#lefty facts

[factsaboutlefties]

Lefty History: questions and holes in the story

the last few weeks we have been talking about the history of lefties... but I could only find stuff on the major civilizations and time periods... so here's my question for you all: Does anyone know anything about Native American or Viking/Scandinavian views on Lefties? or any other cultures or areas? and include a link if you have one

[factsaboutlefties]

Lefty History: Recent History

20th century

Discrimination continued into the 20th century, even in America, and especially in schools. As recently as the 1940’s in Public schools, and the 1970’s in Catholic schools teachers were strongly (to varying degrees) encouraging students to not use their left hand. 

Psychologists in the pre-war years continued to call lefties “akward” “Clumsy” (gee, I wonder why?) and “stubborn” (well, at least they aren’t saying we’re friends with the Devil anymore) 

John Dewey included a certain amount of tolerance for non-conformity in his progressive educational movement in the post-war years. (yay!) 

Things continued to not go well for lefties outside the Western world, though. The countries of the Iron curtain and the Soviet Bloc maintained strict policies against lefties, including making writing right-handed compulsory in schools. Meanwhile, Albania made left-handedness illegal and punishable as a crime. 

Even today some parents and teachers encourage kids to not write with their left hand. But at least no one is convicting us of being cursed, witches, or working with the Devil! One step at a time!

X  

[factsaboutlefties]

"What causes someone to become left handed?

Scientists aren’t exactly sure, but research points to a complex collaboration between genes and environment. While no exact set of “leftie genes” have been discovered, people who dominantly use their left hands do have more left-handed family members. And researchers have found different brain wirings in righties vs. lefties." x

Depending on where you look, anywhere from 7-15% of people are left handed. (The number of lefties tends to be higher in the west, 12%, and lower in countries that stress conformity, 2-5% in some asian countries.X) 

If both your parents are left handed, you have a 50% chance of being left handed. But if both your parents are right handed, you have a 2% chance of being a lefty. 

[allthingslefthanded]

Navigating Left-Handedness in a Right-Handed World: An Infographic for #LeftHandersDay

Source: SocialWorkDegreeCenter.com

[factsaboutlefties]

random facts:

~in a set of twins, there is a high tendency for one to be a lefty 

~ Stuttering and dyslexia are more likely to occur in lefties 

~ Stuttering and dyslexia are Even More likely to occur in leftie who were forced to write with their right hand

~ Lefties tend to excel in baseball, swimming, fencing, and tennis

~ 1 in 4 Apollo astronauts were left handed

source 

[allthingslefthanded]

Why Do Sports Go Counterclockwise?

Ever wonder why most sports that involve a circular motion of any sort go counterclockwise? 

For example:

Athletics track races

Track bicycle races

Speed skating

Roller derby

The customary flow of people around an ice-skating rink

The normal direction of dancers moving around a dance floor

Motorcycle speedway

NASCAR racing

Horse racing

Greyhound racing

Do you think this gives lefties a disadvantage?

Check out this article on Anything Left-Handed for more

[allthingslefthanded]

Curious Facts About Being #Left-Handed (video)

10 Curious Facts About Being Left-Handed via Alltime10s

Want to be a politician? How about a medieval knight? Then maybe you should consider becoming a lefty. Presenting 10 curious facts about being left-handed.

[allthingslefthanded]

An age-old question: Why are left-handed people so brilliant?

Why are left-handed people so brilliant?

A self-confessed spawn of the devil thinks there's a lot to be said for his tribe 

What we do know is that the cack-handed are disproportionately brilliant. Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Aristotle, Julius Caesar and Charles Darwin were all gauchists. So were Michelangelo and Rubens, Benjamin Britten, Kurt Cobain and Paul McCartney, five of the seven most recent US presidents, and four of the five designers of the Apple Mac.

Despite this, the kaggy-fisted have endured centuries of prejudice. We're told we are the spawn of the devil: crippled, defective, clumsy, inept, doubtful, questionable, ill-omened, inauspicious and illegitimate – and that's only by the Oxford English Dictionary. The very word "left" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "lyft", meaning weak or broken. The Latin "sinister" rather speaks for itself.

Read the full post from The Independent