People watching

[Hakim]

If you're walking into a park, keeping to the right side, and then approaching the circle straight ahead of you (eg a park with a lake in the middle), it will be slightly more awkward to go to the left than to the right.

 

[King Alexander]

@BE: I just LOVE the way you try to analyze the human nature
[on topic]
I have thought of it, too! Maybe scientists out there can tell us more and explain it in a better way.

 

[Gif Warrior]

I think it has to do with most people being right handed and tend to go to the right around things. I know some people are left handed but I think they learn to do some things like right handed people.

 

[Hakim]

US have left side traffic, doesn't it? Then my theory doesn't hold.

Perhaps it has something to do with the sun and humans subconsciously preferring to go towards the light when approaching a T-junction.

 

[Hakim]

Another theory. A park in a city might have different temperature than the city surrounding it. The difference causes air flows up or down. Because of the earths rotation, an almost unoticable air whirl is created just like water running down the hole in a sink. Then when people approaches the T-junction, they are more likely to choose the direction giving them following wind.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Parks aren't typically large enough for the Coriolis force to have any perceptible effect.

 

[Hakim]

Ok, perhaps it has something to do with the swans and other birds in the lake. Maybe they are more inclined to swim ccw because of their inner compass and earths magnetic field, and then humans subconsciously choose the same direction.

 

[ummmm........]

I think Hakim had it. If you live in a country where it is natural to keep to the right hand side of the road (which I think is most places except GB, but I could be crazy), it's just natural to move around a circle counterclockwise. If you tried to go clockwise, you'd have to make a left turn into the circle, causing you to move across traffic to get to the right hand side of the road.

@Yom: The reason it seems weird to you to think of yourself going counterclockwise is because you are imagining it from an aerial view, which makes it seem more natural to move clockwise.

Incidentally, are there any auto racing fans out there? Which way do cars move around a track?

 

[Taliesin]

It might have to do with driving habits, perhaps? A right turn is easier than a left turn when driving in North America, so maybe subconsciously it seems more natural when walking, as well. The idea that people usually take slightly longer steps with the right leg is also convincing.

umm.....: I don't watch racing, but I'm pretty sure the standard course is clockwise.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Tangentially, humans are surprisingly bad at working straight. If left without landmarks, people trying to walk in a straight line tend ending up walking in big circles.

Did you see Flight of the Phoenix (the new one)?

The guy planned on walking towards town in the desert, and he said "well can't I just walk in that direction and stay straight?" (or something to that effect), and the guy said, "you are right handed, which means your right leg is slightly stronger, so you will end up walking in huge circles turning left."

 

[ummmm........]

That doesn't make sense to me. It seems like if your right leg is stronger, you would want it supporting your weight more, so you would take longer strides with the left, thus keeping your weight off it.

 

[The Last Conformist]

No, I never saw Flight of the Phoenix.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

That doesn't make sense to me. It seems like if your right leg is stronger, you would want it supporting your weight more, so you would take longer strides with the left, thus keeping your weight off it.

Well, not everything can make sense to any old lad.

 

[The Last Conformist]

That doesn't make sense to me. It seems like if your right leg is stronger, you would want it supporting your weight more, so you would take longer strides with the left, thus keeping your weight off it.

It's not about wanting to do anything, it's about something that happens accidentally.

 

[Yom]

@Yom: The reason it seems weird to you to think of yourself going counterclockwise is because you are imagining it from an aerial view, which makes it seem more natural to move clockwise.

No, I was thinking about it more in a first-person view.

 

[ummmm........]

No, I was thinking about it more in a first-person view.

Look, pal. I can deal with nobody agreeing with me, and I can deal with being wrong, buy you're not about to tell me that you know more about what you were thinking than I do. That's just crazy talk.

 

[Pikachu]

As several posters have indicated the traffic rules indicates which way people tend to walk. It doesn’t only apply to circular things. Whenever someone are making a roundtrip and has at least two possible paths that are equally rational to choose between, someone from the British Empire will tend to take a clockwise route while people from other countries will tend to take a counterclockwise route.

This is particularly interesting for owners of grocery stores. They have funded some research on this behavior because they want to place the goods in the right position. As a result the goods in a grocery store in a country were people are driving on the left side of the road is usually placed on the opposite side of the store compared to in a country where people drive on the right side. I suppose this applies to other stores as well.

 

[Yom]

As several posters have indicated the traffic rules indicates which way people tend to walk. It doesn’t only apply to circular things. Whenever someone are making a roundtrip and has at least two possible paths that are equally rational to choose between, someone from the British Empire will tend to take a clockwise route while people from other countries will tend to take a counterclockwise route.

Hmm...That gives me an idea as to a reason why I might walk clockwise instead of counterclockwise. When I was little and went for walks with my father, we always walked on the left side of the road so that we could see any oncoming traffic (and I still walk and run on the left side of the road). Perhaps this is the source of my "awkward" behavior?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

As several posters have indicated the traffic rules indicates which way people tend to walk. It doesn’t only apply to circular things. Whenever someone are making a roundtrip and has at least two possible paths that are equally rational to choose between, someone from the British Empire will tend to take a clockwise route while people from other countries will tend to take a counterclockwise route.

This is sort of a chicken and egg thing. Wouldnt the way people walk have influenced the way traffic rules were set up in the first place? Why would natives of the British Isles tend to walk in an opposite direction from everyone else?

This is particularly interesting for owners of grocery stores. They have funded some research on this behavior because they want to place the goods in the right position. As a result the goods in a grocery store in a country were people are driving on the left side of the road is usually placed on the opposite side of the store compared to in a country where people drive on the right side. I suppose this applies to other stores as well.

This is really interesting, would you happen to have any links for this? Coming up with useful search parameters for google wouldnt be easy in this case.

 

[Gainy]

For real?

Yer

This is sort of a chicken and egg thing. Wouldnt the way people walk have influenced the way traffic rules were set up in the first place? Why would natives of the British Isles tend to walk in an opposite direction from everyone else?

Guessing it's kinda to do with roundabouts. We go clockwise round roundabouts, whereas those who drive on the right hand side of the road go anti-clockwise. It's also easier to make left turns than right turns on UK roads.
Though not everyone drives vehicles around roundabouts (and T junctions etc), most have been in vehicles whilst going round roundabouts.

I now really hate the word 'round' btw