I am left-handed, and I figure I should probably specify that I write with my left hand because the term can refer to sports and other things. I write with my left, and I always have, but I do everything else in life with my right, including sports.
Before you feel obliged to applaud me for being ambidexterous in a sense, the reason I do everything else with my right hand is that this world is designed for right-handed people. I didn’t exactly choose to do things with my right hand – life did.
My mom’s father was also left-handed, but, sadly, because he grew up in a time during which being left-handed meant you were the antichrist, he was forced to adapt and write with his right.
Left-handedness is rather rare, so I thought I would share some information on the topic for anyone interested. This information comes from goodhousekeeping.com.
“Left handed people are more likely to be dyslexic. A 1993 analysis showed a strong correlation between left-handed people having dyslexia. However, in more recent years, the correlation has been more strongly tied to mixed-handed people instead of solely left-handers.
“Between 10% and 12% of the world’s population is left-handed. According to the BBC, left handed people only make up approximately 10 to 12 percent of the population. To put this into perspective, that’s one in 10 people or 847,000 people out of New York City’s 8.478 million population from the 2024 census.
“Left handed people are typically better at multitasking. According to Science.org, lefties can oftentimes be better multitaskers because they have a larger corpus callosum, or part of the brain that facilitates communication between the two hemispheres. If you know someone who is good at multitasking, then you’ll want to see if they are left-handed because it’s possible.
“Left handed people are usually more creative. Not all left-handed people are creative; however, many do have more creative talents since lefties more often utilize the right side of the brain which is responsible touted as the more artistic side, according to the National Library of Medicine.
“Left handed water polo players are rare but offer a competitive advantage. According to Swimming.org, left-handed water polo players are imperative because they are able to face both the goal and be responsive to teammates. That said, left-handed water polo players are rare but if you have one on your team, they can be a valuable asset,” the web page explains.
Check back tomorrow for part two.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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