Monday, September 07, 2009

coffee break and conundrum

Current work: yeehah, back to work! (that deserves a screamer)
Listening to: Bach (nice, calm, regular - ahhhh)
Reading: Louise Allen, The Piratical Miss Ravenhurst (finished and enjoyed. Now have to hunt down my TBR stash because lovely husband moved it. Wouldn’t be so bad, but no painting has been done in our bedroom, so his excuse for moving my books doesn’t actually hold water…)

Back to school today. Well, daughter goes first thing, and son goes mid-morning – so this means today’s schedule is going to switch round to minimise disruption. I am in major work mode until revisions are done, so I’m going to leave you with a little conundrum (courtesy of Michelle, who knows I love this sort of thing). Sit in a chair and move your right foot in clockwise circles. Now draw a number six with your right hand (NB start at the top of the six, not the middle) while still moving your right foot in a clockwise circle.

Some people can do it, with a bit of effort – but most people find their foot moving in an anticlockwise direction, i.e. the way their hand goes (this is why I said start at the top - if you start at the middle you're going clockwise). According to psychologist David Rosenbaum, this is because your brain is programmed to work best with isodirectional movements (i.e. both movements going the same way) rather than non-isodirectional movements; both the left and right hemispheres of the brain are needed for co-ordinated muscle movements.

And now a little something for your coffee break – test your reactions with the BBC sheep. (Thanks to Maggie Kingsley for that one.)

I was supposed to be working on Saturday, but it was so nice to have the house to myself and proper thinking space for the first time in weeks that... OK, I was a bad puppy. I did the BBC’s quiz re ‘what kind of thinker are you?’. I didn’t know what the categories were before I did the quiz (which is a good thing because it means my answers weren’t affected by what I thought the likely outcome would be), and I was slightly surprised to discover that I’m a musical thinker. Then again, I do use music as a soundtrack to my work, so maybe it’s not so odd. I’d be fascinated to know – what kind of thinker are you? Do come back and share.

12 comments:

Nicolette said...

I'm a linguistic thinker apparently and the two of the perfect careers for me are librarian and proofreader. Er, am doing that! Great quiz, Kate, thanks for sharing.


www.justgiving.com/Nicolette-Heaton-Harris/

Unknown said...

I'm a linguistic thinker, I think I'll be come a Lyricist.

Jill said...

I am a linguistic thinker and an intrapersonal thinker. Probably why I enjoy reading, writing, and personality tests ;-) I am a big fan of the Myer-Briggs personality test. It made me understand the world and my reactions to things in a new way.

Unknown said...

I'm another linguistic thinker: "Tend to think in words, and like to use language to express complex ideas." Hmm. Given the current state of the WIP, I'd better go and do a bit of linguistic thinking... :o)

Great quiz!

Michelle Styles said...

I am a linguistic thinker. No surprise there, given my profession.

Donna Alward said...

Kate- you are not alone. I am a musical thinker. Not surprising really with musical background and the fact that I read my mss back to myself looking for the "rhythm" of my voice.

And I ended up with a counterclockwise foot. My husband can still go clockwise. Bugger.

Kate Hardy said...

Nicolette - that's honestly where I expected to be :o) Glad you enjoyed the quiz. (Did you try the sheep, too? Great fun.)

Kate Hardy said...

Biddy - I thought you might be a musical thinker. But hey, lyricist would be cool. :o)

Kate Hardy said...

Jill - that's a really interesting combo. Agree with you completely re the Myer-Briggs.

Kate Hardy said...

Shirley - see, that's why you do what you do. Hope the WIP is shaping up nicely after your slash and burn.

Kate Hardy said...

Michelle - I thought you'd be borderline musical - but linguistic is good. (And I love the Viking stuff you've been talking about recently. The ice giants are so interesting.)

Kate Hardy said...

Donna - hallelujah. I was beginning to think I was odd! (Psst - wanna start a band? *g* We could call our first album "From Nova Scotia to Norwich...")

Haven't tried the clockwise thing on DH, yet. He's painting. (And knew better than to ask me to join him...)