5
$\begingroup$

What would make a civilization only able to walk counterclockwise around an object they're looking at? For example in this culture a sculpture like

enter image description here

might only have been viewed in counterclockwise sequence. And we're talking about counterclockwise with respect to standing upright against gravity.

I'm looking for a biophysical reason—something to do with, I don't know, angular momentum, the magnetic field, etc. Cultural reasons like superstition seem kind of cheap—but more interesting proposals are welcome. The civilization should be humanoid—they can have a very different evolution than our reality, but I should be able to write about them more or less like they're humans... except about this walking 😂

I realize the looking at part might be a challenge. What if one isn't looking? Why would that change things? That's the challenge. But in case this question goes crickets, it would be compromiseable to change the looking to being in the presence of certain kinds of objects or materials.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ Only counterclockwise but clockwise is fine too? So ... what are you asking? $\endgroup$
    – rek
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 3:43
  • $\begingroup$ @rek - I meant one direction, whichever it is. If there's some reason clockwise is easier to justify than counterclockwise then clockwise is fine. I'll remove the clause since it appears to be confusing. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew Cheong
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 3:45
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ "counterclockwise with respect to standing upright against gravity" would involve a complex set of stairs. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 4:51
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ "Cultural reasons like superstition seem kind of cheap—but more interesting proposals are welcome." actually we already do this. Not uniformly around the world but overall people are expected to keep to one side of the road when walking. This isn't enforced and you don't literally see just two rows of people walking but it's still a thing. Places like stores or airports with escalators have signs saying "stay on the right", so it's more enforced. Others around you would also remind you of this rule, especially if somebody is in a hurry and you're blocking their way because you're not right. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:58
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This creates a "micro-culture" of sorts when using these facilities. So, travellers, shopgoers, etc would be more likely to follow and reinforce the "keep to the right" rule on escalators. Similar thing can happen on the streets but it's less reinforced. Still, some feel walking on the left (for example) quite rude and would, at the very least, silently judge you for it. Some places might have a stronger societal agreement around where people walk. So, the culture reason doesn't need to be something like "superstition" nor is it even outrageous in our society. Different upbringing is enough. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 15:02

11 Answers 11

Reset to default
16
$\begingroup$

Radial Predators and prey:

On the planet they have evolved on, there also evolved a substantial variety of coiled radial life forms (animals or plants with motile functions). These forms use their coils as a spring function for their attack and defense mechanisms - generally a sizeable scything blade. Their body plan is such that as the spring releases, the blade speeds up and the whole organism twirls in a counter-clockwise motion.

So whenever their distant ancestors encountered radial plants or animals (either for prey or as predators) they naturally started moving counter-clockwise to avoid the scything blade and move away from the animal before it had "spun up" to full speed. They might get a glancing blow, but would be out of range before the blade was up to full effect. Then, while the animal "re-coiled" they could move in to attack. By constantly circling in a counter-clockwise manner, they avoided being hit and left themselves abundant time to dodge attacks.

Depending on how successful your people were countering coiled radials, there might not even be any left. However, the reflex response to hover around things in a counter-clockwise manner is now hardwired into both genes and culture. Even if someone could force themselves to move clockwise, it would make them vaguely panicked, and others would look at them strangely. Art is made to be viewed in a counter-clockwise fashion. Even walking to an altar in a temple makes them want to circle it counter-clockwise. Combat involves lots of constant circling, and all intersections are roundabouts.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
4
  • 6
    $\begingroup$ This answer is not only brilliant but gives a backstory to NASCAR. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew Cheong
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 4:48
  • 6
    $\begingroup$ I imagine travelling the wrong way would be a feeling like trying to force yourself to fall backwards onto a concrete floor without catching yourself. It’s doable, but your subconscious sure doesn’t want to do it. $\endgroup$
    – Joe Bloggs
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 12:13
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ If you choose this, you might want to think some about what caused the mutant clockwise-rotating predators -- which hard-countered every counterclockwise-turning prey species' reaction -- to nevertheless consistently get wiped out of existence. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Wagner
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 20:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Daniel Wagner They may not be extinct, but I posed it as them possibly being extinct for the very reason that always spinning the same direction might be maladaptive. Who knows? Maybe their circulatory systems depend on the Coriolis effect, and those born "left" bodied are more apt to die of circulatory problems. Sometimes a mirror image has unexpected flaws. That might make an interesting question... $\endgroup$
    – DWKraus
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 21:50
9
$\begingroup$

