QuickCheck: Is it true that humans can walk in a straight line blindfolded?

WONDERING what fun activity you could do with your friends and family this holiday season? Try challenging each other to walk in a straight line while blindfolded.

Since all it takes is putting one foot in front of the other, what difference could there be if we were blindfolded, right?

So, can humans walk in a straight line with their eyes closed as easily as they do with their eyes open?

Verdict:

FALSE

Humans cannot walk in a straight line without any fixed visual reference. The reason for this, though, is still a mystery.

In 2010, science reporter Robert Krulwich, explored this in an enlightening and amusing radio broadcast. Krulwich talked with a German researcher who had published a study on the topic.

For the study, the researcher and his colleagues had people walk blindfolded on deserts and beaches for an hour. They found that they could not walk in a straight line, even though they thought they were doing so.

They also had people walk unblindfolded in Germany’s Bienwald forest. On cloudy, low-visibility days, they, too, roamed in circles, but on sunny days, they could walk in a lengthy and somewhat straight line.

Krulwich said, “Humans, apparently, slip into circles when we can’t see an external focal point, like a mountain top, a sun, a moon. Without a corrective, our insides take over, and there’s something inside us that won’t stay straight.”

This phenomenon highlights the importance and reliance of our visual system in navigating space and maintaining a straight trajectory.

Try this for yourself. Get ready, get blindfolded, go!