61 Fascinating Facts About Left-handed People You Didn't Know Yet
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Left-handedness is both a common feature and a rarity as all people have at least one left-handed friend, but there never seems to be more than one left-handed friend in any group!
Left-handedness is an evolution-based rarity that was led by social development and environmental changes. Researchers tried their best to find any possible connection between being left-handed and biological or genetic links, but none have been found until now.
Did you know many U.S presidents were left-handed? If not, keep reading to learn more about them and other facts about left-handed people!
Demographics Of Left-Handed People
Only about 10% of the world's population is left-handed, making it a rare feature. Fortunately, the percentage of the left-hand using population is going up as the stigma related to it is weakening day by day.
Some countries still perceive the rarity as an illness and force their children to use their right hand, but growing awareness enables more people to accept it. Let's go through these left-handed facts to learn more!
Left-handed people have faced a great many challenges in life, from not having amenities based on their rarity to being subjected to misconceptions.
Their rarity may or may not influence their intelligence, but what makes them more creative and logical is the result of adapting to a world primarily created to accommodate the needs of right-handers.
The vast majority of the world population being right-handed has considered left-handedness to be a rarity as, as our left-handed facts have already revealed, only around 10% of the entire population are lefties.
As a result, many people switch from using their left hand to adopting right-handedness to follow the norm.
A countless number of studies have taken place to understand the link between left-handedness and genetics, biological aspects, and other factors. The demographics of left-handed people in diverse fields were also explored.
The percentage of right-handed users is greater than left-hand users as a result of the negative connotations related to lefthandedness.
The female to male ratio difference between left-handed females and left-handed males is 1.23.
Statistics reveal men to be 23% more likely to be left-handed than women.
Studies on musical memory tasks showed musicians using their left hand over their right one better retain details, also accounting for a difference in perceiving musical patterns.
Left-handers' brains are structured differently to make them more creatively driven to take on challenges and be creatively charged.
Left-handers supposedly have an ill sense of left-right directions, where they get confused with commands narrating directions.
Interactive sports such as cricket, baseball, fencing, and table tennis are said to have an overrepresentation of left-handed players.
A study among college-educated lefties shows a 10 to 15% difference in pay between left-handers and right-handers where left-handed people obtain more than right-hand using people.
Initially, only 2% of the population of the world was left-handed, but this could be due to the characteristic being seen as a negative trait.
Handedness is quite apparent in infants during their growing and development period.
Writing is one of the biggest giveaways for people to identify left-handedness in others.
Characteristics & Behavior Of Left-Handed People
Left-handed facts explore the characteristic and behavioral divergence with instances, research, and statistics from all over the world. Visible differences caught through activities are the most common way to identify left-handed people, but closely assessed characteristics reveal even deeper details about left-handed people and their personalities. Let's see how!
While left-handed people are known to pick different tasks and accomplish them in different ways through their rare features, it is also perceived that left-handedness has a say in defining their characteristics and behavior.
The cross-wired brain activity of left-handed people leads them to think differently than right-handed people and also pursue things differently. This may be why most lefties carry unique features within their personality.
Left-handed people are known to be better at certain sports, therefore giving them an advantage over right-handed opponents.
Left-handed facts reveal lefties' inclinations towards the right side of the brain due to the projection of characteristics such as better imagination, creativity, and music perception.
Left-handed people are likely to face languages problems.
People using left hands are better at divergent thinking, a problem-solving method that deals with in-depth exploration.
A majority of things, products, machines, and features are not made to support left-handed users.
Left-handed people tend to be more intelligent due to solving various challenges throughout their lives.
Social development has great implications for the behavioral growth of a left-handed individual.
Left-handed performers are known to perform significantly better.
Left-handed people are extremely adaptable to both preferred and not preferred conditions.
Health Risks
Although right-handed and left-handed people do not have great differences in their bodily functions, many studies have claimed to have found various inconsistencies between the two. These facts are not always true, but running tests have proven their credibility.
Our left-handed facts explore this aspect of left-handed people and reveal many interesting facts about the health risks faced by left-hand-using people.
As compared to right-handed people, lefties have a significantly higher risk of having certain illnesses.
Researchers have conducted countless studies to learn about health-related and other differences between left and right-handed people, and surprisingly found a significant amount of those.
Specific mental and physical health disorders are more prominent in left-handed people.
Left-handers are more prone to obtain psychological problems.
Mood disorders are quite common in left-handers, such as depression and bipolar disorders.
In a study with psychotic patients with schizoaffective disorder, a majority of people were found to be left-handed.
Of people with possible PTSD diagnoses, a large number were found to be left-handed.
Left-handed people are known to be faster at processing multiple stimuli better than right-handed people.
People using their left hand are known to recover from brain diseases faster than right-handed people.
Alcohol consumption is found to be more common among left-handed people than right-handed people.
Research based on a small section of people showed a greater risk of breast cancer in left-handed women than in right-handed women.
World Famous Left-Handed People
Left-handed facts also list a few of the most famous personalities, proudly supporting their rare trait and excelling in what they do. These people prove the common notion of left-handed people being less efficient and incapable of doing things to be wrong, and replace this image with them being equally capable!
