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Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

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Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#251

Post by animal531 »

xenadu02 wrote: post #155
Vachyas wrote: post #151

An interesting anecdote that comes to mind is playing old computer games with arrow keys, which used my right hand. I got pretty proficient with this. Over the years, I (and I imagine many others) switched over to WASD to play newer games with mouse + keyboard, but this meant using the left hand for "arrow keys" Now I can directly compare how proficient I am with WASD vs Arrow Keys and the result surprised me. I was…

I remember in elementary school being amused by the idea of handedness so I decided to practice writing with my left hand as well. I'm not great at it but even to this day I can write legibly with my left hand from that little bit of practice as a child. Anyone can get much better at using their non-dominant hand (if they have one) with just a bit of practice. The effect is much much stronger when you do so as a chil…

As a kid I found it interesting that people pretty much always crossed their arms and/or their legs when sitting on the ground in the same pattern.

After that re-trained myself a few times out of interest to do it the other way around, and one goes through the four odd phases of having to focus on it vs it just happening correctly without thinking about it.

From what I remember it could take 2-4 weeks before you would just do it both without thinking and correctly.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#252

Post by larrry »

emil-lp wrote: post #111
colkassad wrote: post #99

I always faced left when riding a skateboard back in the day, otherwise known in skater parlance as being "goofy-footed". Facing right felt as difficult as writing with my left hand. I always wondered whether that was just the way I first rode a skateboard and it stuck, but if that was the case, I would expect the distribution of which skateboarders face which way to be about even. But goofy-footed riders are in the…

What does "face left" mean? Left foot front? That's regular.

A goofy skater’s head faces right, over their shoulder, and body faces left, relative to their forward movement.

Orientations are so confusing, I thought the parent was describing regular too

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#253

Post by NetOpWibby »

ivolimmen wrote: post #179
NetOpWibby wrote: post #175

I'm a lefty but do everything else with my right hand. My earliest memory of using lefty scissors was in 5th grade and they were metal and super uncomfortable to use. Meanwhile, the other kids were given modern scissors with the hard plastic molding. I don't remember if I felt discomfort with those but I sure didn't want to use old rusty scissors so I stuck with it. I kick with my left foot too. I feel more comfortab…

Exactly the same for me. I am very used to using my right hand so most thing I can do with both hands. When I played baseball (Even though I am Dutch) I could swing with my left and my right. I do catch with left though. Weird thing is; lefties are rare. I have a very old group of friend that I know since I was 15. We are all lefties and one friend even married a left handed woman so the lefties are in the majority.

That's awesome!

I don't know any IRL lefties. Alas.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#254

Post by benhurmarcel »

wincy wrote: post #164
Vachyas wrote: post #151

An interesting anecdote that comes to mind is playing old computer games with arrow keys, which used my right hand. I got pretty proficient with this. Over the years, I (and I imagine many others) switched over to WASD to play newer games with mouse + keyboard, but this meant using the left hand for "arrow keys" Now I can directly compare how proficient I am with WASD vs Arrow Keys and the result surprised me. I was…

I’m left handed and never understood left handed mice at all. I write with my left and swing and kick left handed, but all gaming stuff has always been the same way anyone else does. I’m pretty sure up down left right switching to wasd is a function of that setup being more comfortable with the mouse to the right of the keyboard, correct?

I’m left handed and can use a mouse with either hand. It’s just a matter of habit.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#255

Post by westmeal »

kelipso wrote: post #156
Vachyas wrote: post #151

An interesting anecdote that comes to mind is playing old computer games with arrow keys, which used my right hand. I got pretty proficient with this. Over the years, I (and I imagine many others) switched over to WASD to play newer games with mouse + keyboard, but this meant using the left hand for "arrow keys" Now I can directly compare how proficient I am with WASD vs Arrow Keys and the result surprised me. I was…

Something super simple and revealing is try pressing on the brakes with your left foot.

Useful for controlling a car at speed through tight turns though

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#256

Post by daveslash »

peepee1982 wrote: post #245
wvh wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been playing guitar since I was a little kid. I wonder how learning "two-handed" skills such as playing music impacts how "handy" or "polydextrous" one is. There are left-handed guitar players that play right-handed, such as Nick Johnston, who claim the gaps in their technique or preference for certain left-hand-only techniques are informed by being left-handed; so it seems that a life-long of an insane amount o…

I write with my left hand but play guitar right-handed. I don't think it had any effect on my playing, because I think I'm a naturally right-handed guitar player. Here's a list of things and whether I do them right- or left-handed: ┌───────────────────────────┬───────────┐ │ Activity │ Hand │ ├───────────────────────────┼───────────┤ │ Baseball (Bat/Catch) │ Left │ │ Hold Spoon │ Left │ │ Soccer │ Left │ │ Tennis │ L…

I'm similar. I do very little with both hands, but I'm split between left and right on individual things. Throw is right, write is left. Where I especially get hung up is learning something to do with feet - surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc... I struggle to figure out which one is my preference. I usually find that I'm equally bad at both.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#257

Post by kazinator »

tso wrote: post #225
kazinator wrote: post #158

Why is there handedness on stringed instruments? If you're right handed, you strum a guitar with your right hand, fret with the left. But both are fine motor skills requiring coordination. Left handed players go out of their way to acommodate doing it the other way around; either finding left-handed instruments (challenge: most things they might like/want are not available in lefty version) or suffer with a flipped r…

Strumming/picking requires significantly more (and more frequent) motor control than fretting. Most music will only use a handful of notes/chords, but multiple strumming/picking patterns which need to be performed on precise timings. Your strumming hand is often doing an order of magnitude more precise motions than your fretting hand.