They're crab people

A mkrelurk, a humanoid crab from the Fallout series of games

A mirelurk, a humanoid crab from the Fallout series of games

Like most crabs, they have an easier time walking sideways than forward. They exhibit laterality so one side is always the "front side" when they walk sideways. Most of their population might be right walking so they would walk widdershins when examining things, while their equivalent for left-handed people would walk clockwise instead.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
7
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ crabs can walk forward and back as well. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 4:50
  • $\begingroup$ @john you're right, I fixed that. Still, seems like they walk faster and more easily sideways. $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 4:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This is good, since a lot of crustaceans have one claw larger than the other. If they consistently had a dominant claw, and led with that (or the other) consistently, they would always tend to circle in the same direction. $\endgroup$
    – DWKraus
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 13:58
  • $\begingroup$ Doesn't sound very humanoid to me. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:29
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I took this as a fun answer. I also love that we have no problem with crab people but, a misconception about how actual crabs walk? Absolutely unacceptable—that fact must remain immutable. 😂 $\endgroup$
    – Andrew Cheong
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 1:29
9
$\begingroup$

They're modern humans in countries who drive on the left side of the road

Australians already do this 95% of us will navigate a large space anti clockwise. If you set up a grocery store and try to channel people into a clockwise rotation path, according to the experiment in the link people will actually climb through displays to get back into the familiar anti clockwise behaviour.

This correlates with what side of the road you drive on - Americans and Europeans go the other way. You are trained to keep left while moving forward, so will navigate any space keeping to the left and go around a block by turning left, which translates to walking counter clockwise around a large area.

Having previously worked in retail in over a dozen large stores I can confirm >50% of people would enter on the right and circle the store anti-clockwise down the side, or enter on the left and immediately squeeze through the queues at the checkouts so they could do an anti-clockwise circuit, rather then walk ahead and do a, gasp, clockwise lap.

Or - herd dynamics and eyes with unequal focal ranges.

As an alternative to bifocals, I can get glasses custom made to have different focal ranges in each eye. Eg left eye is very good at short range, right eye is very good at long range. It doesn't introduce blind spots, your still aware of objects far away on your short side, just to get a good look at them, you need to rotate your head slightly so your far-eye can see it.

Enough of your population have this naturally, or the glasses are common because they give microscopic or telescopic vision. When they get into a moving crowd they are more likely to see an opening in the crowd to their right than their left, the net result is when there is a group of people moving, they will tend to the right. This will produce a net anti-clockwise motion.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Ha, I didn't know that, neat. Hoping for a more universal and also more volition-proof reason. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew Cheong
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 3:53
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ +1 for interesting. $\endgroup$
    – Henry Taylor
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 4:01
  • $\begingroup$ I've seen two grocery stores attached to to each other. The layout inside is roughly mirrored - in one you go in and then head left, the other you go in and head right. People didn't seem to have a huge issue navigating either. It's the same kind of store, in the same location, used by the same people. I've also been in stores within the same city that have orientation going to the left or to the right and still nobody seemed bothered. I've seen literally 100% the same layout for a store but "reversed". It was in two different countries but both drive to the right. Still nobody had issues. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:36
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I’ve never observed a tendency for going counter-clockwise in UK, Australia or Japan. All 3 countries drive left-side. Unless you can show me some proper evidence for this I say that it is a fun conjecture, but total nonsense. $\endgroup$
    – Tonny
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:44
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Tonny I've been to the UK and (few) other European countries. It doesn't seem like there is a big difference in how stores are laid out. I'm not able to recall every single store I've been in for each country but I can definitely remember at least one of each kind of layout - one where you have to go right, the other where you have to go left. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:52
4
$\begingroup$

horizontal one directional bending spine

Your species developed an asymmetrical spine (can be nicely incorporated with DWKraus's answer). They have two legs on one side and four or six on the other side. They can walk in a straight line, but their spine only bends in the counterclockwise direction, so they must always turn counterclockwise. If they need to make a 90 degrees clockwise turn they instead do a 270 degrees counterclockwise turn. One downside may be that for this the spine must be orientated relatively horizontally.

