Are you spatially minded or not?

[Fnaar]

I'm fine navigating on foot or on my bike, but stick me in a car and I lose all sense of direction, for some reason. And though I like perusing maps, reading them 'under pressure' causes me to lose all sense of logic. Mrs F, agains the stereotype of yer women, has a fantastic sense of direction and is an excellent map reader.

I'm not bad at flat pack furniture.

 

[coffeejo]

One of my exes has a terrifying sense of direction, in that you can drop her pretty much anywhere she's never been before, without a map, and she'll figure out how to get to where she needs to go. Ironically, she can't tell her left from her right.

 

[swee'pea99]

Is it about spatial awareness? I famously don't have any, but your original story reminds me of one time we went with friends camping in Ireland, and my mate said he knew the tent, no worries. So we get to the campsite on the first evening, it's dusk, there's a mutter of rain, and he empties the contents of the bag on the ground, looks at all the poles, picks a pair at random and plugs one into t'other. At which point I think 'uh oh'...

It was clear what we *needed* to do - sort things out, like your flat-pack. But it wasn't about spatial awarenes. Awareness, yes...

 

[funnymummy]

Ironically, she can't tell her left from her right.

I've taught martial arts for years, we use what is called Senseis left/right.. Basicaly we work as a mirror image, if I stand in front a class and say "Right arm out for...." I do he move but using my left arm, over the years i've got a bit confused - Do not ever ask me for directions unless you want to change every left for a right & every right for a left - Luckily two of ny best cycling buddies are also karate instructors, so between us we alawys get where we are going

 

[Bman]

Yep, Im the same as the OP

Flat packs, map reading etc I'm fine with, but I'm rubbish at Countdown (except the numbers game )

Scrabble, I just swap the letters around until a word jumps out at me.

I remeber playing the first GTA game, that was a top-down (birds-eye) view. You had to know which way to steer the car even when it is not pointing up. My Girlfriend, mum and sisters all had trouble with that

 

[Fnaar]

That toast/marmite artist on Britain Got Talent* has spatial awareness!

*not that I watch it, of course

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I'm very good with small kitchen implements - I have spatula awareness.

 

[summerdays]

I'm fine navigating on foot or on my bike, but stick me in a car and I lose all sense of direction, for some reason. And though I like perusing maps, reading them 'under pressure' causes me to lose all sense of logic. Mrs F, agains the stereotype of yer women, has a fantastic sense of direction and is an excellent map reader.

That's Me and Mr Summerdays ... he doesn't know his way around apart from really regular journeys ... certainly can't work out a new route ... in the past it meant I always had to travel with him if he was going somewhere he didn't know - he's now got a Sat nav ... (and yes he doesn't blindly follow it - but knows he has back up reassurance to what he has looked at on the map before he sets off). If I'm in the car he knows I override the sat nav in importance!

I recently had to help pack a lorry with stuff at work .. and the lorry driver actually told me I had a good eye for seeing what might fit best in a particular space ... similarly I pack the car when we go camping.

However electrics, understanding how things work, technicalities of things ... well then I am the "dumb blonde", and just tell the work men that they need to repeat what they just said to Mr Summerdays as well. It doesn't help that I'm a kinetic/visual learner rather than auditory!

 

[vernon]

That toast/marmite artist on Britain Got Talent* has spatial facial awareness!

*not that I watch it, of course

Fixed that for you.

 

[Kirstie]

Going on the examples provided so far, I can navigate very well and have a good sense of direction - I have had the misfortune to be driving when various of my friends have been navigating and have had to resort to guesswork on several occassions. I have male friends who have been driven to the point of divorce because of repeated arguments resulting from their wife's lack of a sense of direction; I can put flatpack furniture together - that's just about being organized and following instructions; I can also parallel park better than my other half - I also regularly beat him at scrabble - but adjusting gears still get the better of me, although I understand the principles.

If I were to have trouble doing any of these things I'd have the mickey taken so badly by my other half that I need to make sure I'm competent!

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

One of my exes has a terrifying sense of direction, in that you can drop her pretty much anywhere she's never been before, without a map, and she'll figure out how to get to where she needs to go. Ironically, she can't tell her left from her right.

I'm like that, but I can tell left from right without even thinking about it.
Heck, I'll even navigate by the sun if I know what the time is - I can work out what is roughly east and west that way.

I recently had to help pack a lorry with stuff at work .. and the lorry driver actually told me I had a good eye for seeing what might fit best in a particular space ... similarly I pack the car when we go camping.

All those years playing Tetris wasn't a waste of time after all!!

 

[PBancroft]

Yes - I'm male!

Actually, in all seriousness I have heard before that spatial awareness is more commonly a male trait, whereas females are more likely to be able to think laterally, remember data etc. There's probably only a kernel of truth there, and there is an argument that it is cultural more than biological, but over the years its managed to become the stereotypes that we all love and cherish today.

My wife can't think spatially - I've lost count of the number of times I've told her to go straight ahead at roundabouts, and she's either turned left or right instead. "Straight ahead" on roundabouts means second exit, apparently, no matter how many exits there are...

But then I'm a terrible one for remembering, well, anything at all really. I'd probably forget to go to work in the morning if I didn't have someone to shift me out of bed.

 

[al78]

Get the bike upside-down on the coffee table and have a look. Forget about all the other sprockets, just look at the ones the chain is on. Then change gear and watch what goes on as the chain moves about. That's the nice thing about gears, it's all hanging out in the open where you can see it.

I can understand derailleur gears but have a problem visualizing how hub gears work. I know the theory but cannot visualize how the cable pull translates into changing the gears. How the hell does this all work, for example?

 

[Bluebell72]

This is interesting! At the risk of adding to gender stereotypes...

No idea or interest in gears, or repairing of pun**ures, never had a flat pack, so can't say.

Have no sense of direction, but rarely get lost, even though have travelled extensively, often alone, all over the world.

Have had driving licence for 20 years, can drive cars, lorries and tractors trailers, and park perfectly in eye-wateringly small spaces so yes, I'm spatially aware!

I speak 3 languages, pick up phrases in others easily, I can add numbers really fast and remember number sequences (like phone no's) for years, and car reg no's with no trouble.
It's a bit Rain Man, that, and spooks me, but I have a problem recognising faces and names.

A friend once reckoned I was mildly autistic, but I think I'm just an anally-retentive Virgo.

Pass the anti-bac gel!

 

[asterix]

My talent for doing anything myself is dwarfed by my ability to advise others.