Left-Handed: Facts, Myths & Fun Polls

[plover]

Cheating! I know you used ACME Instant Letter-Spacer.

Actually the ACME Instant Letter-Spacer usually produces

r e  s   u  l ts  l i   k  e  t  h i   s . ..
​

 

[brewnog]

Is it possible to switch which hand is your dominant one? I.e., for a right-handed person to become left-handed (ambidextrous), or vice-versa?

How?

In Britain in the old days, whenever left handed tendencies appeared in young schoolboys, the offending child had his hand tied behind his back until he learned to do things using his right hand. This worked, but often caused speech impediments later in life.

 

[Ouabache]

Are we still counting lefties?
I'm a southpaw, like math and music, practise both the arts and sciences.

Although i have experienced a few disadvantages; pencil sharpeners are backwards, guitar is strung upside down, scissors don't fit correctly on fingers, fishing reel turns the wrong way

There are lots of advantages, playing tennis or ping pong, opponents mostly play right handers, so southpaws have the advantage. For bowling, i use the side of the lane which is least worn. It has more wax or oil on it, so i get a nicer glide on the ball. Playing baseball, pitchers face more right handed batters than left, so southpaws have advantage there and since i bat from right side of batters box (relative to the umpire), upon hitting the ball, I'm at least one step closer to first base than right handed batters.

I read a study that lefties are 1/5 of the population. If you check around the net, you'll find that number is still a good approximation.

Are there more lefties doing science? Well, as a grad student at Purdue, one of my my officemates, my advisor, the professor in the office next to mine, and our department head were all southpaws. All tolled, we had closer to 1/3 lefties in my dept.

 

[Moonbear]

For bowling, i use the side of the lane which is least worn. It has more wax or oil on it, so i get a nicer glide on the ball.

LOL! You've never bowled with me...doesn't matter if I'm right-handed, my ball rolls down whatever side of the lane it darn well pleases. I thought the objective was to get the ball down the middle? Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong all my life. If I aim for the side, maybe it will wind up...oh, never mind, it's going to wind up in the gutter no matter where I aim.

 

[Ouabache]

LOL! You've never bowled with me...doesn't matter if I'm right-handed, my ball rolls down whatever side of the lane it darn well pleases. I thought the objective was to get the ball down the middle? Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong all my life. If I aim for the side, maybe it will wind up...oh, never mind, it's going to wind up in the gutter no matter where I aim.

Yup, I hear ya.. I've thrown a few gutter balls when I started.
Got some helpful advice along the way, people telling me not to dip my shoulder when I release the ball, keep 'em straight.

The left side of the alley is not used too much. I start from left side and on the first roll, aim either slightly to the left or slightly to the right of the head pin. Mostly when I roll down the middle i'd get a split. I haven't bowled in a while though. I'm allergic to tobacco smoke and I haven't found any smokefree lanes.

 

[DaveC426913]

Few lefties are fully left. Most are partially or mostly right.

I am left-handed with some things - a pen, throwing, etc., but right-handed with others, such as sports.

 

[Ouabache]

Few lefties are fully left. Most are partially or mostly right.

I am left-handed with some things - a pen, throwing, etc., but right-handed with others, such as sports.

True enough.. I do a few things with the right side naturally, like kicking a football or soccerball. It feels easier with my right foot.

Some things were just learned, like playing the guitar as a righty rather than restringing it, turn it 180 deg, pick with my left and note with my right.

Brewnog mentioned that school children in Britain, at one time, were forcefully encouraged to use their right hand. I've heard the same was true in the US. Let's see, in French left is gauche, (meaning to turn aside or clumsy). In Latin left is sinister Where these notions came from is hard to tell, perhaps superstitions.

I was in a Chinese restaurant and comfortable eating the delicious food left-handedly with chop sticks.. The Chinese manager happened by, gave me one of these looks and then began muttering animatedly to his colleagues.. I wondered what the fuss was all about.. He told me, it surprised him seeing an American handling chopsticks, but even more so, with my left hand.

