Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?
October 19, 2007 by Lia Espina
Filed under Uncategorized
Definitely not tech or gadget related but this is one scientific, illusion that’s too good to pass up!

Stare at the dancer and tell me which way she’s spinning!
If you think she’s going clockwise, you’re apparently right-brain dominant (imaginative, philosophical, touchy-feely, impetuous); if you see her going counter-clockwise, you’re left-brain dominant (logical, practical, detail-oriented, safe).
If, like us, you are able to alternate views to see her going in both directions, then you’re just a plain old genius.
I can see her spin clockwise, and I’ve been spending the last 15 minutes arguing with a friend who can see the dancer spin both ways!
If you read some of the comments, a lot of people (who see it both ways) are saying it’s a trick and they even opened it up in MS Gif editor! Well, I guess it’s true, only GENIUSES would refuse to take “yes” or “no” for an answer… they reaaaaaaally have to dissect it and experiment and stuff… stubborn gits, haha!
But seriously, I’ve refreshed the windows like 20 times, and I’ve opened them up in like 5 other tabs and I can only just see her spinning clockwise!!!!
What about you?
Source: Crave






































Me, too. I just see it spinning clockwise. And I don’t think I’m right-brained. Definitely a left-brainer here.
Oops… I just made her go counter-clockwise. Weird. Takes a bit of an effort though.
it’s weird Lia…. at first i can see it go clockwise and then counter…. I dont know… does this make me a genius? LOL nah I doubt it… its cool though… thanks for sharing! oh and do you have your red vanilla bag na?
Don’t tell me you’re gonna be one of those stubborn geniuses, too! Hahaha
Augggh, I still see her spinning clockwise.
No matter how much I close my eyes and imagine her spinning counter-clockwise, she still spins clockwise all the same! Augggh.
Well, I’m happy being right-brain dominant, though! I like creative juices, hehehe
hahaha maybe it has that effect LOL
@joven, you’re a genius, too! Hahahaha
Hm, I ended up buying from Snugmugs, the lavender Oxford lappy bag!
The red vanila bags won’t fit my 15″ mac book pro apparently, except for the workroom that’s 10,000 php!
i could only see her spinning counter-clockwise at first, but then i stared at her ankles, and voila! clockwise. freaky :p try mo
I was considering getting a Red Vanilla bag but I am now thinking an regular bag and a laptop sleeve.
Anyhow, I could see her spin in both directions. It was weird. As if she really stops and the smoothly changes direction.
I saw this last week on another blog, and I visited what I thought was the original source on the Australian Herald. At that time, I saw it only going clockwise. All day long. But today, when I came to your site and saw the spinning lady and she was going counterclockwise. Then I went back to the Australian Herald, but I still saw that one going clockwise! When I came back again to your site, the spinning lady had switched again and was going clockwise. Then I closed both windows, waited a while and now I’m back and *both* are going counterclockwise. So I’m confused. I don’t know how it works and it hurts my head trying to figure it out!
It’s not whether you’re a lefty or a righty - it’s a trick. I’ve seen the image turn. It’s not how people see it, it just really does turn clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then clockwise again.
at first, i could see her spinning clockwise. then i scrolled down to read what it meant. i scrolled down to a point where i can only see her from the knees down and that’s when i could see her spinning counterclockwise.. so i moved the cursor back up and saw her still spinning counterclockwise.
at first, yeah, the illusion kinda messes up your brain..but then if you look at her foot that is mounted on the floor, it eventually gives it all away. you’d really see that she’s moving both ways.. thought it was my chance to be “plain old genius”! but..too bad!! hehe
I see the dancer dance counter-clockwise for a few moments then reverse direction after that.
Hahaha! I hate you, Lia!
I’ve been on this page for 15 minutes now! My eyes hurt. I saw it turning counter at first, then clockwise. So there I was thinking I’m an absolute genius. Then I scrolled down and read the comments. So much for my 15 minutes of arrogant pride! LOL.
