Why Women Read Maps Upside Down
James 
Many women read maps upside down. Why do they do this? This blog explores this mystery.
A couple were on their way to an event.
'Stop turning the map upside-down!' Frank snapped.
'But I need to face it in the direction we're going, ' Susan explained, meekly.
'Yeah, but you can't read it upside-down!' Frank barked.
'Look Frank, it makes logical sense to face the map in the direction we need to go so I can match the street signs with the directory!' Susan said, raising her voice indignantly.
'Yeah, but if the map was intended to be read upside-down, they would printed the writing upside-down, right? Stop playing around and tell me where to go!'
'I'll tell you where to go all right!' Susan responded, furiously.
Susan threw the street directory at Frank and shouted, 'Read it yourself!'
The Upside-Down Map in England
In 1998, John and Ashley Sims produced a two-way map with a standard map view when travelling North and a second, upside-down view, with South at the top of the page, for travelling south.
In a British national newspaper's weekend magazine they offered this map free to the first 100 people who wrote in.
They got requests from over 15, 000 women - and only a few men.
Men saw no purpose for an Upside-Down Map or supposed it was a prank.
Women, however, are impressed because it replaces the need for spatial rotation.
This has been a common difference between men and women of all races for thousands of years.
✔️ In the 11th Century, Lady Godiva rode her horse naked down the wrong Coventry Street.
✔️ Juliet got lost trying to get back home after a love tryst with Romeo.
✔️ Cleopatra threatened Marc Antony with castration for trying to force her to understand his battle maps.
✔️ The Wicked Witch of the West frequently travelled South, North or East.
Map reading and understanding where you are depend on spatial capability.
Brain scans reveal that spatial ability is located mostly in the right brain for men and boys, and is one of a male's strongest abilities.
Spatial ability is located in both brain hemispheres in women but it does not have a specific measurable location as it does in men.
Only about 10% of women have spatial abilities that are as dynamic as those of the best men.
Thousands of documented scientific studies confirm male superiority in spatial skills.
Iowa State University professor of psychology Dr Camilla Benbow scanned the brains of more than a million boys and girls to study their spatial ability and reported that differences between the sexes were already striking by the age of four.
She found that while girls were excellent at seeing two dimensions in the brain, boys had the ability to see a third dimension, giving depth.
On three-dimensional video tests, boys outstripped girls in spatial ability by a ratio of 4:1 and the best girls were often outclassed by the lowest scoring boys.
Modern man uses his spatial ability in various occupations and activities such as golf, computer games, football, and any sport or activity involving chasing something or aiming at a target.
Spatial ability allows a man to rotate a map in his mind and know in which direction to go.
Having spatial ability on both sides of the brain interferes with a female's speech function, so if you give a woman a street directory, she'll stop talking before she turns it around.
So, in some areas men have the clear advantage. In other areas, women have the upper hand.
Categories: : Male and Female Difference