13 Interesting Facts About Left-Handers

I thought this was interesting, so I decided to share it my left-handed friends.

According to the American Journal of Psychology, left-handed people are more creative that right-handed, and are better at divergent thinking.

Here are some little-known facts about left-handers:




positivemed.com...

well yea too bad that only a few years ago they started to actually make stuff for lefties... I always had to "adapt" to stuff made for righties... now these kids have it good!

Not even guns were ambidextrous...

So you are generally richer and smarter but don't usually live as long and are more apt to become an alcoholic?

Well played Mother Nature.... Well Played.

My sister is left-handed. When I was very young I would watch her use the scissors and wonder why I couldn't get them to cut like she did.

I still haven't figured it out!

She always complained about things not being made for left-handed people.

FraternitasSaturni
well yea too bad that only a few years ago they started to actually make stuff for lefties... I always had to "adapt" to stuff made for righties... now these kids have it good!

Not even guns were ambidextrous...

Yeah now that they make stuff for left handed people it's not as bad. Back when I was in school one of my teachers wouldn't allow students to write with their left hands she forced them to use their right hands. Every time she caught you using your left hand you got paddled for it. She claimed that left handed people were born in league with the Devil.

Interesting fact. There are a higher proportion of lefties in the arts.... and law enforcement.

Just by coincidence both my husband and I are ambidextrous... the kind that can write, draw, shoot, etc with both.. and with skill. My oldest is also fully ambidextrous, the middle one is hardcore lefty, the youngest is ambidextrous but not as much as the oldest or my husband and I.She actually prefers her right hand.
That darned lefty has had a rough time of it with different instruments and utensils. She uses the mouse with her left and even does her smileys "backward". LOL! She is also the more moody and volatile of all of us. Probably from scissor angst...

In autism left handed is majority. Left handed is not necessary cause of genes instead trauma in gestation or during the birth. Many left handed are likely to be dyslexic and to stutter. Also premature babies are more likely left handed. Left handed also suffer more with asthma and allergies than right handed. Left handed die 9 years earlier than right handed.
In Medieval era left handed were believed to be devil´s advocates and witches.. Eskimo´s believed left handed to be sorcerers.

Back during my school days, the side of my hand would turn black as it passed over everything i had just written. Not to mention pages covered with smudges. I know many lefties who have adapted an awkward writing style to avoid this messiness. But, me? Not so much.

Eating at a table would turn into an elbowing match unless the seating was adjusted accordingly.

I am left hand dominant with almost everything I do. The only thing I can think of in which I am right handed is throwing (and anything requiring aim).

I wonder how long weve been keeping these stats? Are lefties becoming more, or less rare? Or just remaining at a consistent percentage?

reply to post by sled735


I'm left handed - I'm neither creative nor richer than any of my right handed friends but I do hate spiral notebooks.

Boy, they really need to study my lefty son. LOL he sure doesn't fit with most of those.

Maturing 4 to 5 months later than a righty? How about 4 to 5 years???? I'm still waiting.

Right-handers have long accounted for 90 percent of the population, and scientists may have figured out why By The Week Staff | April 27, 2012


President Obama is left-handed, part of a 10 percent minority whose proportion has remained relatively constant for 5,000 years.
President Obama is left-handed, part of a 10 percent minority whose proportion has remained relatively constant for 5,000 years. CC BY: The White House O
nly one out of every 10 people are predisposed to favor their left hand instead of their right, "a ratio that has remained constant for more than 5,000 years," says Rick Nauert at PsychCentral. Why isn't there a 50-50 righty-lefty split? Why aren't all of us right-handed? New research from Northwestern University may have the answer. Here's what you should know:

What exactly is this new theory?
Researchers say the steadily low percentage of lefties "is a result of the balance between cooperation and competition in human evolution." Humans have long had an evolutionary need to cooperate, such as when sharing tools or hunting in groups. And if most people use the same hand, it makes such cooperation easier. "The more social the animal — where cooperation is highly valued — the more the general population will trend toward one side," says co-author Daniel M. Abrams.

Then why aren't we all right-handed?
Because people aren't purely cooperative. We compete with each other, too, and always have. "If a society was totally cooperative, then everyone would be same-handed," says Nauert. But that's not us. Our competitive streak ensures that there will always be lefties.

Why does competitiveness foster left-handedness?
Physical competition "favors the unusual," Nauert says. For example, "in a fight, a left-hander in a right-handed world would have an advantage."

What proof do researchers have?
To showcase the validity of their model, researchers turned to sports like boxing, fencing, and table tennis. In athletics, lefties are "overrepresented to the tune of about one in five," says AFP, underscoring the competitive advantage of left-handedness. And the inverse is true for sports where handedness isn't a factor. For example, "the number of successful left-handed PGA golfers is very low, only 4 percent," says PhysOrg.

Sources: AFP, Gizmodo, PhysOrg, PsychCentral

Very interesting theory.

Interesting, SF.

