Early Childhood Education
August 13 marks National Leftie Day. If you’re a southpaw, you may not be aware of these surprising facts.
1. Daydream believer
Lefties make up only about 10 percent of the population, but studies find that individuals who are left-handed score higher when it comes to creativity, imagination, daydreaming and intuition. They’re also better at rhythm and visualization.
2. In good company
Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford are listed as left-handed, along with four of the last five U.S. presidents. England’s Prince William is also a lefty. Michaelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Renoir made the list, as well.
Left-handed stroke victims reportedly recover faster. While the reason is unclear, some believe it’s due to left-handed people having to strengthen both sides of the brain to succeed in a right-handed world. Because many lefties are better at using their non-dominant hand, it’s less difficult for them to recover from a stroke that damages one part of their brain.
4. Think it over
Left-handed people are said to be good at complex reasoning, resulting in a high number of lefty Noble Prize winners, writers, artists, musicians, architects and mathematicians. According to research published in theAmerican Journal of Psychology, lefties appear to be better at divergent thinking.
5. Join the club
For a quarter-century, the official left-handers club has hosted events dedicated to left-handed people across the globe. Activities include left vs.right sports matches, a left-handed tea party and pubs that use only left-handed corkscrews.
6. A sporting chance
Left-handers may have the edge in competitions where opponents face each other, such as tennis, baseball and boxing. This may be due to the fact left-handed athletes have more opportunity to practice against right-handed opponents.
7. Success stories
Word is, left-handed college graduates go on to become 26 percent richer than right-handed students. In addition, four of the five original designers of the Macintosh (Apple) computer are listed as lefties.
8. Shop ’til you drop
There are stores devoted to selling practical and novelty items to lefties. Online shops offer everything from left-handed mugs and kitchen sets to school and office supplies, clothing and “backwards” watches and clocks.
9. Very superstitious
According to myth, giving a toast with your left hand is the same as placing a curse on the person you’re saluting. When Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, depictions showed her as being left-handed, in order to appear more evil. Left-handers were also harshly discriminated against during the 18th and 19th centuries, and it was often “beaten out” of them.
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FAQs
The advantages of being left-handed
Studies have shown that left-handed individuals tend to have a more developed right brain hemisphere, which is associated with creativity and artistic abilities. This may explain why a significant number of artists, musicians, and writers are left-handed.
What weird skills are left handers better at? ›
One study showed lefties outdid righties on complex math problems. Mathematics might seem full of stringent rules and calculations, but it's actually a very creative, complex process. Given the lefty tendency toward excellence in divergent thinking, it's not terribly surprising that they also tend to do well in math.
What are some interesting facts about left handers? ›
5 Fun Facts About Lefties
- Lefties are better at competitive sports. ...
- Art comes more naturally to Lefties. ...
- Lefties multitask better than righties. ...
- Human lefties are outnumbered – not so much with other species. ...
- Lefties have their own day!
Brain scans indicate that left-handed people think differently from right-handed people. They tend to activate the right half of their brain more for certain tasks and functions. Experts suggest that this difference in brain function could make creativity come more easily.
Do left-handers have better memory? ›
Rakhmavov and Dane (2020) studied Nigerian university students and used the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971) to establish handedness; they found that both male and female left-handers showed superior RCFT memory, with higher scores on both immediate and delayed recall than right-handers.
What is the science behind left-handed people? ›
There are trends to hand preference development, and although researchers are still exploring what exactly causes people to be left-handed, we know that genetics influence it. The tendency to have a dominant left hand runs in families. Unlike other genetic traits, though, it is not entirely predictable.
What do left handers struggle with? ›
One of the biggest challenges is dealing with everyday objects that are made for right-handers; Scissors, can openers, spiral notebooks, pens and even doorknobs can all be difficult to use with your left hand. This can be frustrating and lead to low self-esteem, low IQ and a lack of confidence.
What are left-handers best at? ›
Lefties make up only about 10 percent of the population, but studies find that individuals who are left-handed score higher when it comes to creativity, imagination, daydreaming and intuition. They're also better at rhythm and visualization.
Which gender is more likely to be left-handed? ›
One biological effect on hand preference is known to be sex, with males more likely to be left-handed than females2,14. For example, in a U.S. dataset aged 10–86 years, the proportion of non-right-handers among 664,114 women was 9.9%, versus 12.6% among 513,393 men2.
What profession has the most left-handers? ›
In a 1996 study, Harvard Medical School researchers found that orthopedic surgeons, librarians and mathematicians were mostly right-handed while attorneys and architects were, as a group, “either the least right-handed or the most left-handed.” Other studies have shown that there are more left-handed people working as ...
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.
What is the nickname for a left-handed person? ›
Sometimes people who are left-handed are called many different things, “Southpaws”, "Lefties", and other simply mean names, like "Weird" or "Strange".
How rare is a left-handed girl? ›
The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjectively preferred, is called the non-dominant hand. In a study from 1975 on 7,688 children in US grades 1–6, left handers comprised 9.6% of the sample, with 10.5% of male children and 8.7% of female children being left-handed.
Who has higher IQ left or right-handed? ›
Right-handers have negligibly higher IQ scores than left-handers: Systematic review and meta-analyses. Papadatou-Pastou M, et al. (2015). Intelligence and handedness: Meta-analyses of studies on intellectually disabled, typically developing, and gifted individuals.
What is the personality of a left hander? ›
“They can develop a more individual image of themselves rather than an image of themselves as part of a group. As a result, left-handed people can develop characteristics of being more independent and nonconforming than their right-handed counterparts,” she explains.
Can you get money for being left-handed? ›
Some of the more well-known left-handed scholarships include the Andrew Macrina Scholarship Fund, the Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship, the James River Church Left-Handed Scholarship, the Michael Yasick ADHD scholarship, and the James Beard Foundation National Scholarships.
Are left-handed people more healthy? ›
While some research suggests left-handed people have an increased risk of certain health conditions, most of the studies suggesting this were very small or have quality concerns. About 10 percent of the population is left-handed.
