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Justin Hartman

Posted on June 20, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Which direction do you stir?

Humour Random

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Brace yourself for one of the most random blog posts you’ll ever read from me!

I drink a fair amount of coffee each day and I always stir my coffee in a clockwise motion while making it. This got me thinking about whether or not stirring coffee in a clockwise motion is the norm for right-handed people.

It has been bugging me for about three days now so today I asked Gregor, Ian and Robin which direction they stir their coffee. The results were interesting.

Gregor is the only left-hander in our team and he stirs his coffee in a clockwise motion while Ian is right-handed and stirs counter clockwise. Like Ian, Robin is also right-handed and stirs counter clockwise.

This bugged me even more because as a right-hander myself I felt that I was now abnormal stirring my coffee clockwise. Did this mean that left-handers naturally stir clockwise while right-handers stir counter clockwise? I had to investigate further.

Within half an hour the four of us made some phone calls, posted to twitter and did a spot poll with anyone we could find in the office. All in all we ended up with a total of 35 people who responded to the question:- Which way do you stir your tea/coffee?

Of our 35 unsuspecting lab rats we had a total of 3 left-handers and 32 right-handers and you can see the results of each group below.

Results of Left and Right handed stirrers

The Total ResultsAs you can see from the totals graph it is clear that stirring your coffee in a clockwise motion is the preferred and most natural way for most people.

I started this escapade to get a conclusive answer but now I have to admit I’m no clearer than I was before the experiment. Whether you’re left or right handed it seems that results will vary greatly and an individual’s stirring habits are simply down to personal preference.

Peep on Gatorpeeps 

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36 Comments

I'd love to hear yours!



  1. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    StevenMcD said:

    I’m a righty who stirrs counter clockwise because its more comfortable for me. Here’s another funny fact.

    get 2 people to make you a mug of coffee, a person who stirs clockwise and one who stirs counter clockwise. Make sure they use the same amount of coffee and/or sugar and taste the difference.

    Us counter-clockwise stirrers always make the best mug of coffee, no jokes, ask my entire family and my fiance’s family. (I’m the only counter clockwise stirrer )



  2. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    justBcoz said:

    Ok, I would NEVER have given this ANY thought whatsoever =)

    But now, dammit, I want to know – what DOES make me stir my tea/coffee clockwise (I am right handed.)

    I wonder if this has any connection to whether one is left or right brained?

    Is there any significance in it all? What, if anything, does it reveal ….?



  3. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Stii said:

    Bloody hell! Thats random, but very interesting…

    I’m sure there will be plenty of interesting theories, although Steven, I have disagree strongly with yours! We’ll have a showdown on that next time we see each other as I’m right handed and stir clockwise. ;)



  4. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    SheBee said:

    I couldn’t agree with Steve more if I tried :)

    I was one of the counter clock stirrer lab rats. Random post, but fun :)



  5. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Ian Barnes said:

    LIES!!!! THOSE STATS ARE NOT CORRECT. THERE WHERE 4 LEFT HANDED PEOPLE THAT REPLIED. I DEMAND A RECOUNT :D



  6. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Justin Hartman said:

    @Barney, let’s keep the peace here please…..!



  7. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Justin Hartman said:

    @StevenMcD – glad to see I’m not the only random person around here!

    @justBcoz – I wish I had the answers for you. I really wanted to know if left- or right-brain had any effect in this but I don’t see any sign of this from my anecdotal experience. I think there’s a model for a research paper here ;)



  8. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Mike said:

    1. Left-handed, stir clockwise…

    2. GET A REAL JOB!



  9. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Colin Daniels said:

    I’ve got to manage you guys better…



  10. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Simone Puterman said:

    @Justin: Thanks for the laugh :)

    @Colin: Hahaha



  11. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    StevenMcD said:

    I'm a righty who stirrs counter clockwise because its more comfortable for me. Here's another funny fact.

    get 2 people to make you a mug of coffee, a person who stirs clockwise and one who stirs counter clockwise. Make sure they use the same amount of coffee and/or sugar and taste the difference.

    Us counter-clockwise stirrers always make the best mug of coffee, no jokes, ask my entire family and my fiance's family. (I'm the only counter clockwise stirrer )



  12. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    justBcoz said:

    Ok, I would NEVER have given this ANY thought whatsoever =)

    But now, dammit, I want to know – what DOES make me stir my tea/coffee clockwise (I am right handed.)

