On being lefthanded

The magazine from my local supermarket had an interesting article about lefthandedness. No, I'm not a "lefty" but was surprised to find out that the majority of tennis champions are, as well as a large percentage of Apollo astronauts.

Some famous leftys from history include: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Picasso, Napoleon, Charlemagne, Nelson and Alexander the Great. Bill Gates is too. The 3 candidates for the 1992 US presidency were all lefthanded. Apart from the presidents, perhaps the claim that lefthanders are more intelligent would be supported by this list alone.

I discovered all the little things made for us righthanders which make life difficult for the leftys: most musical instruments, computer keyboards, cameras, watches, can openers, even books which are meant to be read left to right. Lefthanders have to try to sit at the corner of a table so that they don't knock elbows with their righthanded dining neighbour. In fact, it seems that lefthanders can use 30% of their intellectual capacity in trying to live in a righthanded world.

The ancient Roman words for left and right were sinister and dexter. Similar words are used in modern Italian and Spanish. But the dictionary meaning for sinister has a negative connotation, and the word dexterity is very much on the positive side, so even the Romans saw left-handedness as an aberration. Teachers until quite recently tried to make lefthanders write with their right hand, which according to psychologists, can cause confusion and even stuttering.

People who write with their right hand tend to be more verbal, abstract, analytic and good at maths, whereas lefthanders tend to be musical, spacial, creative, intuitive, with a strong visual sense and holistic thought. No wonder that trying to change can cause confusion.

It got me to thinking, I don't even know if any of my friends are lefthanders? Let me know if you are. The International Day for Lefthanders is the 13th of August.