He tells me children are discouraged from using their left at a young age in China. I never found out why, maybe it meant bad luck.
If there are some folks from the Far East countries reading this, can you enlighten me?

 

[misskitty]

In Britain in the old days, whenever left handed tendencies appeared in young schoolboys, the offending child had his hand tied behind his back until he learned to do things using his right hand. This worked, but often caused speech impediments later in life.

I knew people tried to force you to learn with your right hand in the old days. I never heard that it can cause speech impediments later in life. How does that happen?

 

[brewnog]

No idea, it's usually a stutter or a stammer though.

 

[Danger]

Hello everyone;
Brewnog was kind enough to invite me to this place and show me how to get here. Bonus that the discussion is something I'm interested in. I'm ambidextrous, but do some things preferentially with one or the other. The really sad part is that I can't do it left-handed and pretend it's a stranger, but enough about my sex life.
The timing for this sucks, though, because I have to leave right now for my darts match. How bitterly ironic; the only reasons that I play darts are to drink beer and irritate Brits, and here I am having one of them as my first on-line friend.
Moonbear, I've been warned that you bite. I'm not particularly averse to that.
Anyhow, must be going now. I never shut my computer off, so I'll be shown as logged on while I'm gone. Will snoop here when I get home, if I can still see straight. (Now I guess I'd better learn how to use those little smile thingies. One of the preceding commments was a joke. It's up to you to figure out which one.) Bye.

 

[Smurf]

From what I've read, we're more succeptible to inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, asthma, and autism. Anyone?

Ok, last I checked Autism wasn't something that was developed. Lol maybe I just got the definitions wrong, but did anyone else find this odd?

 

[brewnog]

Sorry, I just meant that there were correlations.

 

[Danger]

Hi Honey, I'm home:
This doesn't actually apply to you, Brewnog. I'm sure that you're a very nice guy, but you're probably way too ugly for me. Anyhow, I'm back from darts. Who invented that stupid game anyway? Must have been some medieval archer with nothing better to do. (Alright, I know that's how it started, but it still looks good as an excuse.) It's 3:15 am my time, so you're all probably asleep now. That should put us at an intellectual equilibrium. I'm going to give you a bit of background so that you know what youre getting into by welcoming me. I have pretty much no formal education. I blame that on the Ontario school system. As a for instance: for a grade 9 Tech History project, I detailed the development of, and how to build, a simple Little Boy type atomic bomb. I got a "D", with a teacher's comment in the margin that said "where did you copy this from?" This from a teacher who, if he had 3 more functional brain cells hooked together, could be a plant. Three years later in chemistry class, I submitted "nuclear rocket fuel" as a use for hydrogen (I was seriously investigating the NERVA and KIWI projects at the time). Guess what the reaction to that was, since I didn't mention peanut butter or margarine, the hydrogenation thereof having been in the textbook.
Enough of that for now. Leave it suffice to be said that this is the first time since my membership in a long-defunct SF club called DEC in Calgary that I've had the opportunity to converse with others who live with one foot in the Twilight Zone.
Now, can someone tell me, what the hell is a "brewnog"? I like to have some idea of who my friends are. It suggests a beer-oriented lifestyle to me. Bravo! (Unless it's that warm English swill.)
Okay, now it's 3:40 am, and I have to get up in 3 hours to go to work. Damn you addictive site-mates. (Probably not appropriate. What's the audience demographic here?) I apologize if minors are reading.
I am in fact, at this point, somewhat inebriated, so please bear with my rambling. The one primary reason cited in North America for lefties having a higher mortality or injury rate is that the world is biased against them. A lot of everyday items that are designed for a right-hander can be dangerous or even fatal for a southpaw. I can use scissors with either hand, but left-handed takes a lot more effort because I have to actively force the blades together rather than letting natural torque do it for me. If your life depends upon firearms, a right-ejecting pistol can really mess up your form. One of the first things that you're taught in pilot training is to dive right if there's any chance of a collision. Same for cars in North America, where we drive on the right side of the road. [I will put in some geographical googaws here; although I was born and initially raised in and around Calgary, I got Shanghaied to the Windsor area about 35 miles SE of Detroit in '65. The ditches in Essex County are about 10' wide and 12' deep. (Land is too valuable to make it safe.) The first accident that I saw there involved a friend who hit the ditch at about 40mph in pre-seat belt days. A beautiful girl turned into hamburger in milliseconds.] Were it not for the bias toward turning right in an emergency, that wouldn't have happened. A veer to the left would have saved her features. (She didn't expire anyway, but it took a lot of surgery to make her aesthetically pleasing again.) Being ambidextrous is a bit of a saving factor, as far as I'm concerned. In a plane, I would still always dive starboard because it's international standard practice. In anything else, whichever way is safest is how to go. A leftie would probably have less difficulty overcoming instinct to veer left than would a non-sinister fellow. I don't know how that would relate to those who choose to drive on the other side of the road.
Okay, I'm outta here. As much as I hate to admit it, at my age I need the couple of hours of sleep that I can eke out tonight. Thanx again for inviting me in. I'm sure that you'll live to regret it. Goodnight, all.