That provides an explanation only in the following way: beginner guitarists tend to strum more while holding fretted positions. While that goes away for advanced guitar, which requires considerable left hand technique (e.g. legato playing), every guitarist passes through a beginner stage. The beginner stage steers right handed players toward using the right hand for strumming. Only those who find that extremely awkward struggle against it and adjust their instrument so that they strum with the left.

Flat-picked guitar solos (bluegrass, metal, country, ...) keep the left hand as busy as the right, and at times more busy. The left hand can easily outpace the right, which is why there are techniques like triplet 16th notes: playing 24 notes in a 4/4 time measure, while picking as if there were only 16.

Guitar playing is ambidextrous, like piano, at the higher levels of mastery.

But at the beginner stage, like learning to strum chords, that's where right-handedness favors using the right hand for activating the string. That's probably what it is.

It can be learned both ways; e.g. Michael Angelo Batio.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#258

Post by kazinator »

yzydserd wrote: post #202
Tor3 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right-handed, right? It is more natural to move your hand in counter-clockwise circles than the opposite. People who have never swirled pasta or anything like that will feel the same if you ask them to make swirling motions with their hands. Inwards is easier - clockwise with your left hand, counterclockwise with your right hand.

A literature search didn't turn much evidence of this at all, let alone conclusive evidence. Any sources? I swirl right hand clockwise. I also draw circles clockwise. One article said circle drawing direction was likely cultural or linked to handwriting systems, not which was more "natural".

The right hand is associted with clockwise motion. Screws are "righty tighty"; if not they are called to be opposite threaded or left threaded. I suspect most right handed people, if given a string and bobbin, such that they hold the bobbin with their left hand, will use their right hand to wind the string clockwise onto the bobbin.

A four-legged animal's right front paw makes clockwise circular with respect to the sagittal plane of its body, as it walks.

On a recumbent bicycle with hand pedals, the right hand crank goes clockwise. It would be weaker the other way.

For all kinds of motions, it's better when the hand is coming down in the extended-arm position, working with gravity.

Extreme example: if you are hammering something with your right hand, of course, you raise the hammer and extend your arm, let it fall and then retract your arm. That creates a clockwise motion. Counter-clockwise hammering something upward from below is awkward. You also wouldn't want the workpiece close to you so that you are raising the hammer with your extended arm, bringing it it in and dropping it with closed arm. It's bad leverage: raising with the extended arm is harder.

This hammering motion applies when doing something like winding a rope onto a bobbin. You have to raise your right hand and forearm against gravity and that is better when it is closer to your chest. Then drop it down slightly away from your chest. Clockwise winding has compellingly better ergonomics for the right hand.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#259

Post by peepee1982 »

daveslash wrote: post #256
peepee1982 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I write with my left hand but play guitar right-handed. I don't think it had any effect on my playing, because I think I'm a naturally right-handed guitar player. Here's a list of things and whether I do them right- or left-handed: ┌───────────────────────────┬───────────┐ │ Activity │ Hand │ ├───────────────────────────┼───────────┤ │ Baseball (Bat/Catch) │ Left │ │ Hold Spoon │ Left │ │ Soccer │ Left │ │ Tennis │ L…

I'm similar. I do very little with both hands, but I'm split between left and right on individual things. Throw is right, write is left. Where I especially get hung up is learning something to do with feet - surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc... I struggle to figure out which one is my preference. I usually find that I'm equally bad at both.

Our sports teacher in high-school would tell us to stand straight. Then he would shove us from the back a few times. The foot we would stop ourselves from falling would be our leading foot (for snowboarding). So if you catch your fall with your left foot, you're regular. Otherwise goofy. Don't know if that's a safe bet, but it seemed to work out for us back then.

OTOH: I am convinced I can't snap my fingers with my right hand and never will because my specific mix of handed-ness makes it impossible for me to do so, no matter how hard I try and practice. No problem at all with my left hand.

Re: Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism

#260

Post by 2143 »

Danox wrote: post #171
Vachyas wrote: post #151

An interesting anecdote that comes to mind is playing old computer games with arrow keys, which used my right hand. I got pretty proficient with this. Over the years, I (and I imagine many others) switched over to WASD to play newer games with mouse + keyboard, but this meant using the left hand for "arrow keys" Now I can directly compare how proficient I am with WASD vs Arrow Keys and the result surprised me. I was…

Left-handed individuals living in a predominantly right-handed world possess the capacity to adapt and utilize their right hand effectively. While most right-handed individuals do not exhibit this ability unless they experience an extraordinary event, such as an injury to their right hand, left-handed individuals are compelled to learn how to use their right hand in a right-handed world. As a left-handed individual w…

> stick shifts are also possible

Ah, let me add on to this from the other perspective.

I live in a country where cars are driven on the left side of the road. ie., the steering wheel’s on the right side, and the gear shifter is operated by the left hand.

And until about 5 years ago stick shifts were very common (automatic transmission was considered a luxury feature only available in higher variants).

I’m right handed. I have no trouble at all shifting gears with my left hand. Feels very natural to me.

I have never driven a left-hand-drive vehicle and in my imagination it feels weird. Like, operating the clutch with the left leg, and the gear with the right hand feels weird. In RHD cars the gear is in the same side as the clutch.

But anyway I know lots of people who drive LHD cars when aboard, and they have never complained.

So I think at least for driving it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

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