Left hand...Right hand

7 Sep 2004

Why left-handers still feel left out
Angelique Chrisafis, Arts correspondent
Guardian
Thursday June 6, 2002

Over the centuries they have been beaten on the knuckles, locked up, ridiculed and prevented from reproducing in case they spawned freaks.
Now left-handers are facing another affront. A psychology professor told the Guardian Hay festival yesterday that society will never stop being biologically and culturally dominated by right-handers at the psychological expense of those who hold their pencil in their left hand.
Chris McManus, a professor of psychology and medical education at University College London, trawled thousands of years of the history of cells and culture - from "left-handed" amino acids, to stone age tool-making practices and Giotto frescos - and found that "right equals good and left equals bad" in common perception.
In his book Right Hand, Left Hand, he noted how expressions for the word "left" had become terms of abuse in every culture - something that New Labour might already be aware of.
"Our society is organised according to right-handers. Left-handers are the last of the great neglected minorities," said Prof McManus, who is a right-hander with a left-handed mother and daughter.
In Britain around 13% of men and around 11% of women are left-handed, compared with 3% before 1910. Left-handedness coincides with high incidences of genius and creativity, and also autism and dyslexia.
"The one thing that will change the suffering of left-handers is to get engineers to see that for 10% of users, their designs are still back to front. Scissors, microwave doors, power saws and water gauges on the side of kettles are a constant reminder. Psychologically, left-handers still claim to have problems. The social consequences are immense."
I told you it was an insane world...FFS! And I am ambidextrous! No wonder I am so confused...

7 Sep 2004

Quote by yin yang
I told you it was an insane world...FFS! And I am ambidextrous! No wonder I am so confused...

same here .... although right dominates left ....... or is that just the bed order dunno

7 Sep 2004

I suppose it is whichever hand is the biggest...for the slap round the chops?
I can STILL remember being taught to use an itallic pen at school and the lefties could not use it and needed a special one. life is full of shite whatever and whoever you are, and I often wonder if their is such a creature as mr/mrs perfect...? I bet they are as boring as drying paint!

7 Sep 2004

My left boob is smaller than my right boob. Does that mean my right is dominant? Or is it true that dynamite comes in small packages and the left one is dominant? Are tall peole better than small people? Are blue eyes better than brown? Um? confused

:

7 Sep 2004

Well i'm left handed and i'm bloody marvellous!!!!! so theres your proof.

7 Sep 2004

Quote by Naughty Wigan Couple
My left boob is smaller than my right boob. Does that mean my right is dominant? Or is it true that dynamite comes in small packages and the left one is dominant? Are tall peole better than small people? Are blue eyes better than brown? Um? :

As a midget married to a giant I could probably answer that but in the interests of science it might be an idea for all tall and small men to form an orderly queue at my pm door.
:giggle:

7 Sep 2004

I personally think they do these surveys when they cant find anything interesting to get paid for. I remember a guy I think getting over Â£20,000 a year grant to estimate how many pebbles were on brighton beach. I kid you not! Anyhow back to the question. It depends on many factors within on LH or RH. We all now clever and dumb shit people, and what the handedness makes of it must also be pondered because it is only averages. If they had tested EVERYONE, then it could be true, but what if they only got the dummies to comply, and we ALL know what it is like to answer those dam surveys in the town when we wanna get the bus or meet friends. Maybe they should do a survey of the people who answer surveys?
Callista....Do I need to knock or press your button??? wink

7 Sep 2004

Quote by Calista
My left boob is smaller than my right boob. Does that mean my right is dominant? Or is it true that dynamite comes in small packages and the left one is dominant? Are tall peole better than small people? Are blue eyes better than brown? Um? :

As a midget married to a giant I could probably answer that but in the interests of science it might be an idea for all tall and small men to form an orderly queue at my pm door.
:giggle:
Being only five foot (on a very good day, withmy heels on) I would have to say, that from a personal point of view, I think I am normal and everyone over five foot two is abnormally tall! But when it comes to my men, I really don't care how tall they are as long as I can reach the bits I want! :happy:

7 Sep 2004

Quote by yin yang
Callista....Do I need to knock or press your button???

The door is open just make sure you press the right (or should that be left) button "groan"

7 Sep 2004

Kind of brings back the basil faulty sketch with the one where he suspected the guy to be sneeking women in his room???