 

[DaveC426913]

>One of the first things that you're taught in pilot training is to dive right if there's any chance of a collision. Same for cars in North America, where we drive on the right side of the road.

Yes, but these aren't right-baised, IMO as a southpaw. I do not believe lefties are inclined to dive toward the left any more than righties are inclined to dive toward the right. It's arbitrary and it's learned. If it had been set as 'to the left' from the beginning, it would have been the same thing.



>and 12' deep. (Land is too valuable to make it safe.) The first accident that I saw there involved a friend who hit the ditch at about 40mph in pre-seat belt days. A beautiful girl turned into hamburger in milliseconds.] Were it not for the bias toward turning right in an emergency, that wouldn't have happened. A veer to the left would have saved her features.

Same thing. Just because she's a leftie doesn't mean she would instinctively go either way. And even if it were true, it is merely coincidence that, in this case, going left would have saved her. (To be frank, and with all due respect to your friend - you can't know this is actually true, she may have, in fact, avoided plowing into a car head-on at full speed and dying instantly.

 

[DaveC426913]

Leftie quote

Made it up myself, I did.

One thing that lefties are better at than righties is opening jars. Our stronger left arms make for better counterclockwise torque. (Of course, righties are better at tightening jars, but so what?)

In my house, I'm saddled with the job of opening jars, and whenever I do, I'm always sure to pipe up with:

Lefties are kept busy unscrewing things that righties are always screwing up!

 

[Danger]

Hi again;
I just got home from work and saw the response. You're probably right about the learned behavior aspect of it. I have to pay very particular attention to things because my own natural instinct is to turn left. I undergo a sense of vertigo when tilted to the right. It wasn't nearly as bad in a plane as on a bike, but noticeable. I've talked to a couple of motocross guys and they say the same thing. (I don't know their handedness.) I wonder if it might have to do with the same reason that I shoot pool and long-arms almost exclusively right-handed; ie I'm right-eyed. It takes quite a bit of effort to aim right while shooting left. I don't see how that would affect balance, but it might explain my evasion instinct. My dominant eye can stay on the threat longer if it's on the same side.
As for the accident... I know that she wouldn't have hit another car, because I was a couple of hundred feet behind her and it was an otherwise empty road. I never even saw the dog or whatever that she was avoiding. That would also indicate to me that it came from her right rather than cross the road toward her. Therefore, she turned into the threat instead of away from it. Anyhow, I mostly agree with you.

 

[Danger]

Okay, this instant response thing is weirding me out. I just looked up and all of a sudden there's another page there. The jar bit never crossed my mind, but I know that using a screwdriver is easier counter-clockwise left-handed and clockwise right-handed. Love the quote in principle, but since I'm equally right-handed, I have to be half-offended.

 

[brewnog]

Aha, Danger.

I'm going to hijack this thread, but it's mine anyway.

While 'Brewnog' may imply that I'm a beered up student, it actually comes from the term Devil's Brew, which is a horrible version of cola that I made a few years back. When speaking in a medieval fashion, Devil's Brew becomes Devillion's Brewnog, and so the name came about. It's all very sensible when you think about it.

Of course, I am a beered up student, but that's not the point.

 

[ShawnD]

This whole left-right handed things is interesting. Half of the people in the chemistry program I'm in are left handed, and the majority of them (including myself) wear glasses to correct nearsightedness.

I used to be very ambidextrous. When learning to write, I could write equally good with either hand, so my parents pushed me towards using my right hand. I can use a pipet with either hand, I play hockey left, I bat and golf right, I pour with my left, I shake and stir things with my right.
My left hand/arm is stronger, but my right hand/arm is more coordinated (writing, punching, throwing). I also kick with my left in case that matters.

 

[Danger]

Hi, all;
Just back from a well-needed nap, courtesy of last night's misadventures. Thanks for the explanation, Brewnog. Some members of that aforementioned club belonged to the SCA as well, but it wasn't my scene. They probably would have known that.
I'm not sure what "hijacking this thread" means, but suspect that I've been a space hog. You would appear to be right. I just looked back to check things over, and I do appear to be a chatty little bugger. I thought that this little window box was all the space there was, until I noticed it scrolling, and lost track of how much I was typing until after I looked back. I can only see half a dozen lines at a time. It'll probably happen a lot. My train of thought gets derailed easily.

 

[KingNothing]

I think nowadays everyone wants to be ambidextrous, and they seem to claim they are just because they can draw a curvy line with both hands.

 

[Danger]

Hi again;
I don't know whether or not there's a specific definition of the term. In one article I read that one was considered ambidextrous if s/he used the off hand for anything of significance. Seems a little slack to me. In my case, I do just about everything with whichever hand is closest. I have noticed to some extent that I do things differently, but equally, such as how I hold a pen or a fork. As in ShawnD's case, there seems to be a little more fine motor control with the right, and more power with the left. One thing struck me as a little peculiar. I usually do technical sketches or notes with the right, but can't do art worth a damn. My left is for picture drawing and creative writing. I suspect that it might be due to which brain hemisphere is being stimulated most at the time. Opinions?
Also, I'd be very interested to know whether anyone else out there has experienced that vertigo thing I mentioned earlier.

 

[Danger]

PS:
I can type pretty quickly (in my much younger days I peaked at 120 wpm). Even now with the keyboard often sharing my lap with a cat, and arthritis, about 30 or 40 is normal and I can hit 80. The really annoying thing that I suspect might be due to the ambidextrousness is that there's a minor tendency to transpose letters from one side to the other. For instance, d's & k's, e's & i's, etc. I use the proper finger motion, but sometimes with the wrong hand.

 

[ShawnD]

I think nowadays everyone wants to be ambidextrous, and they seem to claim they are just because they can draw a curvy line with both hands.

We should really get a dictionary definition here to keep everything straight.
Ambidexterity - The property of being equally skillful with each hand.

I think everybody is born ambidextrous, but you just phase it out. When I was 5 or so, I could play hockey both ways, I could write with either hand, I could bat both ways, and I could throw with either hand. Now that I'm 19, each of those abilities is done 1 way only. You just sort of pick one way to do things and do it that way to get better at it.

It's neat when you can't pick which hand should be dominant for certain things. When I was learning to type on a computer (around 8 or so), I couldn't decide which thumb should hit the spacebar, so I decided to use both thumbs. To this day I still hit the space bar with both thumbs at the same time; everybody thinks I'm nuts.

