Left handers = smarter people

Originally posted by clearwater
The left hand is controlled by the right side of the brain and vice versa as mentioned, but if hand use reflects intelligence wouldn't that place the ambidextrous solidly in the lead.

The corpus callosum, the part of the brain that links both hemispheres, has been discovered to be shrunken and atrophied in the male brain, a result, it appears, of testosterone; the mutated condition of the Y chromosome.

While biblical text insists that Eve was created from Adams rib, biology evinces a more traditional Native American view, that the female is the template and the male a mutation of that template - The Y chromosome in the XY determinant of sex, is actually an X that has lost a leg.

And so, the shrunken corpus callosum, distinct to the male brain, implies inferior communication between the hemispheres. If brain chemistry and hemispheric communication implies intelligence, I will have to go with the ambidextrous.

Yeah I meant left handers are more creative, lol I could think of the idea but couldnt be smart enough to know about the sides control.

But that Adam thing kinda makes sense Most female plants can turn male if put in a stressed enviroment, but a male cant turn female.
So males could be a female mutant breed


And thanks Torsion for that list, kinda cool.

A few left handers:

Leonardo Da Vinci
Michelangelo
Judy Garland
Charlie Chaplin
Raphael
H G Wells
Henry Ford
Uri Geller
Kurt Cobain
Paul McCartney
Jimi Hendrix
Robert DeNiro
Oprah Winfrey
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Tom Cruise
Ben Stiller
Dan Aykroyd (yeah!)

Some not so good left-handers:

Jack the Ripper (perhaps)
Osama Bin Laden


[edit on 17-4-2007 by NLDelta9]

[edit on 17-4-2007 by NLDelta9]

this is weird im left handed and i write with my left hand, im rubbish at maths and english but i can spell very good, i came top of my class in art which i think would be more of the creative side you guys talk about. i was very athletic at school and top of my class at most sports but the weird thing is i used my right hand for everything throwing,batting (cricket rounders etc..) but when i play pool or snooker i use my left. im also in a band and play the guitar but again i use my right hand,there are two other lefties in the band also and they both also play right handed that in its self i find weird three left handed people all in the same band who all use there right hands, them two are also very artistic in drawing and stuff like that.

Originally posted by brettcal82
this is weird im left handed and i write with my left hand, im rubbish at maths and english but i can spell very good, i came top of my class in art which i think would be more of the creative side you guys talk about. i was very athletic at school and top of my class at most sports but the weird thing is i used my right hand for everything throwing,batting (cricket rounders etc..) but when i play pool or snooker i use my left. im also in a band and play the guitar but again i use my right hand,there are two other lefties in the band also and they both also play right handed that in its self i find weird three left handed people all in the same band who all use there right hands, them two are also very artistic in drawing and stuff like that.

I can only play hockey right handed, but only because I always used a friends right handed stick and never ended up getting my own left handed stick. But I can play golf with both hands. So maybe you and yor buddies
were trained with right handed guitars when you 1st started.


[edit on 17-4-2007 by NLDelta9]

yh but the two of us are self taught and the drummer is self taught all left playin right and they as well throw and play sports right handed and play pool left handed, normally a left handed person would pick a guitar up and have it upside down left handed way, but we all just picked it up the right handed way.i just think its weird.

I am a lefty, but I have sufficiently obliterated enough brain matter so my mental capabilities are now equal to that of a righty.

i agree here with jack

I don't think Tom Cruise was very flattering to the leftys, hahah.

Originally posted by NLDelta9
[Some not so good left-handers:

Jack the Ripper (perhaps)
Osama Bin Laden

hey, no one knows who jack the ripper was... and if you believe some of the people on ATS, osama bin laden aint that bad....

(just an observation!)

Well there's no denying that Bin Laden is/was an intelligent individual, despite how sadistic he is.

But anyhow, I'm not entirely sure if I could be clasified as left handed or not. My family wondered this for years. You see I write left handed, play sports right handed (and have a better right kick), and a lot of stuff I just do ambidextrously. For example, I can use a mouse just as easily with my left hand as I can my right hand. Other things like tools I switch off easily enough, except scissors, those I had to learn to do right handed due to the hand groove.

Yet there's things that I just don't do very well ambidextrously. With real sports (I'm ambi on Nintendo's Wii Sports if that counts) I'm almost entirely right handed. That had my family confused for quite some time. However things like writing, Guitar Hero (a real pain to hold lefty, not to mention hard to hit that sway bar), and other fine manipulations I do lefty.

So as far as school is concerned I'm basically lefty outside gym class. Which of course is a pain since most high school classes use those blasted desks with the arm rests. I think that we've got a few lefty desks somewhere in the building, but I've actually never sat in one. Those right handed desks are some of the most uncomfortable contraptions ever conceived.


Now do I fit the typical lefty stereotypes? Some I suppose, let's go down the list.

More intelligent? I really don't like to brag, but I do think I'm more intelligent than the average person. However I know some incredibly smart righties who're smarter than I am so I don't think being lefty make's a huge difference. Unless of course I'd be a total idiot if I were right handed, but that's an alternate reality situation that I'm not prepared to fully comprehend.

