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The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

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Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#241

Post by chupasaurus »

vanderZwan wrote: post #234
obfuscator wrote: post #230

So many left-handers here that feel disadvantaged in our right-handed society. If you ever want to do one thing where you feel you left-handedness gives you an advantage, pick up Kendo (the Japanese swordfighting). You have to wield your sword like everybody else but the aiming is done with your left while the right just provides the power for the stroke (the katana is a two-handed weapon). Since you are not supposed…

Doesn't left-handedness give an advantage in most sword fighting and fencing sports? As demonstrated by the percentage of left-handed players at the top level is higher than the population average? I heard the same thing is true with boxing, presumably other martial arts, and tennis (and who knows what else). The explanation I've heard is that in any sport, on average one would train more with right-handed opponents.…

Can talk about foil fencing perspective: lefties get a competitive advantage only in junior years because training exercises are done against same-handed opponent (be it a coach or dummy) while they spar and compete mostly against righties. It diminishes with time.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#242

Post by beAbU »

jstanley wrote: post #225
talldatethrow wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also left handed and this was never an issue for me. You hold the pencil out from your fingers thus your hand is sitting slightly below the line that is being written, traveling over unused paper constantly. Only people that do that weird claw thing have that problem.

What's the claw thing?

Some lefties look as if they are wrapping half their bodies around the pen/cil when writing.

I also do not write like this, smudging fresh ink as I write has never been an issue for me.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#243

Post by [deleted] »

talldatethrow wrote: post #150
pram wrote: post #139

Just throwing in my left handed anecdote here: the bottom of my hand was always covered in pencil graphite when I was in school because your hand drags over what you've been writing from left -> right. Also ring binders were a pain in the ass (your hand is blocked at the left margin lol)

I'm also left handed and this was never an issue for me. You hold the pencil out from your fingers thus your hand is sitting slightly below the line that is being written, traveling over unused paper constantly. Only people that do that weird claw thing have that problem.

[deleted]

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#244

Post by jl6 »

wrycoder wrote: post #154
egberts1 wrote: post #146

There is no mystery on why left handers are rare. With the left hand shielding the liver side, the right hand becomes the weapon bearer. With the left side protexted, the deaths by liver puncture is greatly diminished. This is called survivorship bias. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Nice, except the liver is on the right hand side.

The heart is slightly on the left though. This paper takes the "fighting hypothesis" seriously:

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/15/4/940

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#245

Post by squarefoot »

Left handed here, and having been in school from the early 70s, I had to suffer their stupid shortsighted attempts to "correct" what they thought was a voluntary mistake when writing or eating. I never stopped being left handed of course, but for some things I'm right handed, although in most of them I can also use the left almost comfortably.

Here's small list:

fork: left

pen: left

tools (screwdriver, wrench, etc): right

solder iron: right

fighting stance: mostly traditional, but sometimes southpaw by instinct

Also applies to feet. playing football (soccer), kicking: mostly right

Curiously, I developed as right handed (and foot) on the things nobody ever tried to push me to correct.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#246

Post by zh3 »

rolph wrote: post #169

i was hit on the hand with a ruler and the crayon pulled from my left hand and forced into my right. i wonder if that has happened to others and if so does it contribute to skew of frequency.

Very standard in Ireland where I went to primary school, I got hit with a ruler a lot.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#247

Post by Freak_NL »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #186
pram wrote: post #139

Just throwing in my left handed anecdote here: the bottom of my hand was always covered in pencil graphite when I was in school because your hand drags over what you've been writing from left -> right. Also ring binders were a pain in the ass (your hand is blocked at the left margin lol)

If I had to do it again, I would have learned to write with my right hand due to occlusion. It gets worse if you try to learn how to write in Chinese (at least in modern orientations). I think the reason I became a programmer is just because keyboards were so liberating for me.

For Asian scripts like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, a mechanical pencil works wonders, especially for ideograms. Get one of those auto-rotating ones like the Kurutoga and there is nothing hard specifically for left-handed folk.

Or indeed, use vertical writing, which is particularly well-suited for left-handed use.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#248

Post by algolindo »

nottorp wrote: post #208

Curious: any people around who trained themselves to do fine control activities (writing but not only) with their non dominant hand? How did that go? Being forced in school or because of an accident doesn't count; curious if anyone did it on their own, voluntarily.

Rafael Nadal, one of the best tennis players in history, supposedly is a natural righty who was taught to play lefty.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#249

Post by anonu »

pram wrote: post #139

Just throwing in my left handed anecdote here: the bottom of my hand was always covered in pencil graphite when I was in school because your hand drags over what you've been writing from left -> right. Also ring binders were a pain in the ass (your hand is blocked at the left margin lol)

You should learn Arabic: problem solved.

Re: The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)

#250

Post by effdee »

pram wrote: post #139

Just throwing in my left handed anecdote here: the bottom of my hand was always covered in pencil graphite when I was in school because your hand drags over what you've been writing from left -> right. Also ring binders were a pain in the ass (your hand is blocked at the left margin lol)

I used to have the same problem. Switching from pencils and pens to keyboards fixed it for me. :)
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