realized I was seeing her spinning … CLOCKWISE!
Right brained? Moi?
Perhaps there’s hope for me yet.
Seriously, guys, look at the site Brian references in comment #106.
While the animation may not really tell you anything about which hemisphere tends to be dominant for you (and as many have said, assuming you don’t have brain damage, you use both hemispheres), it tells an awful lot about how we react to certainty and uncertainty.
She’s actually a zen monk teaching us about nonattachment. 😉
and I should add… Left handed -dyslexic.
ok this is cool, at first she spun cc-wise, now only clock wise. After reading a bit. I went to the site that #106 refers to. As i read on that site, I noticed while reading they spun the same direction and then the other way. Then i noticed that i could make them spin together or the other way. Heck any way i wanted. This is way cool and will come back and look again. thanks
umm, well, at first I saw her spin clockwise, then I looked away for a sec and she was spinning the other way. This is all before I read anything below, I was just stumbling. Then, because at this point I thought it was a trick and she would start spinning clockwise again, I watched her, and sure enough she did. Now I wanted to know what this was all about, so I read the explanation. I don’t think I’m anything special, my grades all the way through college sure don’t show it, but it does make since. I can think very logically, but at the same time, imagine very “out-there” stuff. I can see things in my head, then make then happen using logical paths. I am pretty good at making movies, and I think this is why. I am also slightly dyslexic, I don’t know if that has anything to do with it or not, but I figured I’d share.
Oh, and another thing, I can actually feel it, like in my whole body, when she starts spinning the other way. I don’t know how else to explain it other than a feeling over my whole body starting in my head.
For me it would spin 1 or 2 rotations in one direction and then switch to the other direction. I could not control it or make it stay in one direction. :S
she is spinning clockwise I’m reading and reading and looking and looking i’m definitely right-brained 🙂
I can see both. Not too hard. But I’m really frustrated with all these sites with this illusion suggesting which direction you see the figure rotating has anything to do with being left or right brained. It has practically no correlation at all. Actually, the whole left/right brain idea is really flawed and outdated. Most thought processing functions use great amounts of both hemispheres, not one or the other.
This is a trick of perception to do with left and right ‘EYE’; close one eye and the spin will reverse. It proves nothing about how the ‘left/right’ brain works.
Try as I might, I can only see the dancer spinning clockwise.
Interesting if true – I have recently started to ‘feel’ more right-brain trends than ever before.
However, I’m not sure you can generalise about which qualities combine to make a creative person. My perception is that it’s people’s unique combinations of left and right-brain qualities that generate [unique] creativity.