More creative? I've been told that I'm quite creative, but I'm not so sure about that. For years I had problems with creativity, it's only been in recent years I've been able to explore what I can do, so I won't be able to give a good answer to the question for quite sometime.

More artistic? Ok this is something where I'm definatley different from the lefty norm. I absolutely have almost no artistic ability.

Less aggressive? Well I've never been in a real fight, but anyone who's played me in Risk will say otherwise.

Speech impediment? When I was younger I had difficulty talking in a variety of pitches, I was accused of being monotone. Of course I think that might've had something to do with a lack of emotions at the time. These days I feel that I'm a clear and concise speaker, and have little difficulty speaking in front of groups of people that I know. Add in strangers though and can still talk properly, just with less confidence.

Great designer? Over the course of my short life I think I've made some cool designs for school projects. But nothing exactly genius.

Superior spatial vision? This is something where I think I excel at compared to my peers. I can learn by different methods, but I end up visualizing almost everything in my head in 3-D.

More honest? I'd have to say I fit this category. Not because I have difficulty lieing, but because I prefer to simply give the truth as it is. Unfiltered, no BS, just pure truth. Although I've hurt a few feelings this way I'm quite satisfied with my method of dealing with truth. Just give it how it is.

Do I look younger in later years? Sweet Flying Spaghetti Monster I hope I will, because I'm only 16 now so there's no way to know for sure.




Above all I don't think that lefties are nessesarily smarter or more creative. I think if anything we've just been forced to adapt a bit which gives us a slight advantage, and personally I think that people really buy into the lefty myths, which gives bias. Although that bias isn't always bad, often it's positive, it's still a pain

Also: Somebody mentioned George W. Bush as being lefty. Not true, he's the first right handed president we've had since Carter. Reagen, HW Bush and Clinton were all lefties.

Mod Edit: Removed offensive Post



[edit on 4/21/07 by FredT]

Mod Edit: Removed offensive Post


[edit on 4/21/07 by FredT]

I'm a 23 year old left handed chap from the UK. I am absolutely woeful at maths and mental arithmetic, but on the other hand (no pun intended) i am a musician, fairly successful graphic designer, multimedia artist and i specialise in film post production and i have quite a firm grasp on certain programming languages too... but i cant for the life of me work out how much change i'm supposed to get from a shop so where does that leave me? who knows...

also i think alot of left handed people have to learn to be right handed to some extent aswell, with things like scissors, tin openers, guitars and other objects that are designed for right handed use

one more thing when i was in art school we did a experiment where we did a life drawing with our strong hand.. for me my left... and then did another drawing with the weak hand.. my right.. the right handed drawing turned out better than the left, i think it's because i was concentrating solely on the motion of the charcoal and the lines i was making, but when you draw with your strong hand you are in your comfort zone so you can let your mind wander. so i don't think it's a question of the different sides of the brain doing different things in coralation to the hand you're using. i think it's more dependant on how much you concentrate.

erm.. sorry for rambling a bit incoherently, enjoyed this thread though
nice one
p.s dam your US spell check

My husband and I are both righties, our parents and Grandparents are all righties and 3 of our 4 children are righties. Our oldest daughter is a 'leftie' and while she does fall in the 'gifted' category in intellect, our other three non-leftie daughters do as well. Actually, the only one in the family who is not 'gifted' is my husband and anyone meeting us for the first time would assume that he is the intellectual of the family.

My grandmother thinks that she is naturally a leftie but was forced to use her right hand when she started school so maybe that's where my daughter got her left-handedness ... that same daughter also has green eyes which don't appear on either side of our family tree for at least 3 generations.

Through the years I've tried and tried to teach myself to write with my left hand and I'm just not able to do it. After having gamma knife surgery on my left parietal lobe last May, I have been dealing with intermittant 'brain irritation' which causes cramping, muscle weakness and sometimes, complete lack of use, of my right hand, so being able to write legibly and do other things with my left hand would really be helpful but so far, I've failed miserably at any attempt to 'train' myself to do anything with my left hand other than successfully show off my engagement ring and wedding band.

Jemison

Sorry, for some reason it double posted, so I'm going to take out the second one here.

I'll add in that I just talked to my aunt and that she claimed she didn't hook, until she grabbed a pen and paper, Guess what? She's got a hook.

She's creative, an artistic in the kitchen, garden and with pencils, and paints.

A_L

[edit on 10/17/2008 by another_lurker]

Well, this is quite an interesting thread. My grandfather on my mother's side was a lefty, so was my mother and her 1 sister. I am a lefty (except for certain right handed items such as sissors and handheld can openers). I'm not really artistic and feel like I'm not creative, but more of a technical (love to work on engines and computers plus have been researching genealogy for over 10 years) person. I am absolutely horrible with math, I need to open excel to do math. Hahaa, I call it my "geek in training" methodology.

