According to a variety of studies it is estimated that a meagre 8 – 15 per cent of the world population is left-hand dominant for everyday tasks such as writing and cutting. It is widely believed that left-handers are more creative, more intelligent and better at solving problems than right-handers.
I happened to notice during my recent Open Uni exam that there was a left-hander sat on the desk next to me. I’m not sure if it’s true of all lefties, but being a southpaw myself I have a sharp eye for noticing fellow sinistras. As I looked around the room I saw another leftie, then another, and another until finally I decided to calculate the percentage of lefties in attendance (it was a philosophy exam, I was having a 5 minute breather!). My final calculation was bang on 50/50. A whole half of the 20 odd students in the room were left-handed. Granted 20 odd people isn’t exactly a representative sample, but interesting none the less.
So if lefties are supposedly more intelligent than righties, could it be that for representing such a small percentage of the population as a whole, lefties outnumber righties in the quest for further education?
Or was it sheer coincidence...
Lefties speak up!
(2 votes)
Comments
Ha ha. Had to laugh at your description of philosophy students as '20 odd students'.
But what an interesting discovery. Is it just philosophy students who are lefties or OU students?
I am also a leftie!! I have studied my MBA with the OU and now studying my MSc HRM....I will have to take a straw poll at my next tutorial....
Doing a PG course (computing) - I'm not left handed. Perhaps it's just certain people are attracted to certain courses?
I eat left-handed. Does that count?
I'm doing MSc Psychology
Being Dyspraxic I am non-hand specific which basiclly means I don't have a prefrence to be left or right handed. I use whichever hand I learnt to do that particlular task with first (I have my own theory that left/right hand dominance is cognitive not genetic and we learn a dominacne from our primiary carers)
Because I don't have a prefrence I have some mixed up habbits, for example I eat left handed but throw right handed (though can catch with my left and right hands with equal results) I also write with my right hand but like a left handed person (apparently my grip is that of a left handed person)
It's different to being ambidextrous as I can only do some things with either my left or right hand but not both.
I'm not sure where intelligence would fit into hand dominance (when I had my DSA assesment they measaured my IQ as being 130)
Wow...I'm just like you!!... and there I've been calling myself ambidextrous for years. ^^
Where writing is concerned, although I can write with both hands, I generally prefer writing with my right hand. When I do write with my left hand, I hold the pen like I do in my right hand. Very interesting. :)
...aah, I've just read an article on Dyspraxia and it doesn't sound like me at all. In fact, the article didn't even mention left or right-handedness. It talked about the inability to do basic things and problems with speech. Have a look here: http://www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-language/writing/dyspraxia
Anyway, I'll keep calling myself ambidextrous ;)
Well we're definitely an odd bunch Jane, we HAVE to be to study a subject which is purely speculation, but as it happens, there were only 3 of us doing the Philosophy exam and I was the only leftie out of us. The rest of the room were from all manner of subjects, the leftie girl I spotted first was doing a Health and Social Care exam (I know this from the course code on her front sheet). She wrote at an unbelievable speed too!!
For all I'm a leftie; I write, cut, ride my bike, ride a snowboard, use any kind of sports bat/racket etc left-handed yet I throw right-handed. I still throw like a wimp but do it better with my right hand than with my left hand.
'm a leftie :-) studying computing
I do many things right handed but i don't find switching to left hand very difficult. Particularly when I was younger my left/right handwriting was quite similar but I've developed my right handed writing beyong my left since, mostly in speed if not quality. In board sports like snowboarding or skateboarding I'm "goofy" footed and I find it a lot more difficult to switch footedness than handedness. I don't think it's a very clear-cut situation as some would make you believe.
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