So you think you can control your foot

[sog]

This will amaze you and make you laugh.

Sitting in a chair raise your right foot then move it in a clockwise direction.

Then with your right hand make a 6 in the air with your finger.

You can't keep your foot from going counter-clockwise.

How long will you do it until you give up trying?

Lefties can use the left foot and hand.

Both have to be on the same side.

 

[Moonbear]

Should I now force you to explain it based on the neural pathways invovled?

 

[Hurkyl]

I can do it easy enough. I'm usually good at these things, I'm a little embarassed to admit that ony my first try, my foot moved in a straight line as I tried to draw the 6.

 

[radou]

After I started moving my foot counter-clockwise instead of clockwise, I gave up immediately. (Damn it, these stupid moment conventions.)

 

[turbo]

I can do it with no problem, but then again, I play guitar and have developed the ability to do things with my hands and fingers without thinking about them. I tend to count out beats with the big toe on my right foot and mark the bars with the big toe of my left foot. At the same time, the left hand is fingering chords and runs, while the right hand takes care of a mix of flatpicking and fingerpicking. For a few years, I hosted open-mike jams at local taverns - a job where you've got to be pretty flexible, since the next player in the queue may be stepping up with a song you've never played and maybe have never heard.

 

[Gokul43201]

I can get a stable opposing sense motion going only if I match frequencies and maintain a particular phase difference.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

I can't do it. Once I start drawing the 6 properly my foot goes counter clock wise.

Although I can do it if I draw the 6 the unconventional way, from the base upwards in a clock wise fashion

edit: Does anyone know the scientific reason that some can do it while some can't? I remember seeing a show where after a surgery that separated part of the left/right brain, people could easily draw different things with different hands very clearly. For instance drawing a tree with one hand and simultaneously drawing a house with the other or something. I couldn't help but thinking how much faster I could do my homework if I could do that :).

 

[Gokul43201]

I can't do it. Once I start drawing the 6 properly my foot goes counter clock wise.

Although I can do it if I draw the 6 the unconventional way, from the base upwards in a clock wise fashion

edit: Does anyone know the scientific reason that some can do it while some can't? I remember seeing a show where after a surgery that separated part of the left/right brain, people could easily draw different things with different hands very clearly. For instance drawing a tree with one hand and simultaneously drawing a house with the other or something. I couldn't help but thinking how much faster I could do my homework if I could do that :).

A little late to ask them now, but Jefferson and Garfield could write with both hands simultaneously. Moreover, they could write it Greek with one hand while writing in Latin with the other. Apparently, they never really used this talent, except to show off at parties!