My son is left handed, but my father, brother and husband are/were right handed. I see the school getting on my son about his penmanship, due to being left handed with right handed teachers. He doesn't have "the hook" neither do I nor my mother, but by grandfather and aunt do.

My brother (he's right handed) is very creative, can draw like no tomorrow and is a painter by trade. I on the other hand, prefer to sit at a computer, took computer graphics classes, and went into the legal field for a while; cannot draw to save my life and feel very awkward trying.

I think that it boils down to the people that have to show differences to feel superior to others. No one handed-person is better than another. It's just the human nature to pick out another ones' flaws to show that they are better than the other person.

My husband can bat or throw with either arm, so it helps my son, but I do get out there to help him, due to me being a true lefty, with his skills.

Also, I write on those nasty spiral bound notebooks upside down, so I don't have to deal with the bindings. Drives my husband nuts when he pages through notes and he's constantly flipping it back and forth to read things.

Just my $.02 on the subject. Goes along with being born blue eyed with brown eyed parents......Just something to make ya different.

*I'm blue eyed lefty with dark hair.....Parents with brown eyes and dark hair. My brother is blonde haired, blue eyed and a righty.

My brother and I are ambi dextrious so does that make us twice as smart or just kinda smart and kinda dumb?

I have some really dumb left handed friends, ( sorry ) but my hubby who is very intelligent is also left handed...

I am right handed, and have tested at slightly above normal, IQ wise. I am also a ( retired-ish) professional artist/illustrator ( as was my right-handed Dad).

.......However I sometimes wonder if I might have been 'switched' to a right hand preference as a child, because I naturally bat and hoe ( as in the garden ) left handed, and my back hand is much better than my fore......?

Non-hooking leftie, here. Guess that explains why my use of language seems so backwards to most. I've got a funky memory that is really good with certain things, while horrible at others. Sometimes it's hard to remember words I use all of the time. Other times I find myself spouting out large words that I don't recall ever using before!

I was very good at math. I intuited the concepts, seeing them from different angles, while the teacher was still explaining them. Very interested in art, music, dance, but don't have a knack for any of it. Tried to produce art for years, it was all junk. If their's one thing I would say lefties seem to have, it's more intuitive capabilities. I am extremely intuitive, to the point that I freak people out on a regular basis. If I'm in a negative mood my intuitions diminish, but if I'm cleared of that, I'm essentially psychic. Poker is fun. I defy the odds constantly. I know what peoples cards are a lot, and don't look to facial gestures at all. It's more of an integration in feeling & internal perception (colors, numbers, sounds at lightning-fast speeds).

As far as IQ tests go. I took an official one when I was 13. I was all over the place ranging from 136-94 depending on the category. I will say that most people who know me think I am a genuis or psychic or just Fn Insane. Gifted people (iq>132) seem to have more analytical skills and a better memory, but I trump them when it comes to intuitions, wisdom, & insight.

[edit on 17-10-2008 by unityemissions]

[edit on 17-10-2008 by unityemissions]

I have researched this, and here is an answer that I think is the closest to the truth:
At the time of birth, left side of the brain (that controls right side of the body) is initiated. If, for whatever reason, it fails, brain tries the other side. If it works, the person is a lefty for life.
In my case, I was a big baby, over 10 pounds, and my mother almost collapsed during birth. I have asked a few lefties I know and they all had some issues at birth...

Intelligence is the same, but lefties have shorter life span on the average, due to accidents (everything is made for right-handed people).

Due to experience, lefties are forced to understand life a little better than right-handed ones. Therefore, they are artistic, appear smarter etc.

Forcing a person to change a dominant hand causes a lot of problems. Children who were forced to use right hand show psychological problems of different levels. The most common is - they start a lot of things but not finish, they try to impress by being different. IT IS NOT GOOD TO FORCE THE USE OF NON-DOMINANT HAND.

So, the truth is pretty simple - problems at birth. I am a lefty, and I am convinced that this is the right explanation.

[edit on 18-10-2008 by greshnik]

Originally posted by JacKatMtn

Originally posted by Tom Bedlam
You will "hook" if your speech center is on the same side of the brain as your dominant hand.

I just thought of something, while I am a lefty, I play golf righthanded, and tend to hook the ball, is this just lack of talent or something with my brain wiring? I could save some money from lessons if it is something I can't fix in the first place.

[edit on 2007/4/16 by JacKatMtn]

Actually you hook the ball because the face of the club is closed relative to the path your club is taking through the ball. Why, is another matter, but hooking, slicing is just pure physics. Try to keep the clubface from closing as you swing through the ball. it will feel like the ball is going to go straight right, but practice a little and you will get it down.

As far as righty vs. lefty (ratio is actually 9-1), when it comes to the PGA tour lefties are definitely underepresented. Same goes for NFL quarterbacks. However, in baseball lefties are actually overrepresented. Seems that there is really no definite proof of lefties being advantaged or disadvantaged in intelligence or in physical ability.

I do know that all the left handed cousins turned out to be gay if that counts for anything.