I don't know how else to describe this other than hand movements. I've always wondered why it's impossible for me to move my hands going in motion the opposite way. Like starting one hand, motioning it forward in a circular rotation and the same with the other, but the opposite direction. I just can't do it. I can try, it just doesn't happen. I hope that made sense.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
It all has to do with the concept of handedness, and how your brain has organized itself. To grossly oversimplify, as you probably already know your brain is split into two seemingly identical halves that turn out to have rather different functions. Language, emotional responses, and on and on, are all located in different spots (and these spots aren't always in the same place in every person!).
Anyway, aside from splitting up those sorts of processing functions, the two hemispheres of your brain also control your motor functions. Lots of people think that it's an opposite sort of affair. That is, the right hemisphere controls the left side of your body and the left hemisphere controls the right, but I don't think that's necessarily universal, and at any rate the brain is very complex and hard to map.
But, as I was saying, your brain, however it has split up its functions, has made a very definite choice on which side to favor for what. And so you have a dominant hand, a dominant eye, and so on. (Unless you don't, which happens fairly often too.) When you try to move both hands at once in opposite directions, your brain has trouble getting the message across, it being much easier for it to make both hands do the same thing than it is for each to do its own thing. This is why playing the piano is hard.
If this really bothers you, there's a surgery that some epileptics undergo, where the corpus callosum, which acts like your brain's dedicated ethernet card, connecting the two halves, is severed. The two halves stop talking to each other directly, and all sorts of reallyinteresting things happen.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I can't do it, either. Damn you!
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
I'm not sure if I can actually do it correctly, but I believe I can to an extent.
And ya know what, my right eye and ear are dominant, but my left hand, arm, leg, feet and even my nostril (my right nostril is often stuffed up, so I breathe through my left nostril) are dominant.
Man, I'm weird.
[ June 10, 2002, 21:03: Message edited by: Dat ]
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
I've got the same nostril predicament, only it seems to switch between the two. :-\
Posted by thoughtychops (Member # 480) on :
It's easier to learn the piano if you've already taught yourself how do to something that requires your hands to be doing different things, like playing fingerstyle guitar.
As recently as five years ago playing the piano seemed impossible for me. Constantly playing guitar seems to have helped, because now I've picked it up faster than a lot of people.
My left hand is still my stupid hand, but as I've been using it more and more often I've found that as it gains a certain skill in one area, other things become fine tuned as well. It doesn't feel as clumsy as it used to.
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
Again, the training video "Gregorian FapFest" works wonders.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Dat, apart from the nostril thing, you sound like an A1 case of "handedness". While the body from neck down is "crosswired" so that the left hemisphere controls the right side, everything from neck up is supposed to be wired "straight" (except for the optic nerves, which basically crosswire the left halves of both retinas to the left side and vice versa, although this particular issue is way more complex).
What we are really interested in are the following:
-which hand has the longer fingers? -which foot is larger? -which testicle hangs lower? -can you whistle? -can you roll your tongue?
According to an enjoyable collection of beginning-of-the-century (20th, that is) popular science magazines I just dusted off for the lazy days of the summer, some of the above are supposed to reveal homosexual tendencies. Or was that when you whistle while rolling your tongue over the testicle?
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
I can perform a circle with my hand, moving it forward-away from my body, while the other hand makes an opposite circle alongside it, I've always liked these exercises. But if you stop concentrating the right hand starts following the left.
I have no problem driving a car with a switched steering wheel either, that turns right when you wheel it left. We did it on a company kickoff trip to Gotland. You just have to concentrate, mind over matter.
They also had a car that was two front halves of two SAAB's, welded together, so both ends had wheel. You really had to cooperate to get between the cones.
There have been so many parallels drawn between physical peculiarities and their effect on one's personality. "They" say that if the ringfinger is longer than the indexfinger you are prone to creativity and deep thought and also more prone to depression and sadness.
Granted, my ringfinger is longer than my index finger on both hands, but so what?
These things can have a backwards-placebo effect on people who believe too much of what they read.
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
Oh, and I'm left handed with a dominant right eye. Suffice it to say they were reluctant to give me a rocket launcher in my military service.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
I do the hand movement thingy if I try really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really hard.
My question is: why would you need to do such a thing?
Oh yeah - why is my name not bold like everyone elses?
[ June 11, 2002, 11:46: Message edited by: akb1979 ]
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
I think your name isn't bold when you're logged in. Maybe it's a feature so we don't forget who we are.
There's no point to the hand thing. It just seems like something that should really simple, but isn't.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
what kind of update was done.. besides that, ive noticed some little blue arrows that i, in my 'old ways' style, have been afraid to click for fear of changing The Order of The Way I Do Things When I Am On This Board...
Sign me up for a brain severing.. sounds like fun!
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
For each blue arrow you click, $1 is sent to a poor Canadian child.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
The Blue Arrow is your friend. Click it.
The name bolding/unbolding is a bug, and will be fixed in the next release.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Blue arrow fucking rocks!!!! aaaaaaaaaooooouuuughhgggghhhhhh yeaaaaaahhhhhh *rams head into wall*
No, I really like it. Think the brain severing is overdue, though.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The name (un)bolding thing is because the names are now links to people's profiles. If you've looked at someone's profile recently, the name gets unbolded, because it's a visited link.
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
When I press it I expected to be taken to the newest post in the thread, but I seem to be taken to the second post made by the thread-creator. So what is the function of the little blue arrows?
Posted by Snay (Member # 411) on :
To "jump to new posts" ... I clicked it, and saw Nimmie's post.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
i believe it takes you to the first new post in that thread since the last time you logged off.. so when you click it, you might see one you already read if you visited that thread in the same session
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
That would be correct. You can update the visited time using the link on the frontpage or in your My Profile page.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
There's bugs in that thar feature.
My own 'last seen' line says 'this user has not been here recently.'
And so far, I haven't been able to see the 'last seen' line of anyone who posted in the same topic that I posted in.
[EDIT] Including this thread, now. I could see them before I posted.
[ June 11, 2002, 15:16: Message edited by: First of Two ]
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: The name (un)bolding thing is because the names are now links to people's profiles. If you've looked at someone's profile recently, the name gets unbolded, because it's a visited link.
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