LEFTY GALORE

[ne11er]

Yes, it's time to give this topic it's own discussion thread. It has shown itself to be worthy enough. HAHA.

The Mister...perhaps it is upside down in a sense. Again, this involves a demonstration.

ADVANTAGE:
*Depending on corners and angles, if you need to hammer a nail into some 2x4s, sometimes, being lefty is the advantage...then again, those other angles and corners are advantages for the righties.

*A few steps closer to first base in baseball.

*Kind of along the same lines as the accounting thingy...but using the mouse with the right hand and writing with the left.


Anyone else got lefty advantages???
[image]http://www.emoticons.f2s.com/goofy/crazy.gif

[Maine-iac]

Can type faster and more accurately. Most common letters are on the left side of the standard keyboard. (a,e,s,t,r,e)

Lefty "home keys" - a s d f
Rightie "home keys" - ; l k j

Which set would you rather have?

[The Bomb]

More advantages?

* Toll booths and drive-through ATMs (of which there are none in my city)

[General Kenobi (ret.)]

Ability to keep a job as a major league relief pitcher long after you are clearly washed up.

[Abducens]

The opening post of this thread reminds me of about half of my answers on 8I.

[Anonymous]

Back to baseball: If you are a pitcher, you will invariably be called "crafty", no matter what your style of pitching is. Righties are never "crafty".

[Anonymous]

Greg Maddux is considered crafty.

Lefties are more accurate.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I am about to read this, if it ever connects:

http://www.junkscience.com/news2/leftmort.htm
I did a search on Yahoo! for "left-handedness." Once you get past the usual obsessed folk, you can find some good links.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Actually, Not very interesting. The AAA has a better debunking.

[Patience]

"lefty Galore" isn't that the lessor known villian in Goldfinger?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Try searching "Left-handedness mortality." That should do it.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Here is a copy of the LA Times story from 1993.

http://solafide.uark.edu/Biostat/MedicalStudies/left-young.html

[Dr T Non-Fan]

This one wasn't so good, either.
Major missing point: The Halpern and Coren studies looked at age-at-death, but then Coren wonders where all the old left-handers are.
Asking dead people won't give you the answer.
You idiot.

[ne11er]

patience,

I want to say the Goldfinger gal for bond in that movie was some more like P***Y Galore. As in another name for a cat. If you can pick up on that....

http://us.imdb.com/Title?Goldfinger+(1964)

[Dr T Non-Fan]

July/Aug 1993, page 44, by Harry Panjer.
The web site doesn't have it.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

From Waterloo web site, very old:

UW study disputes left-handed people's death rates

Southpaws don't die any earlier than right-handed people, says a study by a University of Waterloo actuarial scientist.
Prof. Harry Panjer, using an innovative actuarial technique to analyse baseball player data from the Baseball Encyclopedia, reached the conclusion that no statistically significant differences exist in mortality between right-handed and left-handed people.
His study, the first done by an actuary, contradicts a previous report by American psychologists Diane Halpern and Stanley Coren based on similar data. (Actuaries are the experts who generate mortality tables.)
The Halpern-Cohen study concluded that life expectancy of left-handers was nine years shorter than for right-handers, sparking much worry among parents of left-handed children as well as among southpaws themselves.
That study, Panjer says, was 'extremely flawed.' It doesn't, for instance, take into account the generally improving mortality over the last century as well as differing levels of mortality in handedness by sex and the increasing proportion of left-handers in the population.
Panjer is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. His study was released by the American Academy of Actuaries, based in Washington, D.C.

[anon3]

ne11er,
I'm confused by the names of all these James Bond temptresses.

Weren't there also some called Dr. Goodlefthand and Octo-lefty?

[ne11er]

anon3...um...I'm confused by your confusion...

[ne11er]

speaking of Bond...
Are guns a lefty handicap? I never been near one, so I was wondering if the saftey thing a problem.

Oh, and another tidbit my calendar provided me was this: slot machines are a handicap.

[Patience]

On 2001-11-06 11:05, ne11er wrote:
Oh, and another tidbit my calendar provided me was this: slot machines are a handicap.


I doubt they are anymore, since nobody uses the lever anymore.

The biggest one I always heard growing up were the one piece desks with the armrest

[42]

I remember seeing a book about lefties, part of which dealt with possible differences in mortality based on handedness. I'm not sure how much credibility to give it, but some of it made sense.

The book suggested that higher mortality might be expected due to lefties trying to live in a right-handed world. (Have you ever seen a left-handed person trying to use an electric table saw?!) But it also suggested that a difficult/traumatic birth resulted in both: a greater mortality rate, not just at birth, but also later in life from a variety of causes; AND
a greater probability of being left-handed.This suggests a correlation between handedness and mortality (vs. a cause-and-effect relationship).

