As a kid it took me a long time to understand what turning right even meant, because when the top goes right, the bottom goes left and the sides go up and down. It doesn’t make sense.
I’ve been wrenching on cars nearly 30 years. I’ve had mechanical maintenance as part of my actual job for a decade now. Two years ago it all finally clicked for me. Clockwise tight, counterclockwise loose.
Even in my sixth decade, I beat people about the head with this, becoming the pedant from hell until they finally revert to clockwise and counterclockwise. And if they become specific enough to be “right over the top”, I go, “well, why not just say clockwise and avoid all that ambiguity?”
Being on the spectrum, it took me into my very early teens to even figure out right from left. I was two grades ahead of my peers in math, and could read a map and navigate better than most adults, but I needed a high degree of specificity when it came to physical directions. Any assumptions that were inconsequential to others became massive roadblocks to me due to the innate ambiguity of assumptions.
I think the issue is that the words “clockwise” and especially “counterclockwise” are way too long and therefore people prefer saying “left” or “right”.
As a kid it took me a long time to understand what turning right even meant, because when the top goes right, the bottom goes left and the sides go up and down. It doesn’t make sense.
I’ve been wrenching on cars nearly 30 years. I’ve had mechanical maintenance as part of my actual job for a decade now. Two years ago it all finally clicked for me. Clockwise tight, counterclockwise loose.
Clocky locky
Even in my sixth decade, I beat people about the head with this, becoming the pedant from hell until they finally revert to clockwise and counterclockwise. And if they become specific enough to be “right over the top”, I go, “well, why not just say clockwise and avoid all that ambiguity?”
Being on the spectrum, it took me into my very early teens to even figure out right from left. I was two grades ahead of my peers in math, and could read a map and navigate better than most adults, but I needed a high degree of specificity when it came to physical directions. Any assumptions that were inconsequential to others became massive roadblocks to me due to the innate ambiguity of assumptions.
I think the issue is that the words “clockwise” and especially “counterclockwise” are way too long and therefore people prefer saying “left” or “right”.
Not to mention a rapidly growing segment of the population is unable to read analog 12 hour clocks, so the analogy is not that helpful.