I'm also 'ambidextrous'. I write with my right hand...everything I do with 1 hand I do right-handed. But Everything I do with 2 hands (shooting guns, playing the guitar, swinging bats) I do lefthanded. It has always been a logical thing to me, because my right hand is the most developed hand, I do the most complex things with it, such as fretting on the guitar, aiming guns and bats.

So I am not left-handed, nor right-handed, nor ambidextrous in a strict sense. My dominance depends on the task really.

And yes, I do feel special :p

Hey sled that's really interesting and the first thing that came to my brain was Ned Flanders from the Simpsons


I'm right handed.

My son when he was younger wrote with both hands ...and I thought that was so very neat..then he started favoring the right and now he's right handed.

Have a nice day and thanks for sharing.
-nat

reply to post by sled735


I'm a 'righty' but I've always felt I should have been a 'lefty' being, being as a lot of the stuff I do is similar to that of a lefty.

When writing, it doesn't matter how straight up I try to write, my hand writing always slants in the same direction of a lefty.

When placing money in a cash register, it's usually facing the same direction as most lefties would.
[years ago, before our work on the road consumed us full time, I worked at the front desk of a condominium resort & the 2 lefties there loved when I worked with them cause I kept the money facing the same direction as them....it's just natural for me.]
Now on our own personal register, when my husband puts money in there, he turns it the opposite way which is natural for him.
But being as I don't like money turned every which way, I straighten it all out.

And another trivial thing that many may or may not understand, but when I go to roll up our 175 lead line [S10 outdoor wire], I roll it in the opposite direction as most righties.
My husband gets annoyed but I tell him, since I'm doing all the work, don't fuss!!


I firmly believe I probably should have been a lefty.
So how do I go about suing some body for my money & smarts....LOL?!?!

Firewater

Right-handers have long accounted for 90 percent of the population, and scientists may have figured out why By The Week Staff | April 27, 2012


President Obama is left-handed, part of a 10 percent minority whose proportion has remained relatively constant for 5,000 years.
President Obama is left-handed, part of a 10 percent minority whose proportion has remained relatively constant for 5,000 years. CC BY: The White House O
nly one out of every 10 people are predisposed to favor their left hand instead of their right, "a ratio that has remained constant for more than 5,000 years," says Rick Nauert at PsychCentral. Why isn't there a 50-50 righty-lefty split? Why aren't all of us right-handed? New research from Northwestern University may have the answer. Here's what you should know:

What exactly is this new theory?
Researchers say the steadily low percentage of lefties "is a result of the balance between cooperation and competition in human evolution." Humans have long had an evolutionary need to cooperate, such as when sharing tools or hunting in groups. And if most people use the same hand, it makes such cooperation easier. "The more social the animal — where cooperation is highly valued — the more the general population will trend toward one side," says co-author Daniel M. Abrams.

Then why aren't we all right-handed?
Because people aren't purely cooperative. We compete with each other, too, and always have. "If a society was totally cooperative, then everyone would be same-handed," says Nauert. But that's not us. Our competitive streak ensures that there will always be lefties.

Why does competitiveness foster left-handedness?
Physical competition "favors the unusual," Nauert says. For example, "in a fight, a left-hander in a right-handed world would have an advantage."

What proof do researchers have?
To showcase the validity of their model, researchers turned to sports like boxing, fencing, and table tennis. In athletics, lefties are "overrepresented to the tune of about one in five," says AFP, underscoring the competitive advantage of left-handedness. And the inverse is true for sports where handedness isn't a factor. For example, "the number of successful left-handed PGA golfers is very low, only 4 percent," says PhysOrg.

Sources: AFP, Gizmodo, PhysOrg, PsychCentral

Very interesting theory.

Thank you for posting that. I was going to include it in my OP, but I couldn't get my copy/paste to work for some odd reason.


I write with my right hand, but I do almost everything else with my left. I always found that a little strange, but I suppose it means I'm balanced.

intrepid
Interesting fact. There are a higher proportion of lefties in the arts.... and law enforcement.

I work in this field, and I have noticed that. Never really gave it much thought until seeing this.

reply to post by sled735


1. Lefty's are more likely to be genius... so true
2. Lefty's are more likely to be 15% richer....not me
3. Lefty's are three times more likely to become alcoholic. I hardly ever drink.
4. Spiral notebooks....
5. Lefty's are better at playing video games....I'll go along with that
6. Mouse with left hand but knife with right hand.
7. Lefties live nine years less then righties...thats worrying, I'm nearly 60!

I would be willing to bet that at least 20% of atsers are left handed. Maybe even 25-30%.

I'm glad I'm left handed It gives me my weird sense of humor that keeps me entertained at all times.

I'm left-handed. I don't get the spiral notebook ire. It's a notebook that you can write in. I grew up in a culture that writes left to right. If you want it to flip the other way, turn it upside down. ???

I don't feel trodden on as a lefty. I use some things lefty and some things righty. I could care less. Whatever works. I seriously doubt that my left hand has the dexterity to work the mouse. Let's try.


Nope. Clunky. I could make it work if I had to. Just like everything else in the world.