Is it normal that i don't understand pointing?

57% Normal
36 Comments

I can point at things myself, but I have a really hard time telling what other people are pointing at. I think there might be something wrong with my spatial reasoning. I can usually tell what general direction people are pointing in, but unless their finger is within a foot of the thing they're pointing at or they're pointing at something very large and obvious, I can't tell what they're pointing at. People often point at things and get really exasperated when I don't know what to look at. "Look where I'm pointing!", they say. I think dogs understand pointing better than I do.

Is it normal? Should I tell a doctor? Do you know of any mental disability this might indicate?

Voting Results
57% Normal
Based on 67 votes (38 yes)
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Comments ( 36 )
  • Wüstenfuchs
    11 years ago

    Just this morning on the way into work, a coworker I was driving pointed straight ahead and said, "See that deer?!" And I kid you not, I scanned that fucking entire horizon and could not find the deer he was pointing at. I did find two other deer kind of off to the left, though. Started to make a right-hand turn, and my co-worker said, "Oh, look! There's more!" (referring to the two deer further to the left) For whatever reason, I couldn't find those ones, then, but I saw the original deer he saw. It was seriously straight ahead of where I was, maybe twenty feet away, staring right at me. Long story short, I suck at locating things being pointed out. -_-

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Yes! Join forces with me, and we will fail to find deer TOGETHER.

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      • Wüstenfuchs
        11 years ago

        Where?!

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        • JustinBiebsFan#1
          11 years ago

          sounds like both of you are mentally retarded

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          • Wüstenfuchs
            11 years ago

            ... Coming from a Bieber fan. Cuts me deep. :/

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  • GorillaLove
    11 years ago

    Others insist on asking me "what are you pointing at" when we're sitting for a chat. "Nothing, nothing, leave me the fuck alone! That's just the way my arm moves, okay?!" O.O

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Yes, I think I see your point.

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  • Dad
    11 years ago

    What is the point!

    When I point, my cat sniffs my finger.
    I say, NO not my finger that thing over there!
    At which time she decides to have a bath and usually looks in the total opposite direction, just to piss me off.
    She is smart.

    What were we talking about?

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Well, NOW we're talking about how great cats are.

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  • dirtybirdy
    11 years ago

    Get behind the person pointing, put your chin on their shoulder, close one eye and line up your sight with their arm like its a gun. That aughtta do it.

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    • dalmationUntoyourSoul
      11 years ago

      that sounds kind of fun and intimate. i'd like to do this with my friends.

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  • Avant-Garde
    11 years ago

    I have the same problem.

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  • OswaldCobblepot
    11 years ago

    The real question is… do CATS understand pointing better than you?

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Not typically, one hopes.

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        11 years ago

        I meant that reply to mean "I hope I don't understand pointing even worse than cats do", but you could also read it as "I hope cats haven't developed pointing technology, because then there will be a bloody rebellion."

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        • kupokupo
          11 years ago

          I lol'd :D

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  • Doktor_Hildred_Von_Steinmann
    11 years ago

    Pointing is overrated. When I am ruler, I will eradicate such rediculous behavior!

    Yours truely,

    Doktor Hildred Von Steinmann

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  • purpleflower
    11 years ago

    Of course that's normal! If the person just says 'look where i'm pointing' and they won't actually tell me then I pretty much have to go stand beside them and look over their shoulder. Like looking down the sight line of a gun.

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  • GoraIntoDesiGals
    11 years ago

    I suppose you look at the finger

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I look at the finger at first, and then I try to follow where it's pointing, but I can't do it very well. It's as if the finger has a light attached to it with a large cone shaped shade, so that as it gets further away, the light lands on a drastically larger area.

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  • Wüstenfuchs
    11 years ago

    I just noticed the other day at work, I was looking for some wire strippers, coworker said he had some in his tool bag, which he then proceeded to point out to me. I wandered off aimlessly to look and walked right past the tool bag and started looking all over. He had to get up and show me himself. Embarrassing.

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  • NotStrangeBird
    11 years ago

    I agree. Whenever I point at something with my penis everybody stares and makes a big ruckus without ever understanding what I'm pointing at.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Haha I was on register the other day and this lady asks me what something on an old receipt of hers meant. I read what she kept pointing at and it was just a note about refunds and about our coupon. She was acting like she was suppose to get a free coupon and I just didn't understand. The guy she was with was getting irritated with me but wtf? She kept pointing at the note at the bottom of the receipt. Turns out she meant to point at something above it that said she had a ten dollar coupon but I SWEAR she WAS NOT pointing at that at all! I'm sorry but if you don't show me the right thing I can't freakin help you! I thought she was trying to pull one over on me because people really are dumb these days.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I do sometimes suspect that I'm just surrounded by people who suck at pointing.

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  • RapidlyRotatingPanda
    11 years ago

    Dogs, and all non human animals actually, will look at the end of your finger, not what you're pointing at.

    ~Buzzkillington.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Oh, Buzzkillington. I'm glad I'm not alone in my buzz killing ways. I have this problem where even when I know things are jokes, I respond to them as if they weren't. Maybe I'm autistic (I have some other symptoms too).

      However, I don't think that's true. Most non human animals don't understand pointing (cats don't, for example, which I consider one of the few advantages of dogs over cats. Other advantages include frisbees, awkward puppies, leashes, and not having vomit ), but some dogs do. They don't understand it as well as humans, though. See http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/whos-better-at-reading-human-pointing-gesturesdogs-or-young-kids/ Also, some dogs can be taught to point with their noses and tails, but I'm not clear on whether that's related to the ability to understand human pointing. Let me know if you have a source that shows that I'm mistaken, because I'd be interested in reading it.

      That said, I really like that you used the phrase "non human animals". I'm not being sarcastic, here, I am 100% a fan of that phrase.

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      • RapidlyRotatingPanda
        11 years ago

        Since my comment was as pedantic as was physically possible, I had to make it absolutely clear that humans were also animals...and I hate myself for it...

        And I heard that non humans looked at the finger by the great Steven Fry, not personally of course, but I took his word for it, although I suspect you could train a dog to point at things, but whether the dog knows that is what it's doing or not, is another matter.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          Stephen Fry is excellent. I don't say "non human animal" very much anymore, but I said it all the time as a kid, so I have affection for it. Speaking precisely was really important to me when I was a kid, for some reason. I used to sit in the car and reword the adds on billboards in my head to make them as clear as possible.

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          • RapidlyRotatingPanda
            11 years ago

            Oh borderline OCD...how you make the world so much more interesting...

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            • Anonymous Post Author
              11 years ago

              I have actual OCD, not just borderline.

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  • thanksforthefreecar
    11 years ago

    Maybe you have bad eyes

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  • jucedaguy
    11 years ago

    My grandfather always said to me, be careful where you point blame. Remember! There is always three fingers pointing back at yourself!

    Now try pointing at something.

    Your index finger is pointing at what you are pointing at. ( laying blame on )

    Your middle, ring and pinky fingers are pointing back at you!

    Old bastards... Fuckin smart they are !!!!

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  • IrishPotato
    11 years ago

    It's quite common really. I usually know what people are pointing at, when I'm standing next to them.

    But if I'm not, well then I really have no clue what they mean.

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