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I consider myself lefty, even though I do many things right-handed. I do them right-handed, because I've deemed them more efficient for me.
Opening a car door, for example. Left hand for the driver's side, right hand for the passenger side.
Table saw: right hand.
Table tennis: both. I'll use two paddles on occasion. Better with the right.
Gun shooting: right.
Pool shooting: left.
Hockey shooting: right.
Writing: right.
Throw: left.
Bats: both, started with right.
Juggle: both.
Kick: left is stronger.
Dribble and shoot: left. No right whatsoever.
10-key: right. Found a book that shows how to hold the pencil while 10-keying. Published in 1950's as a manual.
Mouse: right. Allows me to keep using shortcut keys like Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.
Eat: right. Cut: left.
Drink beer: both.
Out of a ladle: right.

[42]

I eat and write left handed. I also play most sports left-handed. The things that I do right-handed (using scissors, playing pool, etc.) are things that right-handed people showed me how to do at a very young age.

[ne11er]

Okay, here's something for you actuaries out there (or those of you aspiring to be one.) IF two parents are righties, there is only a 10% chance that their child will be a lefty.

My parents are both righties. I'm a pure lefty. No right hand stuff here, except for a few things that don't require extreme coordination of the right hand. Otherwise, pool, throwing, batting, writing, scissoring, drinking beer, flipping burgers, etc is all done with my left hand.

But, here's the kicker. My younger sister is ALSO a lefty. However, she's much more ambidexterious (? spelling). And my older brother is a righty. So...anyone out there believe in genetics causing which hand one will use? I also have two aunts and an uncle on my mom's side who are lefties. All grandparents were righties.

Any theories?

[ne11er]

BTW...the 10% lefty tidbit came from the cool lefty calendar I have, not from thin air.

[Maine-iac]

A lefty friend really wanted to learn to knit and she had a terrible time until she finally found another lefty to teach her. Righties just can't teach lefties how to knit.

[JMO]

Sure they can (teach 'em to knit). Just use a mirror.

{edited to fix a typo.}
_________________
Carol (Just My Opinion) Marler

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JMO on 2001-11-07 08:36 ]</font>

[ne11er]

My mom (or maybe it's me) doesn't have enough patience to teach me how to knit like a lefty. But somehow, I learned how to crochet while watching her show my sister's friend. I also learned how to cross-stich from my mom, but that's not as complicated as knitting.

Sewing machines are lefty handicap as well.

While, it's easy to just say "Reverse everything that your mom does in knitting." That is harder on the brain than it seems!

[Effa]

Neller - was the milkman a lefty? :smile:

[Damn, Dirty Ape]

"I also have two aunts and an uncle on my mom's side who are lefties. All grandparents were righties. Any theories?"

Yeah. This was brought up earlier about how years ago, kids who favored their left (sinister) hand were smacked until they started using their right. Maybe some of your grandparents are natural lefties who were converted?

My aunt was converted this way by nuns at her catholic school. She deffiantly (stubornly?) continued to use her left, and now she's ambidextrous!

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I know of no one in my tree who is left-handed.
My mother took me on Disneyland's Matterhorn while three months pregnant (in a time before warning signs). On the plane trip home, there was some mechanical problem and my mom freaked. Is that traumatic enough?

Anyway, my smart-ass attitude is more likely to be an early cause of death than my LH.

Whoa! You can't flip burgers and drink beer at the same time? What kind of American are you?!

[Anonymous]

I have only been out of school for a few months and had forgotten about the right-handed desks, thanks for remind me. Another lefty problem (maybe it is just me) when you write with a pen that doesn't dry right away, you end up having to contort your hand around your writing or you end up with smudges and smears all over the page.

[ne11er]

Effa...interesting theory about the milk man.

[Flora]

Supposedly for most kids, handedness does not make itself apparent until after the age of two - often not until three. My toddler was showing signs of being a lefty when he was just 8 months old and I kept saying "wait and see." Well, at 22 months he is definitely a lefty for eating, drawing and throwing (what an arm!) I always make sure to let people know he is a lefty so they do not try to "correct" which hand he is holding stuff in. And he is lucky to have a lefty daddy who can teach him to pitch like he does. But can I tell you how hard it was to find a lefty baseball glove for a toddler?

[Hagbard Celine]

How 'bout the fact that lefties get a separate pad of paper to use on exams 1-4 while us righties need to erase our errors to fit our scrap work in.

