Today’s lesson is all about left-handedness
Lesson summary
Hi there, it’s Jeff, and thanks for joining us for another Plain English. This is lesson 335 and JR, our producer, has posted the full lesson online at PlainEnglish.com/335. Remember that includes the free transcript, translations, instructional video, practice exercises, and more. PlainEnglish.com/335.
Coming up today: left-handedness in the human and animal worlds. There’s no question the world is built by and for righties. We’ll explore some of the ways that’s true, and also talk about left-handedness in nature and in history. The expression is “cater to” and we have a song of the week.
All about left-handedness
About ten percent of the people listening to this lesson are left-handed. If you’re one of them, then you know that lefties unfortunately often have to adapt to a world built by and for righties.
The physical world caters to the approximately 90 percent of people who are right-handed, in ways that might surprise you if you’re part of the majority. One of the earliest disadvantages lefties encounter comes in school. I’m not sure how it is where you are, but in many American classrooms, there’s a design of desk that’s particularly cruel to lefties.
These space-saving desks are attached to the chairs. While that’s probably not good for anyone’s posture, it’s especially inconvenient for left-handed students. That’s because that style of desk has an armrest on the right, where you rest your arm as you’re writing. If you write with your left hand, you’ll have difficulty writing because you have to hold your elbow up. And if you’re writing in a spiral notebook with the rings on the left, then you’re really in trouble.
It’s not just kids at a disadvantage. The grown-up world is full of everyday items built by, and for, righties. The next time you open a can of soup, veggies, or tuna, pause for a second and be thankful that you’re a rightie. That’s because a standard can opener is difficult, if not dangerous, for a left-handed person to use. The standard can opener is meant to be held in your left hand, while you use your right, or dominant, hand to turn the knob clockwise. The natural movement is totally opposite for lefties; to use a standard can opener, they have to reach over the can with their left hand. It’s similar with standard scissors.
Other things are just awkward, like swiping a credit card, opening the zipper on a pair of jeans, using the cupholders in the center console of a car, typing numbers on the right-hand side of a standard keyboard, using a standard mouse, or trying to read the numbers of a standard tape measure.
As with many things in human nature, the dominance of your right or left hand falls on a spectrum; it’s not simply binary. The Edinburgh handedness inventory was invented in 1971. It’s a scale that’s used to measure the dominance of the right and left hand in everyday activities. This scale uses twenty household objects such as spoons, scissors, and even a tennis racket to see how you handle them to find out where you are on the scale.
Left-handers have learned to be innovative to live and thrive in the right-handed world. Most guitars are built for righties. But famous left-hander Jimi Hendrix didn’t let that stop him. He turned his guitar upside down so it would be more comfortable to play.
With practice, most people can be like Jimi Hendrix: no, not as good on the guitar. I mean, like Jimi Hendrix in that, with practice, you can learn to use your non-dominant hand for more everyday activities. Out of necessity, many lefties develop stronger motor skills in their non-dominant hand. But right-handers can do the same, sometimes in surprising ways.
Here’s a question: Who’s the most famous left-handed golfer? If you said Phil Mickelson…you’re wrong. The golfer known as “Leftie” is actually right-handed. Mickelson learned to swing a golf club left-handed because he would mimic his instructor while standing opposite him. The three-time Master’s winner golfs left-handed, but is right-handed in every other respect. Some right-handed baseball players learn to swing from both sides because the flexibility gives them an advantage. Nobody, however, throws from their non-dominant hand—that’s too much to ask.
What are the chances of being left or right-handed? It depends on the handedness of the parents. There is a nine and a half percent chance that children of two right-handed parents will have a left-hander. A left-handed parent and a right-handed parent have a twenty percent chance of having a left-handed child. Two left-handed parents have a 26 percent chance of having a left-handed child. About one lucky percent of people in the world are equally capable with their left and right hands; they are called ambidextrous.
The rest of the animal kingdom is similar, but different. Similar, because most animals have a dominant side. Different, because the chances of being left- or right-dominant is about equal. Many more animals than humans have no paw preference. The only animal population that’s not evenly split between left- and right-dominant is parrots—it’s not known why parrots have a 90 percent chance of being left-clawed, but they do.
Scientists believe that ancient humans would have had a fifty-fifty chance of being right- or left-handed. Over time, something must have changed: what could it have been? Handedness is related to the left and right sides of the brain, and our brains are not symmetrical. Different regions control different functions. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice-versa. The left side of the brain is also more associated with speech and motor control. As humans evolved, we built these skills, so the left side of our brains grew over time. Perhaps that’s why the right side slowly would have become more dominant in the population over time.
If that’s true, then why are we not all right-handed? There is a theory about why left-handedness still exists in a fraction of the population, which is based on one word: combat, or physical fighting. Right-handers have a hard time fighting against left-handers, giving lefties a bit of an advantage in physical confrontations. Over time, that might have led to reproductive success—just enough to keep left-handedness in the population. Technology has changed fighting today, but there are clues from tribes that don’t use sophisticated weapons. A scientific study of modern-day tribes found that left-handedness ranges from three percent in the most pacifist societies to 27 percent in the most violent and warlike societies.
The word “sinister” in English has two meanings. The most common meaning is “evil.” But it has an older meaning, less common today. “Sinister” can also mean something is unlucky because it’s on the left side.
Are you a leftie?
There’s so much about the world that’s harder for lefties. I think everyone in school knows that it’s harder to write on those desks—I hated those desks and I was right-handed. And I was vaguely aware that scissors are harder for lefties to use. But I never thought about a can opener. I never thought about the number pad on a keyboard. Yikes! You lefties have a hard time of it, right? But you have the advantage on the pitcher’s mound, you have to admit that.
If you’re a lefty and you have some stories to share, head over to our Facebook group to let me know if I missed anything: PlainEnglish.com/Facebook will take you there.
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