 

[Danger]

There might be something to that theory. I know that cats and dogs don't have a favoured paw, but always attributed it to simplified brain structure. Maybe all animals are that way naturally. As for the definition, I know what the dictionary says, but science seems to be misrepresented there sometimes. I strongly suspect that you won't be able to find anyone anywhere who does things exactly the same with either side. Even accidentally practising more with one would bias the skill level. If that's correct, then most ambidextrous people would appear right-handed because they would use implements made for righties that way (scissors, for example).

 

[ShawnD]

I know what the dictionary says, but science seems to be misrepresented there sometimes.

I guess you are right. The dictionary version of "narcotic" is laughable.

Could you say ambidexterity is when you can do generic stuff with either hand, and it averages out to both hands being about equal overall?
It sounds really stupid, but I've met people with one hand so dominant that they can't do simple tasks like pouring juice unless they use their dominant hand.

 

[Danger]

Hi ShawnD;
Sorry for the delay in responding; I was off snooping about other places. I really don't know what proper etiquette is for this sort of thing. As mentioned, I've only been on the net for a couple of weeks and have never interacted with people before. Your definition certainly seems to reflect the way it is with me. And I've know people like those you mentioned. To me, it seems as much a handicap as not having the limb at all. A correlation does seem to exist with different brain function. Just as more artistic people are lefties, and strictly physical types righties, those with less demarcation of hemisphere dominance tend to exhibit lateral thinking (analytical tracking, whatever). We just don't think the same way. Whether that's good or bad is debatable, but I enjoy it and find it useful. Bye the bye, a casual observation of my customers at Instant Cash (like a Money Mart) shows that about 40% are lefties. Maybe money management is something difficult for them.

 

[KingNothing]

To this day I still hit the space bar with both thumbs at the same time; everybody thinks I'm nuts.

But can you really attribute this to the spacebar-thumb habit?

There might be something to that theory. I know that cats and dogs don't have a favoured paw, but always attributed it to simplified brain structure. Maybe all animals are that way naturally. As for the definition, I know what the dictionary says, but science seems to be misrepresented there sometimes. I strongly suspect that you won't be able to find anyone anywhere who does things exactly the same with either side. Even accidentally practising more with one would bias the skill level. If that's correct, then most ambidextrous people would appear right-handed because they would use implements made for righties that way (scissors, for example).

Well, I would think what matters is the actual skill level, not whether or not you practiced to get there. It would be very hard to define any bodily function as 'the way you are naturally' as even as babies our mums probably tended to play with one hand a little more.

Also, many things change within about a year after birth. For instance, all newborns have blue eyes. All babies strong enough to do so can swim. Kinda weird.

 

[Danger]

Hi King;
I'm too lazy to type the whole thing, if that's okay. That's the first I ever heard about blue-eyed babies. I believe you, but it's hard to envision a blue-eyed Nigerian or Ethiopian except as a random mutation. Is it just because pigmentation isn't complete at birth? The swimming bit doesn't surprise me, because of our ancestors being aquatic. It should be a racial memory sort of deal. Don't embryos at some point have gills? I certainly don't dispute that most critical brain wiring occurs explosively over the first year or so, and that environmental factors affect it heavily. What I meant was that an ambidextrous person would be observed to do things right-handed more often than left if it were more convenient. Personally don't go out of my way to use scissors left-handed, or manipulate the controls on my right-hand designed .45. If either were designed for lefties, that's how I would use them, and equally well. Since the vast majority of things are made for righties, people might therefore assume that I'm right-handed.

 

[Danger]

Me again;
As I mentioned repeatedly, this is all new to me. The GMT thing is hard to get used to, especially in not knowing when someone else is. Day, night, what? Anyhow, I thought maybe I should mention that I have to go now, in case someone expects a reply. It's 1:40 am here. Will catch up tomorrow.