I wasted a GOOD 10 seconds.

Unfair, I say, UNFAIR!!

[Dr T Non-Fan]

What kind of balls are you throwing to your toddler that would require a mitt?
(That does seem unusual that there are no mitts, though.)

[Patience]

I have two lefty kids, small gloves can be found. I believe first was at ToysRUs. Then handed down.

Hard part is trying to teach them sports by mirror image. I prefer to stand behind and move their arms in a proper manner, I can't think lefty at all.

[Flora]

Nothing REQUIRES a mitt yet, we just wanted him to have one. Hubby actually got him one before I even went to the hospital, but had to settle for a righty mitt at the time. We recently found the lefty at Boscovs by pure luck. Now we are trying to teach him to catch with it - loads of fun. And he has a smaller righty mitt for his cousins to use!

I don't throw anything hard at him, but man was I beaned on the temple the other day!

[Flora]

Patience - I guess you don't have any harder time with that than a righty would have with righty kids. Luckily dh will be doing the sports educating and I just get to sit back and say "how cute."

They went into the batting cage together the other day - one of those electronic games where it just shows an image of a ball coming at you and you swing at what you think is the appropriate time - boy was that fun to watch!

[Patience]

I assume you mean lefty w/ righty kids!

Actually I believe most lefties can use their right hand better than most righties can use their left.

Those games are ok, but don't teach the kid to watch the ball all the way in (yeah I know hes a toddler).

I brought my daughter at 6 to real batting cage. Doesn't have strength to make it go anywhere, but on slow pitch softball (low arc) can learn stance and how to make contact.

[Flora]

I assumed you meant it was hard to stand facing your child with bat in hand and expect them to figure out how to hold their bat. Which is a problem if you are same-handed but not if you are opposite-handed. I think I am getting in over my head on this sports stuff!

[42]

Let's not forget the most important advantage of all for lefties: the handle for the toilet is on the left side of the tank! :wink:

DTNF: Re your mom going on the Matterhorn while 3 months pregnant - I think the theory is that left-handedness is sometimes related to a traumatic birth/labor, rather than a trauma during pregnancy. Something about the left side of the brain not getting enough oxygen during delivery.

[Laffit Pincay, Jr.]

My two younger brothers are left-handed. The youngest became left-handed by imitating his immediately older brother.

The older of the two may have watched his grandfather as an example. Both parents, three sisters, and myself are right-handed.

I think there is some environmental influence on left-handedness, especially when it comes to baseball, bats left-fields right.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Laffit Pincay, Jr. on 2001-11-07 19:40 ]</font>

[ne11er]

I have started wondering if my younger sister learned to be a lefty from me since she's ambidexterious. We're only 19 months apart, so I suppose that I could influence her environment quite a bit. Now that I think about it...I guess I don't really know how much she does with her right hand. Time to go e-mail her. :smile:

[Patience]

of course when talking genetics you must separate those who "choose" to be lefty or are trained to be righty from those who are born that way.

So you may not truly know what older generations were born as based on the old stigmas

as long as there is some lefty on both sides of the family even far back, there is a possibility of a lefty child

[42]

I've noticed an unusually high percentage of left-handed managers at my company. (I also know that right-handed people never notice things like that.) When I see somebody else who is left-handed, I think to myself that, even if I don't know them, and no matter how different our lives may be, I know that there is at least one set of experiences that we have in common that most people aren't even aware of. I embrace being left-handed. I like being a little different. I enjoy being more than just a number. :smile:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 42 on 2001-11-08 16:51 ]</font>

[ne11er]

Lefty fact of the day....

Left-handers are less likely to b able to roll their tongues than right-handers.

I guess I'm more talented again than the average lefty since I am able to roll my tongue. Both ways too!

[ne11er]

One other thing I noticed when I was gasing up my car the other day...the door to the gas tank is kind of a lefty handicap since it keeps getting in the way when you're putting the nozzle in and out of the thing. Grrr... Oh, the trials of life.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I suggest moving to New Jersey.

[42]

Lefties are also more likely to be able to read upside-down.

[Thought]

Ne11er, I don't understand your point. You seem to be saying that if a small sample contains more outlyers than expected, the assumed distribution must be wrong.

[The Mister]

Thought! You're back!

[ne11er]

Thought - I don't know how scientific my tidbits are. I just read them and report them and have fun with them. I was just saying that I can roll my tongue even though it is less likely for lefties to be able to do that. Just having fun... :smile:

[Thought]

Indeed I am. Thanks for noticing. :smile:

[ne11er]

So, the calendar tidbit today was for getting gifts for lefties at a place called "Lefty's Corner". Looked it up on the internet and found out a piece of infomation.