7 Sep 2004

I just remember struggling when playing hockey at school...... sad

Mr RSAB2

7 Sep 2004

As a very strong left sided person, I do find that certain things are made more difficult because of their design or because of the general rules of life, written or otherwise. Now I aint gonna get into the whole phsycology thing because I don't really get it, but it is worth pointing out that some folk may well be viewed as being bloody awkward or clumsy when the only problem might be that they are left side dominated.
If I give the example that when I get on an escalator especially on the tube, everything in my mind says stand on the left and hold the rail in my left hand, despite everyone else standing on the right as per the notices, times people have been pissed off cos I have got it wrong is unbelievable. If I want to walk through something like a revolving door, my head says approach the left hand side, which is often against the general flow of traffic, the new style electric ones in Supermarkets and the like, have taken the decision making away, but for me it still feels as though they are going the wrong way.
Things like scissors, tape measures, measures on kettles have already been mentioned but there is a whole ream of things designed for the mass populace that I find awkward, from clothing to power tools to normal household implements and when I use them I do look like a clumsy fLuck simply because the design isnt right for me brain or my ability to use the right side.

7 Sep 2004

My son writes left-handed, bowls in cricket left-handed, bats in cricket right handed and plays golf (to a handicap of 3 - sorry couldn't resist that) right handed. He's also left footed at soccer. Sort that little lot out. What's more he's a great kid! (end of parental pride attack!!)

7 Sep 2004

Quote by yin yang
In Britain around 13% of men and around 11% of women are left-handed, compared with 3% before 1910. Left-handedness coincides with high incidences of genius and creativity, and also autism and dyslexia.

Us left-handed, autistic, creative geniuses couldn't agree more... :mrgreen:

7 Sep 2004

RSAB2 wrote:

I just remember struggling when playing hockey at school......

Yeah, same here RSAB2, always getting penalised for hitting with the wrong side of the stick....even though it was completely unintentional. rolleyes

Mike.

7 Sep 2004

Quote by flapjackboy

In Britain around 13% of men and around 11% of women are left-handed, compared with 3% before 1910. Left-handedness coincides with high incidences of genius and creativity, and also autism and dyslexia.

Us left-handed, autistic, creative geniuses couldn't agree more... :mrgreen:
I've just been reading about dyslexia. Did you know that a large majority of the researchers at MIT (Michigan Institute of Technologhy) are dyslexic.
Dyslexia wasn't "discovered" until the start of last century, when the education system started and James Hinshelwood noticed that some children had difficulties in learning to read and write. And that there are studies that show that there are different brain activities in people who are dyslexic and those that aren't (especially for Blue...Nicholson, R. I., Fawcett, A.J., Berry, E.L., Jenkins, I.H., Dean, P. & Brooks, D.J. (1999) Association of abnormal cerebellar activity with motor learining dificulties in dyslexic adults, Lancet, vol. 353, pp. 1662-7).
Many psycholologists now view dyslexia not as a dysfunction, but as a syndrome and people with dyslexia (and other symptoms like ADHD) not as "ill", but as having a unique perspective on the world and other tallents that more than make up for not being able to read in a conventional sense.
BTW welcome back FJB wave

7 Sep 2004

As one of the minority left handers & a single male on here i guess i'm doomed aye doomed i say banghead

7 Sep 2004

Although forcing school kids to become right-handed was outlawed in the 1950`s (due to evidence that it messed with the brain, stuttering and so forth), the small village school I attended forced me in the mid seventies. My mother had taught me to read and write before school, and the interference seriously undermined my handwriting. Today I find it extremely difficult to write anything lengthy by hand, often writing letters at the end of words too early, my brain works faster than my hand! I am probably responsible for entire acres of rainforests disappearing! My artwork is fairly heavy. I have a good eye for for seeing what is out of place, but often find it difficult to get this down on paper, having to rework it until I get it right. I often wonder if the interference plays a part in this. There seems to be a link missing between brain and hand. This works quite well, people just assume my work is `expressive` lol

, I find it frustrating that I can`t do softer work though. Sculpting works best for me, for that involves `whittling` which is pretty much the way I work in any media! As far as 2D work goes, I am best with anything that can be reworked (oils, acrylics, pastels) but am unsure how much of this is my natural artistic leaning. Can`t work with water colours at all.
Can you tell I`ve wondered about this?! :lol:
Ah well, it`s a theory!
Venusxxx

8 Sep 2004

As a child first going to skool around 1959, the teecher kept on removing my pen from my left hand and tried to get me righting with my write won. Me - being me, devised a grip with my left hand that the teacher gave up fighting against.
Today whenever people see me writing they say "Don't you hold your pen funny".....
I say, "You think that's funny - you oughta see me wank".
Normally the reply is - "No thanks". wink

8 Sep 2004

Quote by yin yang
Why left-handers still feel left out
Angelique Chrisafis, Arts correspondent
Guardian
Thursday June 6, 2002

