I'm a grown man...
I have to stop and think which direction is East or West, I'm not bad with geography or maps but I just can't automatically work out which direction is which.

I always have to stop and think really quickly in my head, "Never Eat Shreddied Wheat". Always...

I think I must have learned it when I was about 5 in Primary school.
(viciousal, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:01, 13 replies)

i
am always convinced that north is straight in front of me, and no amount of persuasion or compasses can prove otherwise!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:07, closed)

Unless at right angles with the world [forgot the grown-up word for this :(]
forward will get you to the pole at some point. so keep on trucking.
(waxdart hello., Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:10, closed)

Perpendicular...

(Jester_, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 17:26, closed)

Orthogonal?
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Mon 19 Jul 2010, 21:04, closed)

Not sure that's right ...
Wouldn't that take you on a circle (great or small) around the earth and you would end up where you started?

Don't you need a constant offset angle from the 'straight ahead' to guarantee a spiral which will concentrate at the pole? Of course, if you were to choose the 'incorrect' offset, you would end up at the 'east' or 'west' pole.

And yes, that second paragraph was a ninja-edit, just in case you were wondering.
( Ghoti Fingers, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 20:15, closed)

You might be right as I see what you are saying.


but I'm sure I animated this in 3d ages ago and it and it pissed me off no end.
as I couldn't get the object to just go around the other object as I wanted.
(waxdart hello., Tue 20 Jul 2010, 16:24, closed)

Oh the shame...
I do this too!
(tarbin tarbis, tarbit, tarbamus, tarbimus, tarbant, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:29, closed)

You're not the only one
it's so embarrassing trying to catch the Central line, and then having to do a little mental trick to work out which platform I need
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:44, closed)

I have to do this
on stations I'm not familiar with too!
(viciousal, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 16:48, closed)

I do this too
And I never eat shreddied wheat, it tastes like shit.
(Dwarfsmuggler Has hogtied Snow White, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 17:17, closed)

Easy... live in Brighton
Worthing to the West, Eastbourne to the East, Sea to the South. Everyone else are Northerners.
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 18:15, closed)

I do this too
I do know my east from west but it's just not automatic - I remember by thinking about where the far east is on the world map. I also have to think for a split second about left and right, although driving lessons helped with that a lot.
(mmm....beer, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 21:04, closed)

If you want some scientific support
Read the Ambidextrous Universe by Martin Gardner. He makes a big thing of how we all get up/down and north/south right but often mix up left/right and east/west.

Must re-read that myself, now I've thought of it.
( Olembe Refuses to write in this space, Tue 20 Jul 2010, 9:49, closed)