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For many left-handed people, daily life comes with its share of unique challenges—like using scissors or sitting at desks that cater to right-handed individuals. But beyond these small annoyances, there are some bizarre aspects to being left-handed, including a long history of suspicion and mistrust, as well as a scientifically backed tendency for left-handed individuals to suffer from certain mental health conditions.
10. Left-Handed People Are More Likely To Have Psychotic Disorders
Left-handed individuals have historically been viewed with skepticism. Recent research suggests there might be a reason behind this. In 2013, Jadon Webb, a Yale University researcher, conducted a study with patients diagnosed with various psychotic conditions, such as schizophrenia. Participants were asked which hand they typically used to write. The findings were unexpected. Around 40% of those with psychosis were left-handed, a significantly higher rate compared to the general population, where only 10% are left-handed.
Researchers suggest that being left-handed may be linked to a potential biomarker that points to a greater risk of developing mental health conditions, particularly psychosis. However, studies of other mental illnesses, such as depression, did not show any similar patterns. In these cases, the distribution of left-handed individuals in the sample was about the same as the general left-handed population percentage.
9. Our Ancestors Also Had a Left-Handed Minority
When we think about left- or right-handedness, we typically associate it with modern habits, like writing or using a remote control. However, evidence shows that our ancient ancestors had similar preferences for handedness over 500,000 years ago. Researchers examining Neanderthal tools found that most of them displayed signs of wear and tear indicating right-handed use. These tools were often used for tasks like cleaning hides, where individuals would hold the hide with their teeth while using a tool in the other hand. The wear patterns on these tools revealed that right-handed individuals predominantly used them.
Though right-handedness prevailed, left-handed people existed as well. Today, around 10% of the population is left-handed, which aligns with the findings from Neanderthal tools. This suggests that Neanderthals were much like us in terms of handedness. Even species closely related to humans, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, show only about a 5% higher likelihood of favoring their right hand over their left.
8. Left-Handedness and Its Connection to Language
No other species exhibits such a strong preference against left-handedness as humans. So why is this the case? One possible explanation is that it’s tied to language. In most people, language abilities are located in the left hemisphere of the brain—specifically in Broca’s area. This is where thoughts are shaped and then transformed into a communicable form that others can understand. Since the left side of the brain governs the right side of the body, the prevalence of right-handedness is often viewed as a reflection of left-brain dominance.
However, recent findings reveal that for some individuals, language functions occur in the right hemisphere. These individuals are more likely to be left-handed. It’s not just a simple case of left versus right either. The more a person favors one hand over the other, the stronger the link with the opposite side of the brain. Left-handed individuals, in particular, are highly likely to have right-brain dominance for language. Additionally, those with a family history of left-handedness tend to have stronger right-brain language centers, suggesting that the development of handedness and language are intertwined.
7. The Design of Left-Handed Spiral Staircases
It’s widely known that many medieval castles feature spiral staircases designed for defense. A clockwise spiral staircase provides an advantage to defenders (likely the one retreating up or down the stairs) by allowing greater mobility. The defender can place their left hand on the central post for balance while wielding a sword with their right hand. This tactic assumes the defenders are right-handed, which presents a challenge for left-handed individuals. So, what could a left-handed lord do in this situation?
Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland, the ancestral home of the Kerr family, traces its origins back to 1066 when they arrived with William the Conqueror. This family is known for its strong left-handed lineage. Legend has it that many of the Kerr estates, including Ferniehirst, were designed with counterclockwise spiral staircases instead of the usual clockwise ones. This modification gave the predominantly left-handed family a tactical advantage, making it easier for them to fight off invaders while presenting significant challenges to attackers. The Kerr lords realized the strategic benefits of left-handed fighters, and it became customary to train all their soldiers to fight with their left hand. This led to the term 'Kerr-handed' or 'corrie-fisted' to describe someone who favors their left hand.
6. Innate Fear of Left-Handedness
History has not been kind to left-handed people. They were often forced to retrain themselves to use their right hand and even punished for using the “wrong” one. However, recent scientific research suggests that this bias against left-handedness may be rooted in something more than just societal pressure to conform. Researchers from the University of Utah have found that things related to the left side of our body are innately more frightening. In one experiment, participants were exposed to various threats coming from either the right or left side. For instance, when told an earthquake had struck either to the left or right of their city, people found the threat from the left side to be far more terrifying, with more individuals opting to evacuate as a result.
Similar findings emerged when the threat was changed to a radioactive disaster. Despite the danger from the right side being closer, people still perceived the left side as a greater threat. In addition, people were more disgusted by objects on their left, such as fake poop, and would go out of their way to avoid them. Several theories exist to explain this, such as our brains’ tendency to overcompensate by favoring the right side, as well as a natural feeling of greater defense capabilities when confronting threats from our stronger right side.
5. The Left-Handed Warriors in the Bible
We've previously mentioned the potential advantages of being left-handed in combat, and this idea has historical roots. The Bible even highlights left-handed warriors, sparking interesting discussions. To free Israel from the Moabites, God sent Ehud, a left-handed assassin, who carried out one of the Bible's most infamous assassinations. The story emphasizes how Ehud concealed his double-edged dagger on his right thigh to sneak it past the king's guards. Ehud was not the only left-handed warrior mentioned in the Bible. These warriors came from the tribe of the Benjamites.
