Left-handed people have always been considered unique, both negatively and positively. History shows that they were once associated with the devil. Furthermore, left-handed students were forced to write with their right hand. On the other hand, there are many famous people for whom the left hand is dominant. Furthermore, there are a number of relatively little-known facts about left-handed people. In this article, we've compiled 15 such little-known facts about left-handed people.
1. Ten percent of the world's population is left-handed. In fact, left-handedness is slightly more common in men than in women.
Researchers from Northwestern University have proposed an explanation for why only 10% of the world's population are left-handed. They argue that it's linked to the high level of pressure exerted by the desire to cooperate in society. Cooperation, such as sharing tools, promotes left-handedness. But physical competition, such as in games like hockey or boxing, has the opposite effect.
The low percentage of left-handers is a result of the balance between cooperation and competition during human evolution. According to Professor Daniel M. Abrams of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, "the more social an animal is, the more cooperation is highly valued, the more the overall population will lean toward one side or the other.". (source)
2. According to the study, inherited genes explain only 25% of the likelihood that a person will be left-handed.
Most people believe that left-handedness is a genetic trait. However, new research suggests that left-handedness may be the result of developmental abnormalities. These findings suggest that left-handed people are more prone to accidents and more susceptible to certain mental disorders.
In 2009, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia conducted a study involving over 50,000 identical twins. They found that inherited genes accounted for only 25% of the likelihood of being left-handed. (source)
3. Every year, more than 2,500 left-handed people worldwide die from using equipment designed for right-handed people. The most dangerous tool for left-handed people is a right-handed chainsaw.
Statistics show that every year, one in 4,400,000 left-handed people dies due to using equipment designed for right-handers. Among both men and women, 31.6% of left-handed people are injured while playing sports. Furthermore, 10.3% of left-handed people are injured while driving. (1,2)
4. According to various studies, premature babies have a high chance of becoming left-handed.
A team of doctors from Australia and Boston conducted a study of 115 infants treated in neonatal intensive care units. They found that 54% extremely premature infants were left-handed.
There are two theories explaining the high likelihood that premature babies will be left-handed. One is that this tendency is caused by minor brain damage sustained during extremely early birth. The other is that very premature babies do not complete their brain development, resulting in the vast majority of full-term babies being right-handed. (source)
5. Studies have shown that there are more left-handed people with an IQ above 140 than right-handed people.
History offers numerous examples of left-handed intellectuals, such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Franklin. Even one in four Apollo astronauts was left-handed. According to tests conducted by St. Lawrence University in New York, left-handers with an IQ above 140 are more common than right-handers. (source)
6. It has been established that 40% patients with schizophrenia are left-handed.
Dr. Jadon Webb, MD, a research fellow at Yale University, examined patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder at a public clinic. It was already known that patients with schizophrenia…
Left-handedness is more common among patients with schizophrenia than in the general population. Dr. Webb's research found that the prevalence of left-handedness among patients with schizophrenia is 40%. (source)
7. Whether it's computer games or sports, left-handed people process information faster than right-handed people.
Scientists from the Australian National University conducted a study that showed that left-handed people have an advantage in sports. The study's leader, Dr. Nick Cherbuin of the Australian National University, compared left- and right-handed individuals and recorded the information transfer time between the two hemispheres of the brain. He found that left-handers were 43 milliseconds faster than right-handers at finding matching letters in the right and left visual fields. (source)
8. A 2014 Harvard University study found that the average salary of left-handed people is 10-12% lower than that of right-handed people.
Joshua Goodman, an economist at the Harvard Kennedy School, conducted a study to demonstrate how a person's handedness is related to their test scores and income. For this study, he used data from US and UK databases. The study found that, regardless of health and marital status, left-handed people perform lower on cognitive tests than right-handed people. Left-handed people are also more likely to experience emotional and behavioral problems, suffer more often from learning disabilities, and complete less education. This leads to a lower average salary for left-handed people, so statistically, left-handed people earn less than right-handed people. (source)
9. Left-handed people are much more susceptible to fear than right-handed people.
Dr. Caroline Choudhary conducted a study at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University in which an eight-minute clip from the horror film "« The Silence of the Lambs» The film was shown to both left- and right-handed individuals. After watching the film, they were asked to recall scenes from it. The researchers found that left-handers showed more signs of the same symptoms as patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. This may be due to the fact that the right hemisphere of the brain is involved in processing the emotion of fear, and in left-handed individuals, this hemisphere is also dominant. (source)
10. Contrary to popular belief, left-handed people are not more creative than right-handed people.
To determine whether left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people, Professor Mike Nicholls of Flinders University in Adelaide studied 5,000 five-year-old children. After analyzing their school performance, he concluded that "left-handed people tend to perform worse overall than right-handed people." He also stated that the mental capacity of left-handed people is impaired to the same extent as that of people born prematurely. (source)
11. Left-handed people tend to have significantly worse temperaments than right-handed people. This is due to increased interaction between the two hemispheres of the brain.
According to research by Ruth Propper, a psychology professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, left-handed people are more short-tempered than the average person. This is explained by the closer connection between the two hemispheres of their brain. This makes them moody and prone to negative emotions. Famous left-handed world leaders and celebrities known for their short tempers include Bob Geldof and John McEnroe. (source)
12. Among homosexuals, the likelihood of being left-handed is 39% higher.
According to a study conducted by authors Lalumière ML, Blanchard R, and Zucker KJ as part of the Law and Mental Health Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, homosexuals are 39% higher in the likelihood of being left-handed. They reached this conclusion after a meta-analysis of 20 studies that compared rates of right-handedness in 6,987 homosexual (6,182 men and 805 women) and 16,423 heterosexual (14,808 men and 1,615 women) participants. The percentages for homosexual men (20 cases) and women (9 cases) were 34% and 91%, respectively. (source)
13. In sports, left-handed athletes have an advantage over their opponents.
According to a 2012 study, being raised as a "black sheep" may give left-handers an advantage in the sports arena. According to study co-author Mark Panaggio, left-handers possess an element of surprise in their gameplay. He explains that in a situation where a left-hander faces a right-hander, the left-hander will compete against right-handers most of the time because they are more common, while the right-hander will have very little experience facing left-handers. source )
14. Since 1996, August 13 has been celebrated annually as «Left-Handers Day».
International Left-Handers Day was first observed on August 13, 1976, and has been celebrated annually since then. The purpose of this day is to draw attention to the disadvantages faced by left-handed people in a predominantly right-handed world. It also raises awareness of the special needs of left-handed children. (source)
15. Some of the most famous left-handers in history include Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci and many others.
Whatever the cause of left-handedness, history shows that it often leaves a lasting mark. Famous left-handers include Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Babe Ruth, Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Aristotle, Ned Flanders, and Jimi Hendrix. (source)