Researchers tested the popular notion and found that not only do people walk in circles if they have no guidance, but they do not favor left-handed circles, a common myth spurred from the fact that a heart leans to a person’s left.
German and Canadian researchers teamed up to give scientific evidence to the circle-walking notion noted in popular culture – from “Roughing It,” written by Mark Twain in 1972, to “The Blair Witch Project” horror film from 1999.
Researchers blindfolded participants in either a forest in west Germany or a desert in Tunisia and told them to walk in a straight line.
In some cases, participants walked in circles that were the size of a basketball court – remarkable considering such short distances can be easily seen.
“People cannot walk in a straight line if they do not have absolute references, such as a tower or a mountain in the distance or the sun or moon, and often end up walking in circles,” said Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany and lead author of the study to be published in Sept. 29 issue of Current Biology.
In the rough-and-tumble terrain around the Shoals, the study could impact how people fend their way while hiking or getting lost in the woods.
(Restul aciulea) :)