It’s International Left-Handers Day today! Every year on August 13th we southpaws get our very own day to celebrate our uniqueness. The day is supposed to help promote awareness to the problems that we experience living in a largely right-handed world.
I personally never found I had all that many problems with it, although I admit I AM a little awkward using scissors….and a few other things that are primarily designed for Right-Handed people.
I do remember back when I was very small and just learning to print my Dad would take my pencil out of my left and and try to get me to use my right, but it just never felt right (see what I did there…?). When I write all the letters lean towards the left, although not as badly as they did when I was young.
And eating with a fork? I would starve to death if I had to eat with my fork in my right hand – I just can’t figure out how to do it.
Here are a few Left-Handed Facts for you:
1. Make Up Roughly 12% of the Population
On average, 12% of the world is left handed, 87% right handed, and 1% ambidextrous. However, the percentage of lefties worldwide is slowly creeping up as being left handed becomes more socially accepted. Believe it or not, to this day some countries still try and force children to learn to write with their right hand! For example, in 1860 when a left handed person was essentially seen as being in league with the devil, it is estimated that as little as 2% of the population was left handed. The current 12% figure also varies by country and gender. The Netherlands lead the way with Southpaws.
2. Those who are left-handed are more prone to ailments like allergies and migraines.
3. Most of those who are left handed are insomniacs.
4. Left handed people tend to attain puberty later than right handed people.
Now that you’re convinced that being a Southpaw is all bad, check out the good stuff:
5. Use the Right Side of the Brain the Most
The brain is cross-wired, meaning that the right side controls the left side of the body and vice versa. Hence the well known saying ‘only left handed people are in their right minds’. The right-hand side of the brain is thought to coordinate the left side of the body and control tasks to do with the arts and creativity.
6. Lefties are very good artists and mostly follow creative careers.
7. At least four of the most popular Presidents of the United States were left–handed.
8. Some of the most popular inventors were left-handed like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin.
9. Have Higher Intelligence Levels
This one varies depending on how dated your source is! One 2007 study shows that lefties are more likely to have higher IQs, however another 2010 study suggests the exact opposite!
So which is it?
To settle the debate, two researchers from the University of Athens in Greece compiled the data from several individual studies in order to collate data from a much larger sample size. The results of this research showed that right handed people are smarter on average – but only marginally so. Assuming that the average left hander had an IQ of 100, the average right hander would be at 101.5. So the current belief is that the difference in intelligence between lefties and righties is so small as to be negligible.
An interesting left handed statistic is that Mensa claims that 20% of its members are lefties – a much higher number than you’d expect.
10. Recover From Strokes Faster
For the majority of the population the left side of the brain is largely in control of language function. This is the reason why most strokes or brain injuries which occur on the left side will have an adverse effect on language. 95% of right-handed people have left brain dominance when it comes to language control, whereas this drops to 70% for lefties. This means that after a stroke, lefties are more likely to be faster to recover language ability. Definitely one of the facts about left handed people that is a definite plus!
