A repeat, but a good one!

As a member of a minority, I can tell you that the world is made for people who are right handed. It is true that right handed people have a dominant left brain. Left handed people use the right side. Therefore, only left handed people are in their right mind!

Nearly all things are made for right-handed people, and lefties have to live in the world designed for righties. We struggle with many things – binders, butter knives, driver’s cup holders, keyboards, game controllers, computer mouses, scissors, golf clubs, baseball gloves, watches, and even door knobs – I could go on and on. I’ll bet that most lefties have bad penmanship, because it’s more difficult to push a writing instrument than to pull it, AND the left hand follows the pen or pencil, so it picks up ink and lead along the way, smearing the hand and the paper.

Some facts:

Only about 10% of the population is left handed.

While many people are left handed, very few are 100% left handed. For example, many Left handers golf and bat right handed. On the other hand, there is a high percentage of righties who are 100% right-handed. I am one of those who golfs and bats right handed, or at least I did when I still golfed and batted. I could putt either right handed or left handed with equal accuracy.

Lefties are also called “southpaws”. The term was coined in baseball to describe a left handed pitcher.

Sinistrophobia is the fear of left-handedness or things on the left.

During the 1600’s people, thought left handers were witches and warlocks.

Left-handed legend Ned Flanders outside the Leftorium

History is filled with famous left-handed people, including: Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Alexander the Great,  Mahatma Gandhi, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen mother Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince William.

Some of the most well-known inventors were left-handed like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin. Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein were also lefties. So is Mark Zuckerberg, as was Steve Jobs. Bill Gates too.

Presidential Left handers: James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. That subset is much higher than the average. 44 men have become president of the United States. Eight of those were left-handed, or 18%.

Famous notorious left handers include: Osama bin Laden, Boston Strangler, and Jack the Ripper.

It is believed that all polar bears are left handed.

There is a rumor that octopuses have but one right hand. Scientists are diligently studying this issue.

Left-handed people process information more quickly.

Left-handed college graduates have a 26% greater chance of becoming rich.