Remember how I said there was a 10% chance two righty parents will have a lefty child? Well, according to this website, it's only a 2% chance. However, if there are two lefty parents, there is a 50% chance the child will be lefty. Whatever the case...it's all still interesting!

Also, the only place you'll find a majority of lefties is among the gorilla population.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

You don't go the Ned's Leftorium?

[ne11er]

What's that?

[Flora]

think The Simpsons

[ne11er]

Afraid I don't know the Simpsons all that well. Sorry.

[Flora]

Ned Flanders (next door to Simpsons, religious guy) had a store called the Leftorium for a while.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I don't know you!

[ne11er]

DTNF...sorry to hear that you don't know me. Let me introduce myself... HI! I'm ne11er.

:wink:

I watch the Simpsons OCCASSIONALLY when I have to sit in the same room as my roommate. So, I know the characters...just don't know every tidbit about them

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Not every tidbit!? Bwaaahaaahaaaa! It's like you're some completely different person!

Quickie Trivia: most animated charaters are left-handed. The animators often use a mirror to draw people writing or throwing.

[WQN]

I'm not even left handed and I've read this entire thread. Is it genetics or chance that determines lefthandedness? I know I have read that one side of the brain will dominate but at what point is this distinction determined - at conception? at birth? (my daughter experienced an awfully traumatic delivery and she has always been right-handed whereas my older daughter was ambidextrous until she was two and is now righthanded) or developed in the first couple of years? Any clear answers on this?

[ne11er]

I think this whole deal of lefthandedness could forever be aruged over whether it is nature or nurture. I kind of believe that both play a role. My calendar tidbit for the day is that Ronald Reagan was born a lefty, but was forced to switch to being a righty. So, both nature and nurture had something to do with it. After all, he naturally was a lefty, but he learned to be a righty.

Aren't a lot of toddlers ambidexterous until they figure out which hand they have more coordination with? I don't have children of my own (yet?), so I am not up to par on child development.

Anyway...both sides have a strong argument. Believe what you wish. :smile:

[Flora]

generally a child will not show preference until about the age of two or three, but that is generally believed to be because they are not yet doing too much in the way of activities for which handedness matters - whether you are righty or lefty, you can usually pick up a cheerio with the thumb and forefinger of either hand, throw a ball wildly with either arm, or scribble equally well with either hand. However, drawing a neat circle or having accuracy in your throw is best accomplished with the hand that dominates, and by 2 or 3 the toddler has figured out which that is.

Does anyone have stats on identical twins and handedness?

[ne11er]

I heard a story many years ago about a mother who had twins. She had each on either side of her when she was feeding them soft foods, so one would reach with one hand and the other child did the same with the opposite hand. I guess these kids grew up to be that particular hand that they continually reached with. Interesting.

I think mirror twins are cool.

[ne11er]

GREAT NEWS, everyone.

Remember back when I said spatulas were a lefty handicap? Well, my mom and I figured it out. SOME spatulas (not rubber scrappers) have an angled edge on them. They slope from the right side down to the left side. So, that must be the handicap! :smile: Boy...I sure can rest better now.

[Loner]

What about populations where the written language goes from right to left, like Hebrew? Do they have a higher proportion of left-handed people?

[Lee Mellon]

I read some place that left-handedness is more common among twins, and that left-handed folks are frequently surviving singles of original twins. You murdering beasts.

[ne11er]

I'm a twin? Doubt that. Wouldn't they know if they were carrying twins? Wouldn't they have seen it on the ultrasound?

Any nurses or doctors out tehre?

[Oracle]

My favorite word-of-the-day on this topic is "ambisinister." We didn't know the word, but it exactly describes my brother, of whom we used to say that he could mess things up with either hand. My mom was determined not to override any preference her kids might have had for the left hand. My sis and I both went with the right hand, but my brother didn't seem to care all that much. Finally my mom decided that if he didn't care, it might be better to encourage him to go for the majority opinion, as a rightie.

As for the question about lefties being the remainder of twins: I am not a doctor, but . . . A great many spontaneous abortions occur very early. Often the woman doesn't even realize that she was pregnant. Similarly, if one of a pair of twins fails to survive, that could occur long before anyone does an ultrasound.

[Elessar]

I am also left handed, and I've been that way naturally since birth. When I was small, I used to hold things (like crayons, etc.) in my left hand. My parents and others used to see this and take whatever it was I was holding out of my left hand and put it in my right hand. Then, when I thought they weren't looking, I'd switch it back! :grin:

[ne11er]

I suppose a lot could go on before the first ultrasound in regards to the survivor of twins. But, spontaneous abortion could only happen with fraternal twins, right? Since genes are the exact same in identical twins and they'd feed off of the same placenta, you'd think you'd know if you had twins in this case. Right?

If we go with this idea about identical vs. fraternal...would it really make a difference what hands fraternal children use? Because they are independent of each other theoretically.

You know what? Forget this whole actuary career path, I'm going into lefty research and genetics. :wink:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ne11er on 2001-12-26 09:41 ]</font>

[The Mister]

On 2001-12-26 08:30, Shadow wrote:
My favorite word-of-the-day on this topic is "ambisinister." We didn't know the word, but it exactly describes my brother, of whom we used to say that he could mess things up with either hand.<font size=2>How appropriate. In Latin, "dexter" means right-handed, and "sinister" is left-handed (since left-handedness was historically considered eeeeeevil). So "ambidextrous" means "both right hands" and your new word "ambisinister" means "both left hands".

Of course, maybe your family already knew this, in which case, nevermind. :wink:

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Hmm, spatula use: right hand on the spatula, left hand on the griddle. My left hand is stronger, but my right hand is more accurate.

Got another one: Have you ever seen those people who can put a stack of coins on the back side of their forearm, and snatch them with their same hand? For me, it's left-arm only. I did 20 pennies once.

[Mick Fan]

Actually, the game of baseball is biased against lefties.

While it is true that lefties get two steps to first base, if you are left-handed, you can't play second base, third base, shortstop, or catcher. If they wanted to really bias baseball for lefties, you'd run around the bases the other way. Think about it.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I disagree, courteously.
There are three positions with varying degrees of advantages toward being left-handed:
1. First base. Easier to tag someone out in the pick-off play.
2. Right field. For batted balls into the corner, don't have to turn 90 degrees (or 270 the other way) to throw the ball to second base.
3. Pitcher. Due to the relative abundance of left-handed batters from the advantages of batting against right-handers.

The combined effect is there's a higher percentage of left-handers playing baseball than are in the general population. It's all caused by the field's directional orientation, which is different from the other major sports. (Hockey has a slight handedness bias as well.)

It is this specialization (introduced over time) that caused much of the distortion in ages at death in the non-actuaries' mortality study.

[Mick Fan]

On 2001-12-26 18:50, Dr T Non-Fan wrote:
There are three positions with varying degrees of advantages toward being left-handed:
1. First base. Easier to tag someone out in the pick-off play.
2. Right field. For batted balls into the corner, don't have to turn 90 degrees (or 270 the other way) to throw the ball to second base.
3. Pitcher. Due to the relative abundance of left-handed batters from the advantages of batting against right-handers.



You do have a point, Dr. T, but these are minor advantages for lefties. However, you see right-handers playing these positions all the time.

The 2B, 3B, SS, C positions are so disadvantageous for lefties that it completely precludes them from playing the position.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I don't find these advantages slight at all.
Lefties pinch-hit for righties against righties as some unwritten rule.
Lefty pitchers are brought in to face them. I'd say 80% of pitching changes are caused by handedness.
I might give you the 1B, since it's not near the skill position of 2B, SS, and 3B. But RF is second or third on the list of defensive importance.
Still, with only 10% of population being left-handed, having a more equal proportion of lefties and righties than the general population is a sound strategy.

I will concede that equal access, relative to nearly every other sport (beside possibly polo), in baseball's specialist positions is a bit behind, But that's baseball tradition.

[ne11er]

I always got put in left field when I played little league baseball...softball...can't remember which. I should have known then that the athletic talent of the family went to my brother and sister. I found out later I was put in left field since little action happens there.

[Maine-iac]

Ne11er - It's better than "deep roving right field".

[Mick Fan]

It's also better than DH -- why bother taking your glove.

I always wanted to play infield, but my left-handedness did not allow it. I always got stuck in right field in a modified softball league -- I get no action except those stupid slicing balls that righties hit.

[ne11er]

Ooops...I guess I was in right field instead of left. Same as Mick Fan. As you can tell...I didn't stick with softball for long...too boring.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I like my face the way it is, so not playing infield was ok by me.
Also, if you're good enough, you could have played infield. You'd have to be somewhat fantastic to overcome the disadvantage, though.

[Mick Fan]

Yeah, if I was the left-handed Ozzie Smith, they may have let me play short for a few innings. :sad:

If there are any baseball trivia buffs out there, has a lefty ever played second, third, or short in the majors? I've never seen one.