The variation of seven

re: The variation of seven

PeterCashmore — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 20:19:37 GMT

"Is there a 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing this?"

Yep - the girl on the far right seems to be doing 8!

To me, it makes sense to work from left to right, since this is the way we read. Hence, five fingers on the left hand and the thumb and index finger of the right hand.

re: The variation of seven

Mauricio Diaz — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 20:35:33 GMT

Hi Alex,

First the answer to your poll: I'm right handed and to symbolize number seven I'd normally show the five fingers of my left hand and the index and middle fingers of my right hand.

I was also going to comment on the questions you were asking yourself, but the comment got rather long. So instead of "polluting" your blog, I decided to post the comment in mine (http://diazorm.e-supinfo.net/blog/) in case you’re interested.

re: The variation of seven

alexbarn — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 20:42:21 GMT

Peter, you're quite right, lol!

re: The variation of seven

badri — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:00:38 GMT

Being from india, I can also tell you that no. 2 and no. 4 from the right top are actually pointing that way to make horns for the people below them. Just something people do over there quite often.

re: The variation of seven

alexbarn — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 23:16:19 GMT

Thanks Mauricio, i've updated to my post to link to yours.

Badri - there's more to this pic than intially meets the eye! Nice info, thanks.

re: The variation of seven

Raymond — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 13:40:46 GMT

I am from Norway, I am left handed, and I show the digit seven the same way as Mauricio. Oh, and I physically squirmed when I saw the way the tall guy on the left did it. Using the pinkie like that just seemed wrong, and I don't know why I react like that.

re: The variation of seven

X.Static — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:50:59 GMT

Same as Mauricio, though it's worth mentioning that I'm right handed pretty much only when I write, I do most other stuff left handed (including playing drums). I'm also left footed (when I play soccer, always play left wing).

re: The variation of seven

Matt — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:33:47 GMT

Interesting observation. I'm right handed, and I display the five on my left hand, and the two using the thumb and index finger on my right hand.

One thing I know, though, is that several years ago, I would have used the index and middle finger to display the two. But then I went and lived in Hungary for awhile, where it seemed more common to use the thumb in counting the numbers between one and four (the thumb for one, the thumb and index for two, etc.). I picked up that habit and have used it ever since. I find it requires slightly less dexterity. I suspect, too, that the reason I show the five in my left hand is (a) it requires less dexterity to show the number five (an open hand), so I assign that task to my less dexterous left hand, and (b) when displaying a number such as seven, the five is sort of a "base" number that I don't really consider active in the displaying of the numbers; all of the activity is happening in the displaying of the two additional fingers; so I assign the less active role to my left hand, and the more active role to my right hand.