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

ox.ac.uk

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

#21

Post by tejohnso »

NickC25 wrote: post #14

What does it say for mixed-handed folks like myself (different skillsets per hand - in other words, throw and write with different hands)? What about cross-dominance (different body parts differ on dominant side - in other words, a right-handed person being left-foot dominant)? I've been told that it's effectively a mental illness if discovered during childhood (as is ambidexterity). Yet I can't help but think that i…

In order to present it as a mental illness there would have to be some kind of negative effect, wouldn't there? These differences you mention don't stand out as harmful or even disadvantageous.

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

#22

Post by yawpitch »

scythe wrote: post #16
Freak_NL wrote: post #10

So why are us southpaws a rarity? The article and the linked research paper both point to bipedalism and bigger brains as the cause, and the paper vaguely seems to hint at selective pressures leading to the right hand getting favoured by the majority of the population, but why? The question from the headline is excellent, if only it was actually answered.

Here's my five minute lunchtime hypothesis: it's because the heart is on the left. As human behavior demanded increasing precision from the hands, being a little farther from the heartbeat was a slight advantage.

Here’s my multiple years of anatomy classes response: the heart isn’t on the left. The aorta is, sure, but the vena cava is on the right. Also people with situs inversus (essentially all organs flipped laterally from “normal”) aren’t obviously more prone to left-handedness.

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

#23

Post by gherkinnn »

scythe wrote: post #16
Freak_NL wrote: post #10

So why are us southpaws a rarity? The article and the linked research paper both point to bipedalism and bigger brains as the cause, and the paper vaguely seems to hint at selective pressures leading to the right hand getting favoured by the majority of the population, but why? The question from the headline is excellent, if only it was actually answered.

Here's my five minute lunchtime hypothesis: it's because the heart is on the left. As human behavior demanded increasing precision from the hands, being a little farther from the heartbeat was a slight advantage.

Wikipedia on Situs Inversus (visceral organs are mirrored, heart on the right, liver on left) [0], mentions mixed results regarding handedness. There would be a load of other confounding factors here and I know nothing about medicine.

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situs_inversus

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

#24

Post by hypnodrones »

yawpitch wrote: post #18
hypnodrones wrote: post #15

I would be interested in studies into impact of left hemisphere importantce on the right hand usage, possibly the more sophisticated and "logical" usage of our hands pressured it as well.

One of many articles out there debunking the pop-psych mythology around brain lateralization: https://themindcompany.com/blog/left-brain-right-brain-myth

Thanks! Although I understand there is still some specialization in each of the hempispheres, which could influence it, but I probably went too strong with my imagination here.

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

#25

Post by stackghost »

yawpitch wrote: post #22
scythe wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my five minute lunchtime hypothesis: it's because the heart is on the left. As human behavior demanded increasing precision from the hands, being a little farther from the heartbeat was a slight advantage.

Here’s my multiple years of anatomy classes response: the heart isn’t on the left. The aorta is, sure, but the vena cava is on the right. Also people with situs inversus (essentially all organs flipped laterally from “normal”) aren’t obviously more prone to left-handedness.

>Here’s my multiple years of anatomy classes response: the heart isn’t on the left.

Why is the left lung smaller, then?

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

#26

Post by shagie »

Freak_NL wrote: post #3
raggi wrote: post #2

[flagged]

'Everyone' is treated as singular (aside from 'everyone are' sounding completely wrong).

Drop the "every" part and you can see the word that needs to be agreed with.

    "One is supposed to do such and such."
    "Everyone is supposed to do such and such."
    "They are supposed to do such and such."
    "People are supposed to do such and such."
This also applies with "some"

    "Someone is supposed to do such and such."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantifier_(linguistics)

Part of the confusion may be that "everyone" is a single word while the example sentence in the Wikipedia article has a non-compound example.

    "Every glass is ..."
The quantifier does not change the grammatical number of the subject.

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

#27

Post by jvanderbot »

NickC25 wrote: post #14

What does it say for mixed-handed folks like myself (different skillsets per hand - in other words, throw and write with different hands)? What about cross-dominance (different body parts differ on dominant side - in other words, a right-handed person being left-foot dominant)? I've been told that it's effectively a mental illness if discovered during childhood (as is ambidexterity). Yet I can't help but think that i…

You were probably a left-handed person who was taught to write/use tools with their right hand in kindergarten. I got this treatment too.

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

#28

Post by bkjelden »

jvanderbot wrote: post #27
NickC25 wrote: post #14

What does it say for mixed-handed folks like myself (different skillsets per hand - in other words, throw and write with different hands)? What about cross-dominance (different body parts differ on dominant side - in other words, a right-handed person being left-foot dominant)? I've been told that it's effectively a mental illness if discovered during childhood (as is ambidexterity). Yet I can't help but think that i…

You were probably a left-handed person who was taught to write/use tools with their right hand in kindergarten. I got this treatment too.

I'm otherwise a lefty but I use computer mice right handed, because when I first started using a computer in elementary school all of the computer labs were set up right handed.

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

#29

Post by Phemist »

hypnodrones wrote: post #24
yawpitch wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of many articles out there debunking the pop-psych mythology around brain lateralization: https://themindcompany.com/blog/left-brain-right-brain-myth

Thanks! Although I understand there is still some specialization in each of the hempispheres, which could influence it, but I probably went too strong with my imagination here.

Left-handed people are often excluded from participating in MRI studies. To my personal dismay, as these studies often paid 25 euros per hour ~20 years ago, a significant sum for my student self that I could not partake in. It has however given me significant doubts about any strong lateralization claims...

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

#30

Post by [deleted] »

yawpitch wrote: post #22
scythe wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my five minute lunchtime hypothesis: it's because the heart is on the left. As human behavior demanded increasing precision from the hands, being a little farther from the heartbeat was a slight advantage.

Here’s my multiple years of anatomy classes response: the heart isn’t on the left. The aorta is, sure, but the vena cava is on the right. Also people with situs inversus (essentially all organs flipped laterally from “normal”) aren’t obviously more prone to left-handedness.

[deleted]
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