Fun Facts for Left Handers

[ramseycat]

How does one become left handed? There have been some studies that show hand orientation is developed in an unborn child, but has this been proven? I don't know. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. One thing we do know for sure is that the majority of the population is right handed. It has been said that left handed people are among the most intelligent.

There have been plenty of famous left handers in our day. Among those are past presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Another interesting note is that both John McCain and Barrack Obama are left handed. You may be interested to know that Pablo Picasso, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Di Vinci, and Michelangelo were also left handed.

Here are a few fun facts about left handers. There seem to be a high likelihood that in twins one will be left handed. Now not in all cases of course, but in a lot. Think of the twins you know and see if one of them is left handed. Left handers seem to excel in sports such as tennis and swimming. Also, I recently read online that 1 in 4 Apollo astronauts were left handed.

It is interesting for a left hander to live in a right handed world. Left handers have more of a struggle with certain things in life than a right hander does. For instance, most coffee cups are made for right handed people. I know, not a big deal, but it is something we left handers have to deal with. I have the problem with using a baseball glove. I can't catch with my right hand so in order for me to play baseball I have to catch and throw with my left hand. Not an easy task! So, needless to say, I don't play. I do love to write and I can play the piano. I often wonder if that is a product of me being left handed.

Have you ever wondered why people say that left handers are in their right mind? Well, they actually are! I mean that in the literal sense. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. Therefore, left handers are the only ones in their right minds. Makes sense to me!

So, if your left handed, take heart, you are not alone. Enjoy you gift of being left handed and revel in the knowledge that you are in your right mind.


*****I found this stuff on the net. I didn't write any of it. *****

[ramseycat]

I will look for more info on handedness and personality traits.

[ramseycat]

Myths About Left-handed People
•The term 'sinistrality' used to refer to left-handed people indicates demonic traits. This is the most ridiculous circulating the planet. In fact, the word 'sinistrality' is derived from the Latin word 'sinestra' which means 'left-handedness'. In the ancient Mesopotamian language, the term 'sinestra' was used to denote 'power'.
•Left-handed people are commonly associated with clumsiness in all they do. This notion, totally false, is probably a distorted version of the translation of the phrase 'having two left feet'. While the phrase is used to relate to someone who can't dance, it is very wrongly associated with awkwardness and the left-handed.
•Use of the left hand for eating is immoral and unholy. This myth was probably first spun by vague fanaticism. It is totally untrue. We make our social norms and abide by them. However, shunning a left-handed person who eats with his or her left hand does not even offer modern education credibility. Left-handed people show a more coordinated hand-to-mouth movement and that does not in any way make them, of all things, 'unholy'!
•It is difficult for left-handed children to learn writing of the alphabet, without personal tutoring. Not true at all. Observe the left-handed toddler. Everyone else is more bothered about his left-handedness than he is himself. The left-handed child adapts to writing, drawing and all other activities that require him to hold a writing tool as early as the right-handed. In fact, many left-handed people display a neater handwriting than their right-handed colleagues.
•Lefties have a lesser chance of surviving a hand-to-hand combat. This is anything but true. History bears witness to the advantage left-handedness had during hand-to-hand combats and even within the boxing ring. In fact, a common observation is that the left-handed combatant is able to strike a strong surprise attack on the open, unprotected right side.

[ramseycat]

Facts About Left-handed People
•Left-handed people are many a time at a disadvantage using tools designed for the right-handed. Well this is true, but today, there is a whole range of tools and equipment being designed for left-handed people. Many right-handed tools too are available, such that they can be molded to suit the needs of the left-handed craftsman. Even the computer mouse has been challenged in use and the touch pad provides the left-handed professional equal opportunity.
•Left-handed people are high achievers. Yes. Research reveals that left-handed people are in fact high achievers. This is because their brains are structured to widen their abilities, an attribute that is genetic and on account of the enhanced governing of 'language centers' within the brain. A number of mathematical, artistic and sporting geniuses were and are left-handed.
•Left-handedness is usually forced to right-handedness due to cultural impact. Sadly, this is the case across the globe. Many children are forced into right-handedness during the formative years. Cultural pressure is fast changing though due the impact of mass literacy on society.
•Left-handed people have a shorter lifespan than right-handed counterparts. Statistics reveal that left-handed people are more likely to succumb to accident fatalities and other injuries that arise out of a state of 'affliction'. This is mainly due to majority people in the world being right-handed and hence the overall design of utilities being designed to accommodate the majority. Left-Hander Syndrome is a condition that is seen in left-handed people who are forced to write with their right hand; thus causing a mental state of confusion.
•Left-handed persons use visual stimulus to process information. Research reveals that people who are left-handed do not use the sequential processing style like their right-handed colleagues, to disseminate information. Instead they are good at applying themselves to multiple tasks with the help of the synthesis method of breaking down information and finding a solution.

