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Why do humans walk in circles when blindfolded?

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

Try as you might, you can't walk in a straight line without a visible guide point, like the Sun or a star. You might think you're walking straight, but as NPR's Robert Krulwich reports, a map of your route would reveal you are doomed to walk in circles.


9 comments
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Feb 9, 2012. 1:41 AMthematthatter says:
People who do night land navigation do the same thing. Most people spin towards the right if your right handed and spin towards the left if your left handed.
Feb 9, 2012. 10:19 AMmonsterlego says:
What if your ambidextrous?
Feb 11, 2012. 2:51 AMthematthatter says:
most people have a dominate hand, If your right handed more than likely you walk with the right foot and use the left side of your brain.
Feb 4, 2012. 4:39 AMKiteman says:
Actually, it's large spirals, not a proper circle (I saw it done recently on UK TV, I switched a programme on part-way through and a blind-folded chap was being tracked around a field by GPS. He did several large spirals and them walked into a tree).

It's weird, though, that our semi-circular canals can keep us vertical, but not straight.
Feb 9, 2012. 1:14 PMGoodhart says:
Redneckengineer I believe has "both" answers (ever though he was joking about one of them). The dominant side normally influences things a bit, and believe it or not, one leg is normally a little longer then the other.
Feb 4, 2012. 12:25 PMRedneckEngineer says:
I've seen this reported on a show once and the reason (according to the show) is because we all are more domaniant on one side of the body than the other. and due to this we step stonger/farther with one side than the other. Little by little we circle around. Now this was not being blindfolded but in a forest type setting so it could be totally BS, but it sounds feasable.

Or if you were born on a hill one leg is shorter and you automaticly walk in circles. (a lil redneck humor there)
Feb 3, 2012. 6:16 PMmonsterlego says:
Very interesting.

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