“An astronomical amount of research has gone into trying to find out. Geneticists, developmental biologists, behavioral and cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists all seek explanations.
No one has put all the pieces together yet, but over the last few years, some major new clues have emerged.”
Submission Statement: the human race is primarily right handed - as in a 90-10% split. And humans are the only species that has this large of an imbalance.So why are some people South paws?
I've always thought handedness in and of itself was odd. You'd think we'd be born with equal use of our limbs and eyes, without the want or need to favor one side or the other. .
Let’s say we’re back in the day, and I make a tool that’s used for harvesting. But because of the shape/design, one hand was forced to be used more than the other. Eventually, most tools are used that way and humans evolved to favor one side over the other because it was more productive.
yeah, ive been thinking about it since i posted my comment. i would think that anyone who specializes in something might develop left or right hand dexterity. what's odd to me is how innately left or right handed most of us are, and from a very early age. i would think that we'd come into the world an open slate, but we're programmed with all kinds of quirks and limitations. i'm not ambidextrous; i am cross dominant (a little more left than right - i'm left eye dominant), and i'm the only one on either side of my family who's that way. super interesting stuff.
I've spent more time thinking about this than I would like to admit.
The thing that got me interested was looking at the left vs right handedness in different sports.
Sports like basketball, where the object (ball, puck, etc) comes from the center of the body, it will match more like the population because there's no inherent advantage when both hands can do the same thing.
But then look at sports like baseball or hockey, the object is used by one hand predominantly. In hockey, close to 60% shoot 'left'. That has some deeper considerations, like how Canadian 'right' handed players will shoot 'left' because there's an argument about which hand is actually advantaged to be on top. But this is a perfect example where handedness can be swapped for certain activities. This always made me feel funny when comparing the hockey 'swing' to something like golf or a baseball swing.
This is pretty much the reason that they literally tied my grandpa's left arm down when he was in school. Everyone was pretty much expected to end up working in a factory and all the factories were laid out for right-handedness. It worked as my grandpa was right-handed til the day he died. Both my parents were right-handed but my younger brother and I are both lefties. Actually I do different things with different hands but I write and eat left-handed
I used to be ambidextrous. This upseted teachers so much. In class, the teacher forced me to commit to the hand she last saw me use, it was my left hand. In PE, I was forced to use my right hand, everyone not using their right hand were sent to the principles office.
The answer is obvious, adults are stupid. They don't know how to allow something natural exist, they have to over control everything. I don't even know if I believe left and right handed are really a thing
I write with my left hand, but do everything else right handed. My penmanship is terrible so I sometimes have wondered if I just started using the “wrong” hand to write and just sorta got used to it. Lol
-Blixx- | 16 hours ago
"There may never be a certain, or simple, answer to the question of why I am left-handed"
[OP] horseradishstalker | 16 hours ago
“An astronomical amount of research has gone into trying to find out. Geneticists, developmental biologists, behavioral and cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists all seek explanations.
No one has put all the pieces together yet, but over the last few years, some major new clues have emerged.”
[OP] horseradishstalker | 17 hours ago
Submission Statement: the human race is primarily right handed - as in a 90-10% split. And humans are the only species that has this large of an imbalance.So why are some people South paws?
cloken85 | 9 hours ago
While reading, I was thinking of the hearts location in relation to hand to hand combat. How cool for it to actually show up as a possibility.
rock-paper-gun | 5 hours ago
I've always thought handedness in and of itself was odd. You'd think we'd be born with equal use of our limbs and eyes, without the want or need to favor one side or the other. .
No-Garbage6027 | 3 hours ago
Let’s say we’re back in the day, and I make a tool that’s used for harvesting. But because of the shape/design, one hand was forced to be used more than the other. Eventually, most tools are used that way and humans evolved to favor one side over the other because it was more productive.
At least this is how I think of it.
rock-paper-gun | 3 hours ago
yeah, ive been thinking about it since i posted my comment. i would think that anyone who specializes in something might develop left or right hand dexterity. what's odd to me is how innately left or right handed most of us are, and from a very early age. i would think that we'd come into the world an open slate, but we're programmed with all kinds of quirks and limitations. i'm not ambidextrous; i am cross dominant (a little more left than right - i'm left eye dominant), and i'm the only one on either side of my family who's that way. super interesting stuff.
No-Garbage6027 | 2 hours ago
I've spent more time thinking about this than I would like to admit.
The thing that got me interested was looking at the left vs right handedness in different sports.
Sports like basketball, where the object (ball, puck, etc) comes from the center of the body, it will match more like the population because there's no inherent advantage when both hands can do the same thing.
But then look at sports like baseball or hockey, the object is used by one hand predominantly. In hockey, close to 60% shoot 'left'. That has some deeper considerations, like how Canadian 'right' handed players will shoot 'left' because there's an argument about which hand is actually advantaged to be on top. But this is a perfect example where handedness can be swapped for certain activities. This always made me feel funny when comparing the hockey 'swing' to something like golf or a baseball swing.
thatG_evanP | 2 hours ago
I didn't know that about hockey. Weird
thatG_evanP | 2 hours ago
Kinda the same. I favor my left but I'm right-eye dominant
thatG_evanP | 2 hours ago
This is pretty much the reason that they literally tied my grandpa's left arm down when he was in school. Everyone was pretty much expected to end up working in a factory and all the factories were laid out for right-handedness. It worked as my grandpa was right-handed til the day he died. Both my parents were right-handed but my younger brother and I are both lefties. Actually I do different things with different hands but I write and eat left-handed
caj_account | an hour ago
That can’t be possible without a purely symmetrical brain though can it
RexDraco | an hour ago
I used to be ambidextrous. This upseted teachers so much. In class, the teacher forced me to commit to the hand she last saw me use, it was my left hand. In PE, I was forced to use my right hand, everyone not using their right hand were sent to the principles office.
The answer is obvious, adults are stupid. They don't know how to allow something natural exist, they have to over control everything. I don't even know if I believe left and right handed are really a thing
pike360 | 3 hours ago
I write with my left hand, but do everything else right handed. My penmanship is terrible so I sometimes have wondered if I just started using the “wrong” hand to write and just sorta got used to it. Lol
LetsTalkUFOs | 13 hours ago
Fascinating article, thank you for sharing. I had no idea the undying reasons were still so elusive.
caj_account | an hour ago
Are left handeders true left handed? I see ambidextrous behavior for certain activities
Dragoncat_3_4 | 50 minutes ago
Because most lefties were forced to do certain things with their right hand, be it due to prejudice, lack of accomodation, equipment, etc.
lrodhubbard | 16 hours ago
This is a really fascinating story told succinctly and elegantly. Thanks for sharing!