[Maggot]

I heard left handed people swam in circles.

[ramseycat]

I don't have a problem using right handed tools. Probably because when I was a kid, teachers taught us lefties to use our right hands for staplers and scissors. I also wear a right handers mitt for baseball and throw with my right hand.

My oldest is also a lefty and he does EVERYTHING with his left hand. One odd thing is that I hold my hand straight when I write. Just like a right handed person and have the paper at an angle to the right. My son curves his hand around the pen and sort of writes upside down. I wish I had been able to teach him to hold the pen like I do but he got more instruction at school and he has NO left handed teachers.

[ramseycat]

I heard left handed people swam in circles.

Um, no.

[Lady Cop]

my Mom was a lefty. it skipped me and 2 of my 3 sons are lefties. one of them was drafted by MLB and full ride in college paid for by pitching with left hand...fast big lefty pitchers are worth a fortune!

BUT...i get very nervous when he has a knife in his hand trying to carve meat. it's frightening to watch!

my Grandmother taught him to tie his shoes, i couldn't do it.

[thekid65]

I'm a lefty. In grade school they tried their damnedest to get me to be a righty..it just wasnt happening. The one thing I was convinced to do, was to play guitar right handed. I actually bat and golf right handed too. But everything else is pretty much lefty.

[Midwest Spy]

I have sex left-handed.

[HairOfTheDog]

I have sex left-handed.

No lefties in my world, but interesting to read the info. Never thought about the right-handedness of coffee cups, scissors, etc...

I am fascinated by people who are ambidextrous. I've met a couple of them over the years. I'm a right-hander and completely useless with my left hand.

Little bit about those who are highly functional with both hands (straight out of Wiki):

Ambidexterity is the state of being equally adept in the use of both left and right appendages (such as the hands). It is one of the most famous varieties of cross-dominance. People that are naturally ambidextrous are rare, with only one out of one hundred people being naturally ambidextrous.[1] The degree of versatility with each hand is generally the qualitative factor in determining a person's ambidexterity.

In modern times, it is more common to find people considered ambidextrous who were originally left handed and who learned to be ambidextrous either deliberately or during childhood institutions such as schools, jobs where right-handed habits are often emphasized or required. Since many everyday devices (such as can openers and scissors) are asymmetrical and designed for right-handed people, many left-handers learn to use them right-handedly due to the rarity or lack of left-handed models. Thus, left-handed people are much more likely to develop motor skills in their non-dominant hand than right-handers (who are not subjected to left-favoring devices).

Right-handers may become ambidextrous due to an injury of their right hand or arm. Ambidexterity is often encouraged in activities requiring a great deal of skill in both hands, such as knitting, typing on a computer, juggling, swimming, percussion, keyboard music, baseball, lacrosse, surgery, boxing, martial arts and basketball.

[Ma Huang Sor]

Holding your hands in the classic typing pattern, what are the two longest english words in the language you can type just using your left hand?

[Ma Huang Sor]

Here's a left handed drummer playing a right handed drum set.

[FAHQTOO]

I'm a lefty.

It's weird how many people notice it. When I'm writing something, someone will comment on me being left-handed...I've never paid enough attention to what hand someone is writing with to actually comment on it.

I never paid attention to what hand my kids were using when they were growing up either. It pisses me off when people berate kids for being left-handed, and then try to force them to be right-handed...WTF, let them be whatever handed they're going to be.

Weird...I bat right-handed, and I know I would golf right-handed also, if I ever took it up.

[HairOfTheDog]

Holding your hands in the classic typing pattern, what are the two longest english words in the language you can type just using your left hand?

Love word games, but I'm comin' up short here. I've got a few nine letter words, so there must be longer ones.

retreaded
retreated
extracted
scavages

Can we have a clue? How many letters in the two longest left-hand keyboard words.

[Ma Huang Sor]

one is 12 letters

one is 14 letters

[ramseycat]

I think at our age a lot of us lefties were taught to do things right handed. I can do a lot with my right hand but I always write and eat with my left.

Kinda weird thing - I have green eyes and both of my boys have green eyes despite my ex having dark brown eyes. I would have thought at least one of the boys would have brown eyes since that is a dominent trait. They are both tall and have huge feet and I don't know where they got that since I am a shorty and my ex is only 5'10.

[Midwest Spy]

I came up with 'reverberate'. Only 11 letters.

'abracadabra', probably not a word. Also 11 letters.

My favorite 6-letter word can also be completed with just the left hand:

BREAST!

[Ma Huang Sor]

close on the first. reverberates... 12 letters very well done

second one is a bitch, I promise

[ramseycat]

To follow the rules I googled fun facta about lefties and found my fun facts on Yahoo Voices by Juliegirl.