The best way to celebrate uniqueness is by knowing many other famous people who have it too, so let's learn about them together! Let's discover more about some of these personalities.
Accounting for 10% of the global population, many famous personalities across the world come under the category of being left-handed.
Famous U.S presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both are left-handed.
Bill Gates, the creator of one of the leading tech brands in the world, Microsoft, is also a left-handed person.
Anecdotal elements claim lefties to be smarter and more likely to get famous than right-handed people.
Babe Ruth, one of the most famous baseball players, was a left-handed pitcher.
A majority of iconic painters from the medieval and modern eras were left-handers.
Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Anita Malfatti, and Paul Klee were all left handed.
Left-handed people are known to have trouble with writing. Albert Einstein was left-handed and faced a major problem with writing due to Dyslexia.
Three consecutive U.S presidents were left-handed: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
The famous blind disability activist, Helen Keller, used her left-handedness to learn about the world through braille script and spread awareness regarding the same.
Paul McCartney from the Beatles was ambidextrous but used his left hand to play guitar after he saw a picture of Slim Whitman playing it with his left hand.
Other Miscellaneous Facts
After learning all about lefties with our left-handed facts, you should now know a little more about their behavior, health risks, and characteristics. Let's find various other unknown and interesting things about this rare feature of humans.
Left-handedness is celebrated across the world in different ways. Let's look at these miscellaneous left-handed facts to learn even more about this rarity!
The fear of left-handed people is called sinistrophobia, which is derived from the Latin word for left, 'sinister'.
Major league baseball has the highest number of left-handed athletes.
There is an unincorporated community located in West Virginia called Left Hand.
Drawing skills among lefties are far better than right-handed people.
Lefties are prone to hit puberty a few months later than right-handed people.
The lack of the role of genetics in deciding handedness can lead to identical twins having different handedness.
Left-handers enjoy a typing advantage with better typing skills than right-handers.
August 13 is celebrated as International Left-Handers Day.
The occasion of Left-Handers Day is celebrated to spread awareness against the wrong notion that using the left hand can cause misfortune to arrive and the various other negative connotations attached to it.
English writing is more likely to be messier for people using the left hand.
Left-handed people looking to indulge in any sports program should opt for interactive sports for better participation.
FAQs
Why is it so rare to be left-handed?
Left-handed facts reveal that the trait is a result of evolution and environmental reinforcement rather than a genetically extended characteristic; no studies support any biological link to the trait.
Do left-handers have a higher IQ?
The idea that left-handers have higher IQ is a very popular misconception. Left-handers and right-handers have no difference in their IQ levels based on their dominant hand.
What are the benefits of being left-handed?
Left-handed people are seen to be more creatively evolved and perform better in arts. Examples have also shown left-handers to be excellent athletes.
Left-handed people are also said to be better drivers. The majority of countries follow right-hand side driving patterns, and driver's seats are placed on their left, which lets people with left-handedness use their dominant hand to control the vehicle.
Do lefties think differently?
Left-hand using people have the right side of their brains as the dominant side, which controls the creative aspect of any individual, and this is often the reason behind their different thinking.
Although this statement is most commonly believed, it is also possible that years of keeping up with challenging situations from having a dominant left hand have led lefties to use the creative side of their brains to overcome hurdles.
Do left-handers have a better memory?
Researches claim that left-handed people are better at retaining events in their memory than right-handed people.
What is the fear of left-handed people?
The fear of left-handed people or fear of objects on the left side of the body is known as sinistrophobia.
What is a left-handed person called?
Another common term for a left-handed person is lefties. People using their left hand are sometimes called 'southpaws'. The term finds its origin in a baseball term used for left-handed pitchers.
Do left-handers have a shorter life span?
According to widely compared cases and statistics, it is believed that left-handers have a shorter life span than right-handers. In certain tests run by researchers, results found left-handers to die about nine years younger than right-handed people.
Which country has the most left-handers?
The Netherlands is home to the highest percentage of the left-handed population in the world.
What percentage of lefties are female?
Researchers found an odd ratio of 1.23 among male and female lefties, which means if 10% of females are lefties, then the percentage of left-handed men is most likely to be 12%.
Why are left-handers called southpaws?
The term 'southpaws' emerged from the game of baseball as it was used to describe any player who used their left arm to pitch the ball.
The directional orientation of the 19th-century stadium was in such a manner that when a left-handed pitcher threw the ball, it would be facing the south of the batter, hence adding the south, while 'paw' was a common term for hand.
Do lefties hear speech differently?
Yes. Different dominant sides of the brain perceive sounds differently, which is why left-handed people hear slow-changing sounds better than right-handed people, and right-handers hear rapidly changing sounds better than left-handed people.
Is Bill Gates left-handed?
The core founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is a left-hander.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English Literature
Akinwalere OlaleyeBachelor of Arts specializing in English Literature
As a highly motivated, detail-oriented, and energetic individual, Olaleye's expertise lies in administrative and management operations. With extensive knowledge as an Editor and Communications Analyst, Olaleye excels in editing, writing, and media relations. Her commitment to upholding professional ethics and driving organizational growth sets her apart. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Benin, Edo State.
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