For ortho meta para directors, it is the group that is already attached to the ring that “tells” the group that is adding where to go or is it the group that is adding that knows where to add “on its own”? (The group, which is already in the ring, because it participates in the stabilization of the intermediate sigma-complex. The incoming group is separated from the positively charged conjugated system of the sigma-complex by an sp3-carbon, so its influence is minimal.