Left-handed in a Right World

A PRESENTAT ION ON HANDEDNESS (YES, IT ’S A WORD)

First Thing’s First...

• What is handedness??– According to the World English Dictionary,

handedness is “The tendency to use one hand more skillfully or in preference to the other.”

•How is it determined?- Left-handedness has been linked to the gene LRRTM1, according to National Geographic.

Percentages

• Around 90% of the population is right handed• Which means that there are around 630-750 million

lefties out there (out of 7 billion people)• Less than 1% of the population is ambidextrous.• 85% of lefties consider themselves clumsier and

more awkward than average, according to a survey done by lefthandersday.com

• Around 30% of lefties have partial to no dominant brain hemisphere at all, leaving them more at risk of learning disorders.

Which Hand are

You?

Lefties• Are better at divergent thinking

• …. making them more geared towards careers in the arts, music, sports, and information technology fields.

• Many religions associate the left hand with the Devil and the right hand with Good.

• There is evidence they may possess a better memory.

• Come out on top (in terms of survival). Because they are unusual, they represent an unknown, which is an advantage in fighting, researchers believe.

Did You Know?• The word sinister is derived from the latin root

“sinistral”, meaning “in regards to the left side”

• Four out of the last seven presidents have been lefties (Obama, Clinton, Ford, and H.W. Bush)

• Lefties live in a right-handed world (think about it: your scissors, can opener, car handles, desks)

• If you’re a lefty, you’re more likely to be affected by fear, (according to research by the British Psychology Society).

• International Left-Handers Day is August 13th.

Famous lefties

• Barack Obama

• Bill Clinton

• Joan of Arc

• Julius Caesar

• Helen Keller

• Raphael

• Leonardo Da Vinci

• Sylvester Stallone

• Babe Ruth

• Jay Leno

• Michelangelo

Bibliography

• http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/handedness• http://

www.facebook.com/Hamza.Fansclubx?filter=1• http://

shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/bodies-influence-decisions-223400296.html

• http://www.livescience.com/17009-left-handedness-ambidexterity.html

• http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living-pictures/little-known-facts-about-lefthanders.aspx#/slide-5

• http://suite101.com/article/personality-traits-of-lefties-a46563• Christman, Stephen D. "Left- and right-handedness." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2012. Web.  8 Sept.

2012.

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070801-left-gene.html