I see her spinning both ways waaaa
when I looked at her head she’s spinning clockwise, but when I looked at her feet, she suddenly turned counter clockwise…
She’s spinning clockwise.. My eyes hurt.. Hahaha..
i think it’s one of those half-empty half-full kind of things… and how come I only see the tips of the mammary glands?
She spins both ways…I mean, she spins one way first then after a while she turns the other direction.
ARRRRGHHH!!!
Clockwise only. lol.
Yes. she spins both ways. I think it was made to move that way. when i try looking at her ankles it shifts direction
yeah, i agree with tash. at first, it was hard imagining her spinning the other way, but after looking at her ankle/foot, she went the other way!
I saw her spin both ways.
I tried staring for a long while eh (maybe 15 secs), kasi gusto ko right-brain dominant ako, but she counter-clockwised me. LOL!
Watch carefully, at first I was so annoyed that I could only see it clock-wise. But if you check the shadow, it actually turns the other way around..
Watch the foot she uses to stabilize herself. When she turns clockwise, she’s using her left foot to stand and her right foot to spin around. When she’s counter-clockwise, she stands on her right and spins using her left foot.
She switches it very slyly.
Hi Lia!
Haha, just want to share that i see the dancer spinning both ways, but i don’t think I’m a genius! Haha.
We met a couple of months ago–I delivered your Plueys!
Hope to see you again soon–we have a booth at the Rockwell Bazaar on November 16-18.
Open another window. Cover the dancer up so ALL you see is the mid part of her legs, no feet and NO part of her hands. Watch leg, one looks stationary and ones looks to sway back and forth. Can you make it look like it is spining clockwise and counter clockwise now?
If you concentrate on the toe of the leg that is off the ground you can get her to not ’spin’ at all. She will rotate to the left then rotate to the right and keep changining directions never actually spinning all the way round.
However, if you try to see how she switches the foot she is standing on , she will spin all the way round again until u look back at her toe.
It’s a cool optical illusion caused by the fact that she’s drawn in 2D so your brain works out for itself which way she is facing.
Actually, she is ALWAYS spinning anti-clockwise because of where her shadow falls.
The light source must be the other side of her and when we see the shadow of her foot move from right to left it must be the leg at the back. We don’t see this shadow on the return sweep because it is out of the picture and her foot would be this side of her. So she is ALWAYS spinning anti-clockwise.
If you don’t take her shadow into account, you can get her to spin any which way or sway from side to side, facing or with her back to us.
i close my eyes half way and move my eyeballs to the left, looking at the legs and she goes counter-clockwise as i look at the image fully. I close my eyes half way again, move my eyeballs to the right and she goes clockwise. i can flip the image counter and clockwise in a few seconds.
It’s like when you stare blankly at something without imagining or trying. Like those tricky mosaics where you try to find the hideen picture trick.
It’s f-ing confusing! one sec she’s clockwise and then after some time staring, she goes the other way. hahaha, but I ain’t no genius, asa pako e nuh. It’s a cool thing though.
want to see her move clockwise and counter-clockwise? hahaha… lol
cover your right eye… youll see it move clockwise. cover your left… youll see it move counter..
The figure wobbles back and forth. “the illusion is a full 360 turn”. But she is actually only wobbling 180 and back.
The trick is NOT letting the figure making a full turn, and you will see her wobble left to right or right to left..
Look “ONLY” at her extended foot.
If the extended foot is reaching the far right side imagine that she is wobbling back to the left side.
If the foot reaches the far left side, imagine her wobbling back to the right..
Then look at the full figure and you are a genius!
omg i can seeit go both ways, but i know how to make it change at will, i simply look up but kinda still looking at the woman move soon while u looking up it would sorta change the opposite direction watever that is , is not a trick but u can fool this easy were not geniuses it is just ‘
that it matters from wat angle u see it lol.
I see both. I agree with Luis. I’m quite sleepy right now and everytime my eyes get tired or my eyes wants to close and I’m staring at it, it changes its direction from counterclockwise to clockwise vise versa.