COMMENTARY: Cat Going Up or Down the Stairs
There's a huge debate on whether the cat is going up or down the stairs.
I may be wrong, but I'll take a shot at it.
I claim the cat is going down the stairs.
The stairwell has markings on either side that are horizontal if the cat is going down. If the cat was going up, then it means the slats are vertical.
If the step is concrete, masons designing a concrete stairwell using level or device to make the stairwell straight would have an easier time shaping the concrete horizontal.
If the cat is walking up the stairs, then it means there's a lift at edge of the stairwell. If people walk down that stair, they're liable to trip and fall because their foot would get caught on the edge of the stair step.
I would rely on human safety on the design of that stairwell. Whoever designed the stairwell put some time into it because the "face" of each stair is the same printed design on every stair.
I would think that most artists making an ornate stairwell that uses the same pattern would want it to be something that is visible to the eye as opposed to something you step on.
Most people who walk up stairs will look straight at the steps as they're ascending. They don't look down at their feet.
The other reason why I'd say the cat is going down the stair is because of the angle of the cat's tail. Although it's hard to see, it looks like it's arched toward the camera.
A cat's tail will usually try to help with the center of balance with the weight of the cat as it moves.
When a cat climbs a stairwell, it's tail doesn't arch upward, it's usually lower to the ground or closer to the stairwell.
When a cat goes down a stair, its tail usually doesn't drag across the step. It usually sticks straight up.
If the cat was climbing up the stair in this image, then it would mean the cat's tail is "lifted" or held up.
You'll see a cat curl up into a ball. The tail will tuck under as a natural reflex, it won't arch outward.
It's hard to tell with the 2 dimensional image, but it looks like the tip of the tail is arching toward the camera and not away from it.
If a cat (or a dog) is using a bounding motion where its forepaws are lifting the body or torso, it's like a cat curling up into a ball, so the tail would go down or tuck under.
When you see a cat or dog that is happy or open, they have more spring in their step an their tail is held high. When they're cautious or in a closed position, the tail will hang low.
In the image, the tail looks high like it was coming down.
If you look at how steep the stairwell would be if the cat was climbing up the stair, it would have to put more effort.
If the cat is going going down the stair, it would be more of a leisurely lope or gait.
I'd also go by the lower left corner where the shadows on the stairwell seem to indicate the light source is coming from behind the cat.
I think the reason why the image was made black an white was so that it would be harder for people to see what the cat's left foreleg is doing.
The other point I would submit as evidence is the forepaw that is white. It's referred to as a "bicolor cat" or "tuxedo cat." According to Wikipedia, the map shows 15 bicolorations. Out of the 15, only one of them one forepaw that is white and the other black.
If that is a rough estimate of how many odd-pawed cats, then it's saying 1 out of 15 cats could have a forepaw different than the other paw that is light colored.
In the image, you see the cat's right white paw, but you can't see the whether the cat's left paw. It means the paw is not white belonging the rare 1 out of 15 cats with a dark paw or the it does have a white paw, but it's hidden by the stair step.
If the white paw is by the stair step, then it means the cat's left white paw is pressed up close to the stair where you can't see it. If you can't see the cat's white left paw, then it hints it's gravity causing the cat to push it out of the view of the camera angle.
I'm relying on probability that the cat chosen for this image belonged to the 14 out of 15 cats that have white paws and we can't see the other white paw. It may be where the person who took the picture made the image black and white to cover up that hidden paw that might give it away.
Anyway, this is my long reasoning on why I'd argue the cat is going down. That's not to say I'm still wrong, but at last I'm observant and put some thought into my answer.
