Re: OT: Spatial thinking (WAS: Re: Letf / Right, was Re: Count and mass nouns)

Andreas Johansson wrote:
> My mother has described me as a person who can see before his inner eye a
> colour map of Europe with all borders and capitals indicated, and under
the
> names of the capitals are the population numbers written, and moreover can
> zoom and rotate the map at will. Now, except for the population numbers
thing,
> that pretty much true, and I was in my late teens before I came aware
there
> are apparently people who can't pull this, to me, pretty much trivial
feat,
> and not for lacking knowledge of geography.
I think I have the same ability, due in large part to many childhood
sickdays, and my favorite reading was the world atlas (vintage 1940s).
Unfortunately, my mental image is not up to date re Africa or Central Asia,
and I'd be hard pressed to say what is Czech Republic, what is Slovakia (is
that the name?).

I'm also pretty good with houses, due to long-standing interest in
architecture, and more recent experience with actually
remodelling/rebuilding several.

For a long time too, I've liked to draw maps of imaginary cities.  And
around age 12 or so, I amassed a collection of US city maps.  In the 60s
when I had a travelling job, I was amazed that I still recognized the
general layout of many of the places I visited.  Unfortunately, freeway
construction has changed many places almost beyond comprehension.

Grids are BOring; mazes like Boston - London - Paris are beautiful.

As for mathematics, don't ask.........Though I was pleased to discover, a
few years back, that I knew how to lay out the semi-circular portion of a
deck with 5ft radius, and-- the worst-- build two matching handrails with
radius 4ft 10in.  Note to self: don't ever build anything curved again.
Cutting rafters also requires some math, but there are tools that eliminate
much of the mystery.

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