What do Barack Obama, Oliver North, Julius Caesar, H.G. Wells, Phil Collins and Steve McQueen have in common? Other than all being famous people, they along with nearly 8% of the population are left handed.
While the reasons for people to choose one hand to write, eat and other regular duties, can vary, left handed people can have some difficulty adapting to the predominantly right handed world. The majority of inventions have been made for right handed people: the auto, musical instruments, guns and cameras among many other items were designed for right handed people.
Left handers can often feel left out in a right handers world. Left handers are often thought of as different thinkers than right handed people, and that is probably correct.
While scientists have come up with many theories about the causes of left handedness. They include a gene that has been identified which can help determine the likelihood of being left handed. Also, left handedness has been traced back to the fetus, where the hand that is closer to the mouth becomes the predominant hand. And another theory is that higher rates of testosterone prior to birth can increase the chances of being left handed.
Scientist have also studied the thought processes of left handed people and have come to conclusions that they have a different way of thinking than right handed people. While scientists have concluded that right handed people tend to see individual tasks and attempt to perform those tasks one at a time, left handed people tend to be “big picture” thinkers and can solve problems from a larger perspective.
While left handed people are different types of thinkers than right handed people, they face unique problems than those of right handed people. Since the beginning of time, man has created products that fit a right handed world. This has forced left handers to adapt to the “right” world over time. However, in recent times more products are being designed or retrofitted for left handed people.
Products such as left handed guitars, left handed computer mice, left handed golf clubs and even left handed can openers have emerged in the market in recent times to the ever growing needs of this minority.
While left handed people have had a hard time adapting in a right handed world, products and support groups have emerged to help left handed individuals. We have collected an assortment of resources aimed at left handedness to help understand the differences: