Scientists Discover Humans Prefer Walking in Circles... But Nobody Knows Why

It turns out that if you leave a group of people to wander around long enough, they'll probably start drifting to the left.

Researchers in Spain have discovered that humans have a natural tendency to walk in a counterclockwise direction. The finding first surfaced during studies conducted during the pandemic, when scientists were analyzing how people moved around one another while social distancing.

While reviewing video footage, researchers noticed something odd: crowds consistently seemed to veer left.

Curious, they ran more experiments with both individuals and groups and kept seeing the same pattern.

To rule out cultural influences, they even partnered with researchers in Japan. The result? Same thing.

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No matter where people came from, they tended to drift counterclockwise.

The behaviour also wasn't linked to being right-handed, right-footed or even right-eye dominant. Men and women showed the same tendency.

The biggest left-turners of all? Kids.

And here's where it gets interesting. Scientists still have no idea why this happens.

The discovery may help explain a long-standing sports tradition, though. Today, runners compete counterclockwise on tracks around the world.

But that wasn't always the case.

In the early days of the modern Olympics, athletes actually ran clockwise. Officials eventually switched directions in 1913 after many runners complained that running clockwise felt awkward and unnatural.

More than a century later, science may have confirmed what those athletes were feeling, even if researchers still can't explain the reason behind it.

So the next time you're wandering aimlessly through Costco and somehow end up circling the same display three times, don't blame yourself.

It might just be human nature.