Over the centuries they have been beaten on the knuckles, locked up, ridiculed and prevented from reproducing in case they spawned freaks.
Now left-handers are facing another affront. A psychology professor told the Guardian Hay festival yesterday that society will never stop being biologically and culturally dominated by right-handers at the psychological expense of those who hold their pencil in their left hand.
Chris McManus, a professor of psychology and medical education at University College London, trawled thousands of years of the history of cells and culture - from "left-handed" amino acids, to stone age tool-making practices and Giotto frescos - and found that "right equals good and left equals bad" in common perception.
In his book Right Hand, Left Hand, he noted how expressions for the word "left" had become terms of abuse in every culture - something that New Labour might already be aware of.
"Our society is organised according to right-handers. Left-handers are the last of the great neglected minorities," said Prof McManus, who is a right-hander with a left-handed mother and daughter.
In Britain around 13% of men and around 11% of women are left-handed, compared with 3% before 1910. Left-handedness coincides with high incidences of genius and creativity, and also autism and dyslexia.
"The one thing that will change the suffering of left-handers is to get engineers to see that for 10% of users, their designs are still back to front. Scissors, microwave doors, power saws and water gauges on the side of kettles are a constant reminder. Psychologically, left-handers still claim to have problems. The social consequences are immense."
I told you it was an insane world...FFS! And I am ambidextrous! No wonder I am so confused...
I write left hand, kick a ball LH, drive LH, wank LH, D.I.Y. LH, make tea LH, comput LH, Hold a woman whilst shagging LH, and I'm a bloody genius !!! RIGHT !!!

8 Sep 2004

Quote by O. K.
Hold a woman whilst shagging

Is it a very tiny woman? (thinks of Fay Wray & King Kong)

8 Sep 2004

I'm right handed and do everything right handed except for two things - masturbate and open tight screw-top jars. Perhaps all those years of exercise have strengthened the appropriate muscles?

8 Sep 2004

I have to say I thought this was a question/statement about which had you use to masturbate...
So to answer the question that was never asked, right hand for the dick and left hand for the balls lol

:lol: :lol: :lol:
My lad is semi-ambidextrous... most things he will chop and change (like knifes n forks, ball throwing) but when it comes to writing its right hand... which is equally as untidy as the left hand for writing!

8 Sep 2004

As the only left handed person within a right handed family, I can do everything right handed(badly!!!!). I was taught to eat right handed....Knit right handed...use right handed scissors (I don't think left handed scissors were around)...etc but i always wrote with my left hand. Fountain pens were a nightmare!!!
So yes left handed people had to be creative genius to learn to do everything the wrong way round!!!!!!!

9 Sep 2004

I shoot a bow left-handed, but a rifle right-handed. When I was a schoolboy footballer I was much better with my right foot, but all the other right-handed skateboarders pushed with their right foot while I used my left. I was a left-footed triple-jumper, but couldn't throw anything with my left hand to save my life.
I can type faster with just my left hand than just my right, but I can only work the mouse with my right hand. I use a wheel brace left-handed, but a screwdriver with my right.
If I try to walk in a straight line while blindfolded, I turn left, but my John Thomas has a slight twist to the right. rotflmao

In most things I'm right-handed, in a few things I'm left-handed, but I'm not ambidextrous in anything.
Here's one that really intrigues me:
When i clasp my hands together in front of me with my fingers interlocked, my left thumb is on top. If I do it the other way it's really uncomfortable. Do all right-handed people do it the same way as me?
I've been told that left handers are, on average, slightly slower readers and writers than right handers, but that if they learn mirror writing they're just as fast as right handers. Can any left-handers out there confirm this?

9 Sep 2004

Quote by thongboy_uk
I'm right handed and do everything right handed except for two things - masturbate and open tight screw-top jars. Perhaps all those years of exercise have strengthened the appropriate muscles?

The jar lid thing is easy to explain: All jar lids have right hand threads. That is to say clockwise is forwards and anticlockwise is backwards. It easier to turn your hand outwards than inwards, so whether you're left or right handed, you will use your right hand to close the jar and your left hand to open it.
Yours geekily,
Ice smile

9 Sep 2004

Quote by Ice Pie
I shoot a bow left-handed, but a rifle right-handed.

How odd must be something to do with posture ?? I shoot a shotgun or rifle right handed, but I can shoot equally comfortably left or right with a handgun confused

Quote by Ice Pie
Here's one that really intrigues me:
When i clasp my hands together in front of me with my fingers interlocked, my left thumb is on top. If I do it the other way it's really uncomfortable. Do all right-handed people do it the same way as me?.

Yeah, if feels unnatural the other way.