    I wonder if this has any connection to whether one is left or right brained?

    Is there any significance in it all? What, if anything, does it reveal ….?



  13. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Stii said:

    Bloody hell! Thats random, but very interesting…

    I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting theories, although Steven, I have disagree strongly with yours! We'll have a showdown on that next time we see each other as I'm right handed and stir clockwise. ;)



  14. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    SheBee said:

    I couldn't agree with Steve more if I tried :)

    I was one of the counter clock stirrer lab rats. Random post, but fun :)



  15. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Wogan May said:

    Right handed, use left hand for cutting and stirring, and I stir in a counter-clockwise direction.

    And I make damn good coffee ;)

    ~ Wogan



  16. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Ian Barnes said:

    LIES!!!! THOSE STATS ARE NOT CORRECT. THERE WHERE 4 LEFT HANDED PEOPLE THAT REPLIED. I DEMAND A RECOUNT :D



  17. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Riaz said:

    LOL – right handed – clockwise – does that make me boring?

    great post :)



  18. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Justin Hartman said:

    @Barney, let's keep the peace here please…..!



  19. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Justin Hartman said:

    @StevenMcD – glad to see I'm not the only random person around here!

    @justBcoz – I wish I had the answers for you. I really wanted to know if left- or right-brain had any effect in this but I don't see any sign of this from my anecdotal experience. I think there's a model for a research paper here ;)



  20. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Mike said:

    1. Left-handed, stir clockwise…

    2. GET A REAL JOB!



  21. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Colin Daniels said:

    I've got to manage you guys better…



  22. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Simone Puterman said:

    @Justin: Thanks for the laugh :)

    @Colin: Hahaha



  23. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

    Permalink

    Wogan May said:

    Right handed, use left hand for cutting and stirring, and I stir in a counter-clockwise direction.

    And I make damn good coffee ;)

    ~ Wogan



  24. Visit My Website

    June 20, 2008

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    Riaz said:

    LOL – right handed – clockwise – does that make me boring?

    great post :)



  25. Visit My Website

    June 24, 2008

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    namo said:

    I am right handed. I usually use clock wise stir direction but sometimes I use counter clock wise and sometimes both



  26. Visit My Website

    June 24, 2008

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    namo said:

    I am right handed. I usually use clock wise stir direction but sometimes I use counter clock wise and sometimes both



  27. Visit My Website

    June 25, 2008

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    Al said:

    Nice – just the kind of random stats that I like to see.

    What software did you use to draw those nice graphs?



  28. Visit My Website

    June 25, 2008

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    Justin Hartman said:

    Al, the graphs were done in Apple’s Keynote.



  29. Visit My Website

    June 25, 2008

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    Al said:

    Nice – just the kind of random stats that I like to see.

    What software did you use to draw those nice graphs?



  30. Visit My Website

    June 25, 2008

    Permalink

    Justin Hartman said:

    Al, the graphs were done in Apple's Keynote.



  31. Visit My Website

    June 30, 2008

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    Carole said:

    I’m left handed and I always stir counter clockwise. If I change to stirring with my right hand, then it’s clockwise. We lefties just do things the other way round to right handers.



  32. Visit My Website

    June 30, 2008

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    Carole said:

    I'm left handed and I always stir counter clockwise. If I change to stirring with my right hand, then it's clockwise. We lefties just do things the other way round to right handers.



  33. Visit My Website

    February 8, 2009

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    j4ngis (j4ngis) said:

    @shartlen Maybe not. Funny I havent noticed this before. Some data found at http://is.gd/f6ry



  34. Visit My Website

    February 8, 2009

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    j4ngis (j4ngis) said:

    Some stirring data found at http://is.gd/f6ry



  35. Visit My Website

    December 14, 2009

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    Leslie said:

    Can I just say how happy I am someone else wondered about this? I just found you via Google search of “direction you stir”. I personally am a right-hander who generally stirs clockwise, with some variations.

    Best,
    Leslie



  36. Visit My Website

    December 23, 2009

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    Iman said:

    LOOL!! I was having this very debate with my husband this morning and I was very surprised to find that someone had actually done a survey on this. I was wondering if there are any differences between men and women and the direction in which they stir? Is there any correlation between the sexes and whether they are left or right handed. And just to be awkward; what about ambidextrous people LOOOL!!



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