braaaains

[wispfox]

why is it that it's much easier to compare things which are side-by-side than higher or lower on a page? separate pages are easier side-by-side than vertically, too. why? Or is it just me? there's two reasons I print things. this, and the ability to highlight/take notes.

this brought to you by my irritation that chronic lack of sleep, mild illness, mild depression, and being overwhelmed are not, for me, easily distinguishable states (and being interrlated and thus any tending to worsten the others _does not help_!). I think I am all three except depressed right now.

but there are cold meds which I will take at bedtime, not midnight.

and then maybe tomorrow having things I need to do won't seem like a horrible weight on my very existence!

Comments

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

*blink* Wait, what?

Not completely sure how that would relate to comparing things that are side-by-side being easier than above each other?

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

When you're comparing things, you want to compare similar areas, so you can ignore the parts that are identical and concentrate on the differences. Therefore you need the similar areas to line up.

The top of document A is going to be the beginning of it. The top of document B is going to be the beginning of it. (Obviously)

If they are side by side, top(A) and top(B) are lined up, adjacent. This makes it easier to compare the bits that should be similar.

If they are one above the other, then the top of B is right next to the bottom of A, confusing things. It only gets worse from there as you try to compare middles.

Try comparing two things that are inherently horizontal. For example, have someone write down two sentences *that fit on one line* and try to find differences between them. It'll be easier if they are one above the other, not side by side, because that way the correspondences line up and your brain can filter them out and concentrate on the differences.

(Unless your inherent visual weirdness makes your perception *very* strange, that is.)

Or do it with non-text...two series of shapes, for example.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

*blinky blinky*

Hnuh.

I haven't actually tried this, because imagination was actually sufficient (odd, considering my visual imagination!). That's _really neat_.

I think I was mostly thinking charts/graphs/tables in the side by side comments, not paragraphs/sentences/etc.

*even more fascinated now*