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Here's an image that illustrates what I said about the stair and how an architect thinks and the way they would create a stairwell. The lip or edge of the stair step sticks out indicating the cat is going down. If it was the other way around where the person is at the top of the stairs, people's feet would trip or snag on that extended lip. I've actually been on stairs like that, but they were filled with gravel to keep the rocks from being kicked out. The material seen is not dirt or rocks. I'd also make note of the discoloration on the left and right side of the walls. They're not symmetrical. It hints that the black and white may have caught something like what is light cast upon different paint or stucko. An architect making a slat that fits will use a tape measure to get the length. If it's a righthanded person, they'll lay the left side in first and let the wood drop naturally. Then they'll use a hammer to pound it down. The right end of the board will scrape against the side of the wall. I claim that may be what you see where the left side has what looks like nicely painted side with no scraping while the right side looks like paint or stucko was smeared much higher and in view. I lean toward that because when I was growing up, I watched my house being built as a kid. When I was running around the stairwell section of the house, I watched how they made a step. If the stairs were going up, then it means the slat of would is being applied to the side. The markings on the left side are uniform brush strokes in one direction. So if that portion of the steps were being replaced, the left side is the part of the board that went in first. The right side (from our perspective) is the side that was pounded in with a hammer. From that perspective of the cat going up, it would hint that that the person who put the slat in was left-handed. It's possible to have a lefty installing the steps, but most people are righthanded. If it looks like the slats have been replaced, you ask why. The most logical answer would be how old the house is where the wooden slats had worn down and needed to be replaced with new pieces of wood. If it's an older house, the part of the step that would need to be replaced soonest would be the portion of the step that people walk up and down with using their feet. You wouldn't need to replace the "face" of the step because no one's feet touches that. So using process of elimination on what side of the stair was fixed and the trick of light causing a discoloration on the sides of the walls where the wood of the stair meets, you can safely conclude that's the part of the stair that was once fixed. If most stairs will wear down over time, house owners would hire a carpenter to fix the wood paneling of the top of the stairs. Therefore, the cat is going down.
http://thedailywh.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/catproof1.jpg
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To: "Woodside"
From: Rod
Date: 4/12/2015
Subject: Cat Stairwell Conundrum
Regarding your husband and the Cat Stairwell Conundrum regarding what SIDE of the WOOD on a stairwell we're "stairing" at, this is one time he should never challenge a woman whose maiden name is WOODSIDE and lived near WOODSIDE Animal Hospital :)
http://thedailywh.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/catproof1.jpg
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Professor Explains Whether Cat is Going Up or Down Stairs
Technically Incorrect: An image of a cat on the stairs has captivated the Web and divided lovers and families. It needs an academic to sort it out.
by Chris Matyszczyk
@ChrisMatyszczyk April 11, 2015 4:22 PM PDT
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
Can a professor answer this conundrum? Up or down?
Can a professor answer this conundrum? Up or down?
9Gag.com screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
It's been like Democrats and Republicans after three quarts of wine-in-a-box.
It's been almost as bad as Red Sox and Yankees fans litigating the trade of Babe Ruth.
For the last 48 hours, the world has been divided between those who think the cat is going upstairs and those sure it's on its way down.
Should you be unaccountably intelligent and therefore have missed this global schism, the cat image was first posted to 9Gag.com. It then hurtled into the world, with some believing that, quite clearly, the cat was descending and others thinking these people were three legs short of a tabby.
It would need a true academic to sort this one out. Thankfully, Behavioral Science professor Nick Chater of the Warwick Business School in the UK has risen to the task.
He contacted me to explain: "We see in 3D, even though our eyes only receive 2D images. This seems puzzling, because it can be shown mathematically that there is an implied number of 3D scenes that will create the same 2D images. Most of the time, our brain is spectacularly good at solving this problem. It usually turns out that precisely one 3D interpretation is 'sensible' and all the others are bizarre, in one way or another."
I am surrounded by bizarre images all day. I think of them as mere normality. After all, I live in Northern California.
However Chater continued: "Our brain uses the most 'sensible' 3D interpretation; and mostly -- except when we are being subjected to cunning visual illusions -- this works just fine. But sometimes there are two equally plausible 3D interpretations of the same 2D image. Famous examples include the Necker cube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necker_cube) and Rubin's face-vase illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_vase). Then, the brain flips between one interpretation and the other."
Professor, my brain is flipping. Tell me, is the cat going up or down the stairs?
Chater explained that the cat image has two possible interpretations because of "the amorphous gray square at the top of the picture." He suggests we focus on "the angle between the plane of the staircase and the surface represented by this gray patch."
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He told me: "When we see the cat as coming downstairs, the gray square is interpreted as ceiling -- and this makes an acute, roughly 45 degree, angle with the staircase. But when we see the cat as going upstairs, the gray square is now interpreted as floor -- and this makes an obtuse, roughly 135 degree angle with the staircase."
So which is it, professor? Up or down?
"If we could only tell the 'slant' of the mysterious square patch in relation to the staircase, we would know if it was floor or ceiling, and so there would be no ambiguity. But the image cleverly leaves the gray square bereft of any clues. So we flip from one interpretation to the other," he said.
What do you mean: "If only"? After all this intellectual explanation, we still don't have an answer? Worse, we will never have an answer unless the creators of this dastardly picture come forward and admit their bent?
How will we now get through the weekend?
http://www.cnet.com/news/professor-explains-whether-cat-is-going-up-or-down-stairs/#ftag=YHF65cbda0