Everyone’s heard “lefty loosey, righty tighty,” right? It rarely makes sense to me. I know what people are saying when they say it, but when I point out that it doesn’t make any sense and in some contexts it’s confusing, people usually tell me that I just see the world in a weird way. Or do I just see the world more clearly, I wonder?
Exhibit A: This beautiful rendering of a jar lid (thanks to the talented boys and girls down in the graphics department!) depicts, via informative arrows, “lefty loosey.” But why is it turning left, I ask? If it is rotating, then exactly half of the lid is turning towards the left; half it turning towards the right; half is turning towards you, and half away from you. It seems just as accurate, to me, to say, “righty loosey,” or “downy loosey,” or “away-from-me-loosey.”
This, of course, seems especially true when the object is horizontal. If the object is rotating on a vertical plane, it makes more sense to say that it is rotating in the direction that the top is moving, since we all seem to have a prejudice (whether it’s biological, cultural, or simply derived from our usual vantage points, I don’t know) to identify with the top. However, I think the concept of lefty-loosey-righty-tighty is encountered much less frequently on the vertical than the horizontal planes.
In fact, we usually see things at an angle, as the jar lid in Exhibit B. In this case, it makes more sense to me to place emphasis on the portion of the object that is nearest, which would make it “lefty-tighty,” as emphasized by my extra-scribbly arrow.
Oh well. I know I can’t change the world. But maybe I can find a little understanding.
Exhibit A: This beautiful rendering of a jar lid (thanks to the talented boys and girls down in the graphics department!) depicts, via informative arrows, “lefty loosey.” But why is it turning left, I ask? If it is rotating, then exactly half of the lid is turning towards the left; half it turning towards the right; half is turning towards you, and half away from you. It seems just as accurate, to me, to say, “righty loosey,” or “downy loosey,” or “away-from-me-loosey.”
This, of course, seems especially true when the object is horizontal. If the object is rotating on a vertical plane, it makes more sense to say that it is rotating in the direction that the top is moving, since we all seem to have a prejudice (whether it’s biological, cultural, or simply derived from our usual vantage points, I don’t know) to identify with the top. However, I think the concept of lefty-loosey-righty-tighty is encountered much less frequently on the vertical than the horizontal planes.
In fact, we usually see things at an angle, as the jar lid in Exhibit B. In this case, it makes more sense to me to place emphasis on the portion of the object that is nearest, which would make it “lefty-tighty,” as emphasized by my extra-scribbly arrow.
Oh well. I know I can’t change the world. But maybe I can find a little understanding.
I suppose people could tell me things turn either clockwise or calendarwise.
ReplyDeleteAnd the thing is, you really see it this way, don't you. I'm trying to understand..... and I love you.
ReplyDeleteI learned this from a physical therapist and I think she was referring to lefty loosey as referring to the left hand and righty tighty to the right hand. Maybe I am weird.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Jerry: You're crazy.
ReplyDeleteKramer: Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
Jerry: It's impossible.
Kramer: Is it? Or is it so possible that your head is spinning like a top?
Jerry: It can't be.
Kramer: Can't it? Or is your entire world crashing down all around you?
This and the previous post are great, Mark. They are exactly why blogs should exist: to elaborate on original points of view (rather than to comment on something that someone else [usually a news outlet] has already produced, which seems to be what most blogs have become).
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that in both of your posts (i.e., (1) the turning-objects and (2) the time-perception posts), you note that you're coming at these concepts from a very (note that I'm using this term objectively, not as a judgment) self-centered point of view. Viz., the part of the jar lid that it makes sense for you to focus on is the part that's closest to you, and the "events-in-time" move "up" or "forward" or "back" based on their relation to you in an imagined timeline.
I think it shows a flexibility of mind in relation to time, and I don't doubt it relates directly to why you remember your dreams so well, and to why you're an artist. On that same tack, I have to say that I'm often baffled by your fascination with photo-realistic painting (which may not be the right term, but I think you know what I mean: you paint things that are really there [landscapes, houses] much as they really appear to you and others).
Of course, please don't get me wrong, I like your paintings and am always genuinely impressed by them. They're beautiful, and they are certainly your personal take on the things that you see. But is there a way to incorporate more of your extra-ordinary sensibility to time and relationships and rich dream-life into your paintings?
In any event, I am your bossy, calculating friend, eager to see your work make even those who don't know you personally step back in time themselves to consider your extra-ordinary view of the world. Maybe painting isn't even the right medium for it. Or maybe it is. I dunno. Maybe that's what blogs are for. (Only hardly anyone pays for blogs.) I think your talent deserves to be paid for because of your skill level, sure, but also because of your original points of view. Thanks for these posts.
Thanks, Mark. Because of this blog entry I've spent the last hour thinking about how often I've been confused by people telling me to take 264-east or 264-west.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear it, I think "But it's a circle. Either way is both east and west. And how come in my entire life no one has ever told me to take 264 north or south?"
George, I've carefully considered what you had to say, and decided you are crazy. But it's a nice sort of crazy. I don't know what you are saying, but I like the way you say it.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark. You're not weird - don't worry! I've literally just had this same conversation with my colleagues (I share your view) and they couldn't grasp it, either.
ReplyDeleteLeft and right are linear directions, therefore clockwise and counterclockwise/anticlockwise should be used for describing circular motion. An object will face an infinite number of directions during a 360degree rotation.
Thanks, Simon, it's nice to hear from a sympathetic soul.
ReplyDelete