According to the Book of Judges, the Benjamites were remarkable warriors, capable of hitting a single human hair with a sling and using a bow with unparalleled ambidextrous skill. There is some debate about how this tribe developed their left-handed combat style. One theory suggests that the Benjamites were naturally predisposed to left-handedness, similar to the Kerr family mentioned earlier. Another theory revolves around the translation of the texts. The terms used to describe their left-handed fighting skills didn’t simply mean 'left-handed' but were interpreted as 'restricted in his right hand.' This interpretation could imply that the Benjamites trained right-handed individuals to adopt left-handed combat techniques, giving them a strategic advantage in battle. It's also possible that the Bible highlighted these left-handed Benjamites because of the ironic nature of their name—'Benjamin,' which translates to 'son of my right hand,' making them, humorously, 'left-handed right-handers.'
4. King George VI and the Retraining of Left-Handed Children
The bias against left-handed children has led to some extreme practices throughout history. A Zulu child caught eating with their left hand could face the punishment of having that hand burned in hot porridge. Even in 20th-century Britain, children were sometimes forced to have their left hand tied down to compel them to use their right hand. British child psychologists who supported this practice believed that children using their left hand were displaying—and fostering—a 'defiant personality' that needed correction at once.
Even monarchs weren't immune to this bias. Tutors worked diligently to make the young Duke of York (later known as George VI) switch from using his left hand to his right, while also addressing his well-known stutter. This, along with the emergence of stutters in other children undergoing similar retraining, gave rise to the theory that the two might be connected. Medical professionals presented theories suggesting that retraining children to become right-handed could lead to stutters, as well as conditions like dyslexia and reading difficulties. It was believed that switching dominant hands created a struggle for control between the two sides of the brain, resulting in a stutter. This theory ultimately led to a reconsideration of the retraining practice, and over time, it began to fade away.
Today, it's believed that the reason children forced to change their dominant hand may develop a stutter has less to do with a conflict between the two hemispheres of the brain and more with the stress they experience during the process.
3. Being Left-Handed Might Help You Survive the Apocalypse
When society collapses and the world descends into chaos, people will be scrambling to gather whatever supplies they can find to survive the night. You've probably heard discussions about what you'd need to get through an apocalypse, but chances are, you've never heard anyone say, 'I’d like to be left-handed.' However, that might be the most useful thing to consider. If you’ve watched Rocky, you already know how much of an edge left-handed fighters have, and studies have shown that the more lawless the environment, the more significant that advantage becomes.
Typically, about 10 percent of the population is left-handed, but in certain societies, that figure can be much higher. For example, in Venezuela’s Yanomami tribe, approximately 5 out of every 1,000 people are murdered annually, and around 23 percent of the population is left-handed. In Indonesia's Eipo tribe, where the murder rate is 3 per 1,000, about 27 percent of the people are left-handed. The people of Jimi Valley in Papua New Guinea, with a murder rate of 5.4 per 1,000, also have an above-average left-handed population, at 13 percent.
A study conducted by the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences at the University of Montpellier shows a clear distinction between violent societies and more peaceful ones. For instance, the Dioula people of West Africa have a murder rate of just 0.013 per 1,000 and a left-handed population of only 3 percent. Researchers suggest that the advantage of being left-handed in more violent societies is not merely about survival, but also about natural selection, enabling left-handed traits to be passed down through generations.
2. Debunking The Myth Of Shorter Lifespans
In relation to the myth that left-handed people live shorter lives than their right-handed counterparts, let’s examine that commonly circulated claim. A study from the late 1980s to early 1990s involving 2,000 people living and dying in Southern California concluded that left-handed individuals, on average, passed away nine years earlier than their right-handed peers. Researchers speculated that this shorter lifespan could be linked to the challenges left-handed people face in a world designed for right-handed individuals, with statistics showing left-handed drivers were five times more likely to die in car accidents. But was this really the cause?
Left-handed readers can rest easy knowing that the theory has since been completely debunked. The data might have seemed to add up, and the method appeared sound, so what went wrong? The issue lies in a peculiar factor. For much of history, left-handed people were forced to become right-handed, and this practice has only just started to fade. When the researchers analyzed the deaths, they called the families of the deceased to ask if they had been right-handed or left-handed. Given the age of the individuals involved, many left-handed people had grown up in an era when being left-handed was stigmatized and suppressed. Therefore, not only would they have concealed their left-handedness, but their families would likely have regarded them as right-handed. Those who openly admitted to being left-handed were often younger, having been born after the stigma had diminished. This made it appear as though the early deaths of left-handed people were a reflection of the entire population.
1. Cesare Lombroso’s Theories On The Left-Handed
As a physician at the turn of the 20th century, Cesare Lombroso’s views on left-handed people might have been expected to be more clinical and open-minded. But, as he put it himself: “Man advances in civilization and culture; he shows an ever-greater right-sidedness compared to women and savage races, [who] even when they are not properly left-handed, have certain gestures and movements which are a form of left-handedness.” In case there’s any doubt about his perspective, he elaborated further.
Lombroso believed that the higher part of the brain was linked to logic and reason, while the lower part controlled basic urges and emotions. He thought that this lower brain was what guided the lives of the left-handed, as well as criminals, lunatics, and the generally immoral. Although he didn’t claim that left-handedness made a person inherently bad, he did assert that it was one of the traits he found most often in “the worst characters among the human species.” Lombroso also cited the widespread historical bias against left-handed individuals as evidence for his theory, which, at the time, was considered groundbreaking medical science. Strangely, his views persisted, with some scientists in the 1990s still referencing his work, using it to argue that left-handed people were more prone to genetic disorders and shorter lifespans.
