Left-Handed!

Left handedness is the devil's hand

I’m one.

I consider myself a superior mutant, a God among insects.

Left handed people were one half of twins when first conceived.

I prefer the term Sinistromanual. Makes me sound like a supervillain.

Studies have found that southpaw (men) are twice as likely to be gay as are righties.

In a mixed room, among other things, I look for it (and “bedroom eyes”) when scoping out prospects.

Where are we at with Ambis? I naturally write with a pen, eat with a fork and use a mouse with my left, but do everything else predominantly with my right.

Are we smarter? Are we hotter? Are we in possession of special powers? Or are we like the maligned bisexuals, loved by no-one but desired by all?

Ive always been the same way R6 but we aren't ambies..they do stuff with both hand equally. We are "Mixed handed"

Everything they say in this article was true for me

R7 hello fellow mixie!

That’s an interesting article with good citations, thanks. I didn’t know there was strong suggested link between dyslexia/ADHD and mixed-handedness.

In my case, what’s funny is that I have had hyperlexia since childhood, as well as Aspergic levels of fixation...the opposite profile of that the studies describe. Weird. Perhaps it’s a crapshoot as to which developmental quirks you get...

Now I’m down the rabbit hole reading this fascinating paper, proposing that inconsistent handedness (ICH) is actually a more apt and telling variable marker of cognitive difference and divergence than the traditionally-measured variable of consistent handedness (CH) I.e. pure right or left-handedness. Apparently, ICH people have far more interhemispheric activity in their brains than either total righties or lefties, and this makes for some curious effects on cognitive ability. In the studies conducted, ICHs performed noticeably better than CHs with episodic memory recall (but less well with semantic), found it easier to update change or challenge beliefs (but in so doing became far more susceptible to the Barnum Effect), and generally seemed to demonstrate more cognitive dynamism and flexibility and divergence (but also easily swayed by illusion and hypnosis). There is also some suggestion that ICH tend to favour risk over benefit when weighing decisions and gave a predisposition to negative effect, resist stereotyping with conventional paradigm, and may spend more time in NREM sleep than CH counterparts. All very exciting findings.

[quote] Fine motor skills are controlled on the contra-lateral cerebral hemisphere. A left handed individual’s fine motor skills are controlled from the right cerebral hemisphere (Stanley, 1990). The cerebral hemisphere codes for muscles that control these skills. It is thought that in left handed people there may be a shift in these coding. There may be some events during embryological development that lead to left sidedness. These events could also result in the development of cross laterality. In one study it was found that a fetus exposed to excess testosterone in utero developed cross dominance after birth (Reinisch, 1992). During brain development, if the right cerebral hemisphere is exposed to excess testosterone, then the left hemisphere develops faster. This mismatch in growth gives room for cross laterality. Their brains permit the existence of dominant areas of the body on opposite side of the brain. Therefore in some ostensibly left-handed people there is a considerable amount of malleability of their brains. A person who is completely left handed would ideally have all the fine motor skills on the left side of the body, meaning the skills would then be controlled from the right cerebral hemisphere. It is not understood why this happens more often in left handed people than in right handed persons. A rather controversial theory has been suggested to explain this. It is thought by some researches that this phenomenon is as a result of a brain abnormality that occurs either during brain embryogenesis or at birth.

Good article r8 and boy I wish they knew this back when I was in school. I too am dyslexic , have adult ADD, suffer since early childhood with depression. I feel like I'm the poster child for everything that ail those who are ICH.

The good news is we seem to be rare and more interesting glitches than CH.

R9 "Another factor that has been implicated for causing cross dominance is the design of tools. Many tools are designed for use by the right handed individuals without accommodation for those with preference for the left side of the body. "

I am considered a lefty because I write with my left hand. No one tried to change me to right. I just naturally used a scissor with my right hand, eat with my left but comfortably change over if I'm bumping elbows at the table with a righty. I bowl, toss a ball, brush my hair with my right. Using my left hand for those tastes are just awkward for me.

So for me it was never about having to adapt to a "right handed" world

Left handed people created civilization!

R12 it’s thought by most scholars that Da Vinci was cross-dominant tending left.

I switch hands for several tasks. Like my mouse so I don't get carpal. It takes a little bit of practice but I like doing this. Can't jo with my left hand tho.

I always remark how many actors play a character as left handed when in a scene where they are writing, for example. I always wonder if they are really right handed but trying to add some interest to the character by playing them left handed.

I dice with my left hand but chop with my right.

Cruyff, Maradona, Pele....

R15, I suspect many of those actors naturally write with their left dominant hands because they are gay.

As a boy in little league, I became aware of that difference because I could catch better with my left hand. I had to catch the ball, quickly take off the mitt and then throw left handed.

Oh, well. As long as both my middle fingers work, I am good.

Yesterday around the kitchen table at a family gathering, we discovered that my Millennial BIL is also a cross-lateral like myself, only he never realised because where he comes from (Egypt, Arab Muslim family) left-handedness is considered spiritually unclean. He used to pick up pens and toys and utensils with his left as a baby, and use his right for other tasks, but his parents & schoolteachers forced him to use his right for everything.

It shocked me to hear that; I didn’t realise forced changes in handedness were still going on in the world. I think it ought to be stopped—it isn’t fair, it’s prejudiced, and doesn’t do the mixed or left-handed person any good because ultimately the difference brain activity cannot change no matter which hand you are conditioned to use.

I'm right-handed, but I've used left-handedness as an analogy when arguing with homophobes in the past -- e.g. explaining it's a natural variance in humans, or saying-left handed people aren't influenced to become right-handed by being exposed to right-handed people, etc.

I mean, it rarely works because homophobes tend to be stupid, but you've gotta try.

Being left handed is admonished many times in the Bible

I’m a lefty, but I have to mouse and use scissors with my right. It feels unnatural to do with my left hand. Mainly because mice and scissors are just set to up that way by default.

I’m an ambi when it comes to giving handjobs because I tire easily.

I taught myself to be ambidextrous so I could stand out from the others

R24 you either are or you aren’t. We know a fake when we see one!

I am left handed but I wear my watch on my left wrist.

I wear my watch on my left wrist too, but have destroyed the crystals banging them into so many things.

R27- I have a Seiko solar powered watch that I bought on Amazon nine years ago. I wear it EVERY day and it keeps excellent time still.

What I can’t do, that simply infuriates me:

I can’t properly use a cookie scoop. There’s something weird about how much pressure you put on the handle that cause the sweep to skip gears and get all fucked up.

I can’t cut up a chicken to save my life. I’ve watched thousands of videos on repeat and can’t get the hang of it.

I CAN drive a British made stcik sports car with the drivers seat on the right backwards down a narrow alley at 30 MPH. Learned that tricks at a fancy hotel I worked at when no one else was willing to even try it.

The fury I have felt as an ambi being given left-handed scissors. Like bitch not only are these a poor and insulting excuse for scissors they don’t spEaK tO MAh NEedS

[quote] I CAN drive a British made stcik sports car

Interesting. As a left-mixed hander, I have struggled to learn to drive and pass my test (in the U.K.) at all. Theoretically and technically I know my stuff, and I actually can execute the essentials of driving; however, when it comes to the real world context of taking in all the sensory input and simultaneously doing all the checks and looking for hazards while driving, my brain overloads and shuts off. Things like using the pedals, wheel and dash while following directions is also hugely difficult for me, and thus I also find it hard to focus for more than twenty minutes while driving.

How do y’all tie your shoelaces? I do one loop, then wrap the other lace around the base of the loop and pull through.

The double loop people are not to be trusted.

I'm left handed. So is my father and my paternal grandmother. My two siblings are right handed. Sitting in right handed desks at school was a pain. When i was a little kid, (4 or 5 years old) a teacher forced me to use scissors in my right hand, so thats how i learned to use them.

I can't believe you, GGG. You're so weird. You don't say anything all day and then when you open your mouth...you unload all these tremendous lies all over me!

Haven't lefties been traditionally been regarded as evil? Isn't Harry not only left handed but ginger too?

Yes OP I am a Ciotóg, though I use a mouse with my right hand. Lefties are more creative. It’s good to be in the 10%.

R32 I am pretty sure I tie my laces like you described but everyone points out that its weird.

God made few perfect people but he made them all left handed.

Yes.

Actually r35, William is the lefty in the Royal family.

Then I guess we are doomed, r40.

I am mixed handed with many things like using tools but not with things like a fork or scissors. I can write with my left hand but only at the same time as with my right hand and only backwards, mirroring what my right hand is writing

I'm proud to be left-handed.

R38 Right that.

Most gay men are right handed, saying that most gay men are left handed is like saying most gay men are useless. Just go kill yourself.

It was said that left handers are twice as likely to be gay as are right handers, not that most gays are left handed.

Left-handed people are supposed to be good at drawing maps and reading maps. I enjoy studying atlases.

[quote]How do y’all tie your shoelaces? I do one loop, then wrap the other lace around the base of the loop and pull through.

My shoes would never stay tied as a kid so my friend, who is left-handed like me said, "Tie them backwards."

Haven't had a problem since.

Apparently, if we do it the same way as right-handers then they can easily become untied.

I'm a rightie but have always jerked off with my left hand. People have commented that my left arm seems better developed than my right. Is that normal?

I'm a pure lefty.

But I can use my right hand with scissors simply because I was forced to learn how in grade school.

What's weird? Most of my favorite musicians happened to be left handed: Cobain, Bowie, Gaga, Hendrix, McCartney. I didn't realize any of them were lefties (except Hendrix) when I became fans.

I am left handed. When I was in early elementary school in the 70s, I had several teachers who forced me to learn to write using my right hand. The kindergarten teacher literally tied my left hand behind my back. Somehow my parents discovered this at the beginning of 1st grade and the new teacher suddenly allowed me to write with my left hand. I do most things with my right hand, but I can only write with my left hand.

I’m left handed but every single person in my family (all immediate and any extended that I can think of) are right handed. So does that mean I’m really adopted like I’ve always secretly hoped and dreamed?

We don't believe you, R51, and you are no longer allowed in our club.

I've always loved this story:

In high school I had this wonderfully oddball friend named Christina. She was obsessed with They Might Be Giants, obscure South American painters, and Edward Scissorhands. Truly bizarre, but an absolute wonderful human. Ended up becoming a pretty decent mixed media artist.

During our junior year, she sought me out as a friend solely on the fact I was left handed. She had decided that only left handed people were worthy of her time. We became great friends and went to prom together.

I don't know, r49, but do you want to give me a call sometime when you're bored?

R37 it’s not weird, you’re golden. They’re just oppressors.

R33 Oh jeez, I forgot about those awful desks. Also, as a mixed lefties I never knew which way to turn the paper when I write...still haven't figured it out.

Although I can only write with my left, I can only text with my right index finger. This all came naturally as no one ever tried to force me to only use my right with anything and the was back inn the late 50

Left-handed here.

I am rather brilliant.

But we're not error-free.

R54 thinks that, just because she didn't know anything about South American artists, they were "obscure."

Tsk.

My grand dad told us when his teachers found out he was left handed they forced him to write with his right hand.

R32 - I never learned to tie my shoes properly, so traditionally have done single-loop. However, I run a cross some shoe laces where they Loop falls apart fairly quickly, so in those cases I do use a double loop to secure things.

R29 - my first boyfriend was a whiz at cutting up a chicken, had the whole thing completed in a couple of minutes.

My father and brother were lefties. Right-handed is about the only "mainstream" trait I've got as gay, blue eyes, can't roll tongue or taste PTC are all outliers.

Another lefty here. I worked at a bank in my early twenties. One day, I was counting out cash to a customer who I'm pretty sure was Muslim (based on her last name and the fact her hair and neck were covered up with a black scarf). As I was handing her the stack of bills, she stopped me and said she wanted me to give her the money with my right hand, not my left.

In any job, I make an effort to be consistently professional, but this time I was visibly offended. I told her that in [italic]this[/italic] country (the U.S.) being left-handed was not a sign of evil or uncleanliness. Then I gave her the money with my left hand, glared at her, and walked away from my station without waiting for her response.

I'm left handed and of course the most common problem for us is smudging what we just wrote sometimes. Had some required units on technical drawing in college and I barely passed them because of that. Also cutting with scissors is always a challenge. I guess those 2 are my top complaints.

Who’s Left Out ?

I am left handed and I believe it is LITERAL VIOLENCE when anybody expects me to use right-handed scissors.

I went to school with a guy who was totally ambidextrous. He'd start writing notes, etc. with his right hand, and at some point he'd switch the pen to his left hand and go on writing. His handwriting was equally good for either hand.

Lefty here, although I do what I need to do with my right hand. I notice other lefties right away (a left-handed wave to all my kindred on this thread), but am often surprised by the co-worker, friend, etc, who comments on how they never noticed I was left-handed.

I’m left handed, and my ideal partner would be right handed. Lay to the left of me and I’ll show you a cool trick! 😈

R65 he sounds hot.

R65 I used to be able to do that as a kid, but not any more.

[quote]He'd start writing notes, etc. with his right hand, and at some point he'd switch the pen to his left hand and go on writing. His handwriting was equally good for either hand.

Was his name Westley?

Lefty here. I have to use a mouse and scissors as a righty though, I just can't do it the other way. But thing like writing and using a fork are all lefty. Same with drinking, I have to pick up the cup or bottle with my left hand.

My mom is a lefty, and so was her brother. My mom was forced, back in the 1950s, to use her right hand in school. Interestingly, their parents were both right-handed. I remember saying that in high school biology class when we did those things with recessive traits, and the teacher didn’t believe me.

I'm a lefty but like others became somewhat ambidextrous to get by (I can do can openers and scissors right-handed).

I worked in a large law firm for years and kept track of other lefties - almost 50% of the lawyers were left-handed.

R73 one of us, one of us, one of us...

Interesting sidelight: I'm told that being not just left-handed but strongly left-sided can confuse your body-language signals, or rather, those reading them. NLP followers can think you're lying when you're not, etc. My guess is that if you have this affect, ordinary people will sometimes/often feel there is something about you they don't trust, because they're unconsciously reading wrong-sided eye and body movements and finding they don't match your words or tone. I wonder whether that is an element in the association with "sinister".

Is anyone out there an expert who can confirm or deny this?

What about masterbation? Does everyone use their dominant hand to masterbate? Can you switch off?

I can only use one hand even after years of practice. The other hand won’t do the job.

I remember being very young and automatically reaching for things with my left hand. My parents used to smack me so I’d use my right hand.

So I’d try to lift a glass with my right hand and spill it at the dinner table. Then my pathetic, adolescent father used to scream at me for doing so.

So now I’m right-handed and I really do think it fucked with my brain. Could never write cursive, only print. My ADD is pretty gnarly. My attention span is all over the place. Some basic motor skills or problem solving skills are impaired enough that I just stand stock still for a minute.

But I have an excellent memory for detail - remember all the way back to the crib. I can dissect people’s behavior like I’m diagraming a sentence. I can foresee potential obstacles for most any task and have a back-up plan or two at the ready.

But some things or situations just render me paralyzed.

I have an excellent ear for pitch and harmonies, and can sight read music to sing, but can’t navigate sheet music to have it come through my fingers to play instruments.

I’ve often thought about forcing myself to write legibly with my left hand, hoping it would carve new neuropathways (?) in my brain.

I'm left-handed, and totally left-hand dominant except for jerking off which I do with my right hand. Throughout my entire working life, my co-workers have always commented on me using a computer mouse with my left hand.

“except for jerking off which I do with my right hand”

This is what I’m wondering. Is this normal? Why wouldn’t you use your dominant hand for something so important and regular?

[quote] I have an excellent ear for pitch and harmonies, and can sight read music to sing, but can’t navigate sheet music to have it come through my fingers to play instruments.

R77 wow you too? I never came across anyone else with mixed/left dominance who had this ability/impediment as well.

It took me several years of struggling to get my head around sheet music, even basically. The concept just didn’t make sense to my mind, and it drove my teachers crazy that I couldn’t get it despite managing to grasp everything else about music. It’s still very hard for me to enter the right mental mindframe to read a page of music, and it’s an effort to play to it ‘properly’ (I.e. exactly as written) hence why I never got higher than a grade 5 instrumental certificate (in the U.K. theee are 8 standard novice grades) and played sixth chair in school orchestra (even for a flautist, that is embarrassing).

However, I can play an instrument and sing along to almost anything by ear after a few tries, sometimes with the harmonies too. My instrumental tone and pitch tends to be strong, and I can usually pick up a rhythm within moments if I hear a few bars to pick up. It’s like I was created to learn aurally rather than any other way.

FWIW, I have also always struggled immensely with computing, mathematics and related concepts such as time, despite being considered literate, intelligent and capable with most other areas of study—maybe a certain impairment in one particularly area of the brain?

I'm right handed but jerk off with the left.

One theory, R75, is that because most people are right hand dominant they’d normally carry a weapon in the right hand.

Shaking right hands on greeting is a cultural norm that also reveals one is unarmed (“We each present our empty killing hands”).

Lefties, upon greetings, could disarmingly extend an open right hand in friendship, and still deliver an unexpectedly strong knife blow with the weapon concealed in their dominant left.

Truly Sinister, [italic] non [/italic] ?

^ ^ Not to mention that Sinister is derived from Latin for Left

I’m seeing a trend here. Posters who are using the less dominant hand to masterbate. What is that about?

this is a hand that most likely can’t write with a pencil so why use it to masterbate?

R84 not I. I’m a left-sided writer/mouse & fork user/sports player/jacker, right-sided everything else.

Maybe I’m miscounting, but it doesn’t seem like non-dominant hand bators are the norm to me.

Mark Zuckerberg - left handed, Asian Wife

R79 Perhaps his left hand is a prude.

R86 is racist.

Shun him gals!

I’m left handed and I can drink out of a glass with my right hand!

R86 You know what they say about Asian wives? They’re Asian! 😂

I worked in a state health department and we had an evaluation workgroup that was all the data scientists, epidemiologists and statisticians. One day I looked around the table and realized that all 7 of us were left handed.

I'm right-handed but jerk off with my left.

I'm left handed and yes, men I am attracted to often turn out to be left handed.

Do other lefties ever make small talk with lefty salespeople, etc.” “Hey, you’re left-handed, too”?

^^^for a few years I worked retail, the occasional lefty customer I had would always remark on it when they noticed I was typing or writing or picking something up. Never had the heart to correct them and say I’m actually ambi....