Interconnects, some have directional indicators, why?

Now to get very basic.

For my single ended interconnects that do not have directional arrows I just hook them up without thinking about directionality.  Is there a way determine if the shield is connected at one end versus at both ends?

If the shield is connected at both ends, does directionality cease to matter?

Does a shield need to be connected at all?

Thanks,

George

Repeat of a question I asked above (simplified).

For single ended interconnects that do not have directional arrows, how can you determine at which end the the shield is connected?

Or if the shield is connected at both ends or neither?

Take apart the plastic covering at the end of the interconnect?

Thanks,

Thanks atmosphere.

Geoff, not quite sure the meaning of your last sentence.

Geoff, above and in many discussions you have stated that the wire drawing process impacts the wire crystal structure making it inherently directional.

Assuming it does, I think the question is does this impacted crystal structure in some way make an audible sound difference when the wire is inserted into a system in one direction or the other?

One might think that in order for it to make a difference, the signal, power, whatever, would need to flow differently depending on the direction of the crystal structure.  This would imply that if the wire was inserted incorrectly from a directionality viewpoint, the crystals are impeding, or in my obviously non scientific terms ,snagging and impeding the signal or power compared to the correct direction and this somehow impacts the sound. 

George