For visualizing, visualize a horse or maybe caterpillar with a rigid metal plate on one side, they will always turn towards the other side.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
4
$\begingroup$

They have asymmetric vision/perception, and they don't see the same out of both sides. There are many possible in-universe reasons for this, and ways it works. Here's a few:

  • They have vision for different purposes on both sides, for example long and short focus, detail and peripheral, colour and monochrome, perhaps spectral vision into other frequencies we can't see (insects can see UV, some snakes can detect IR). So if they walked around the other way, the eye that would show the object best, would be away from it.
  • They have polarised vision - perhaps one eye polarised vertically, the other horizontally, and the combined vision in the brain could create some novel perceptions from that. It could be an advantage for seeing predators in a highly polarised light environment (reflections, sun through atmosphere etc). It could be they ancestrally had eyes polarised against glare to better look towards the sun (predator/prey), and over time one eye rotated or was genetically engineered as it was better in a large society.
  • Humans are often wired so that the left and right eyes vision travels through different neurological processing paths. Brain injuries can lead to people able to see but not "know" they've seen, or see but unable to make sense of the retinal patterns. Perhaps they are more extreme, and * have * to look out of one specific eye, to see art as art, or see its deeper patterns, or appreciate it - their brains wouldn't process it, seen through the left eye.
  • Basically, anything that involves asymmetrical vision/perception of almost any kind.
Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

Ask Walt Disney. Anyone who has ever visited any of his parks has been subject to obligatory directed motion implemented through various methods including one way corridors, conveyor belts, and tracked carts.

If you want to increase the obligatory aspect of the direction, you could implement one-way doors or turn-styles along the observation path so that each observer has only two choices, stay where they are or move forward.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Forcing people to move in one direction implicitly means they are capable and likely to not go in that direction otherwise. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 14:28
2
$\begingroup$

The region where they live has a strong and homogeneous magnetic field, and their biologic process for vision makes that whenever they are looking at something they develop a net charge.

Thus, being charged objects moving in a magnetic field, they are forced to obey the right hand rule and move counterclockwise due to the Lorentz force.

If a positive electric charge moves across a magnetic field it experiences a force according Lorentz force, with the direction given by the right-hand rule.

Not really because of the net force acting of them, but because of a "feeling right" vibe resulting from the perception of the acting force.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

I know a couple of dogs who always have to circle around in the space they occupy and they both go the same direction all the time, (luckily the same directionas they share a house/owners.)

So I say that your 'people' have the same kind of gen which is passed down, just like being right hand orientated.

The problem with this is that about 10% of people are lefthanders, some of whom have real problems with the right hand attitudes of others.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

A tradition of mounted archers

Mounted archers cannot equally shoot their arrows both left and right.
A right hand archer draws using his/her right arm to pull the string while the left pushes the bow. When on a horse this means it is much easier for him to shoot at targets on the left.
As most people are right hand archers the cavalry corps may have standardized their rules with whole units circling the enemy while keeping it on their left (thus counter clockwise). Left handed archers that can't adapt to right hand are not accepted as they would disrupt the unit (shame on them).
Imagine a society deeply rooted in this tradition. Mounted archers have conquered the land and filled the highest classes. In it most people ride horses rather than walk. Actually walking is for the lower, enslaved classes. The traditions of the mounted cavalry would be the foundation of this society. Most places would be wide, open. And people would ride around a point of interest keeping it on the left. Riding and keeping it on the right would make one bump into others, disrupt an orderly society and reveal the personality of a knave.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

The society is very tolerant to the deaf

I recommend listening to episode 50 "DeafSpace" of the 99% Invisible podcast (the length is 11 minutes) (also, it's completely standalone). It focuses on philosophy when designing buildings and interiors for deaf people. It's called DeafSpace. It talks about Gallaudet University which incorporates this design, as it's an institution for deaf people.

There is a fascinating part section between 7:55 and 8:30 minutes. One of the problems deaf people have is corners - if you don't hear the footsteps, you might bump into each other. The decision was to make the corners round but the problem remained - no footsteps and the two parties would just hug the wall and still bump when they go around. (a better solution is to provide glass separators, so you can see anybody approaching from a corner).

So, how does this fit in with your society? Well, if they are very tolerant to the deaf, they might have a societal norm to go around things in one direction. Be it left or right doesn't matter, as long as most people adhere to it. If you circle around a sculpture, you don't want to bump into somebody going the other way because one of you (at least) didn't hear the other.

Noteworthy is that the "deaf" aspect can be changed around. The problem with corners is also something hearing people run into. There might be a carpet, or noisy environment, or people might even just be distracted. I'm confident we've all at least witnessed people running into each other at a corner. Although, likely not to a Hollywood degree where papers fly around. Back to DeafSpace for a moment, it's a very interesting design philosophy because it doesn't just benefit the deaf - many of the solutions can still be beneficial to hearing people. The corner problem included. Therefore, it's possible that the society incorporated such ideas earlier and it might not be entirely related to the deaf but for everyone.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
0
$\begingroup$

You do realize that this is easily accomplished via neurology, right? I've seen more than one fish get infected by a disease, get neurological damage and be able to do nothing but turn left when swimming.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .