13 Mysteries and Curious Facts about lefties that you may not have known

 

August 13 is the international day of left-handers. So today we want to share with you the curiosities of lefties that you may not have known.

We have already talked about why there are left-handed and right-handed people . We also tell you that at 11 weeks of gestation it is determined if a human is right-handed or left-handed .

Well, today Curious Planet compiles this list of some fun facts about lefties, and where the term lefty came from.

1. The left side was considered sinister.
The word sinister comes from the Latin “sinister” and was used to designate the left side. That is why the right is called “right-handed” and the left “sinister.”

2. Being left-handed was considered witchcraft
In the past, the right hand was taken as correct and just, and therefore the negative and incorrect were attributed to the left hand. It was also said that being left-handed was characteristic of witchcraft .

3. Religious myths encouraged rejection from the left side
There was a time when religious myths encouraged man’s natural aversion to anything that seemed different. So it was said that the devil was left-handed and god right-handed , this can be seen in some paintings from centuries ago. As you look at them, note which hand is used to gesture or hold objects.

William Blake, “Satan infecting Job with malignant ulcers”, 1826

Christ in Majesty with the open book. Mural paintings from the apse of San Clemente de Taüll, Lérida (Spain), c. 1123. Barcelona, ​​MNAC.

The Bible never speaks ill of lefties. As a side note, it is worth mentioning that there was an inconsistency with the religious myth that being left-handed was as bad as the devil and the book they themselves used, namely the Bible. Well, in the Bible there is talk of a left-handed man who was sent by God to help his people.

4. It is not known how many lefties there are in the world. But it is believed that 10-13% of the world’s population are left-handed.
It is difficult to determine an exact percentage of how many left-handers there are in the world . Calculations range from 1% to 30%. Michael Barsley, who researched the subject extensively, made the following comment in his book Left-Handed People:

“Obviously, between one and thirty percent there should be a more or less exact figure, but none of the proposed figures have been universally accepted.”

By 2008 it was estimated that 10-13% of the world population was left-handed.
And what do you think of this curious statistic?

5. Lefties live in a world for righties. This is sometimes a bit frustrating for them
A left-hander has to cross his left arm to his right to handle certain household items . For example, the cold water faucet is often to the right of the sink, apparently because it is the most used. The same goes for the buttons on the control or remote control of the television and other appliances (such as the microwave oven).

6. There are objects specially designed for lefties. This makes life easier
It may be that a left-handed person is uncomfortable that many of the household items are designed for the convenience of the right-handed person. That is why many items have been made to make your life easier . Some of these products are: scissors, pens, correctors, keyboards and mouses , notebooks, pencil sharpeners, knives, can openers, cutlery sets, multipurpose knives, etc.

As an additional detail, we will mention that the first left-handed store was created in London in 1968 and there are currently more than 250 products. (Anything Left Handed)

7. It is said that the left-hander is the reverse image of the right-hander
In the 19th century, the French neurosurgeon Paul Broca mentioned that, from the point of view of brain function, the left-hander is the reverse image of the right-hander. According to the researchers, in most people the left hemisphere of the brain controls vocalization, mathematical and logical sense, and other analytical functions, while the right powers creative activities such as music and art. However, it seems that in left-handers the analysis of information and the use of the two hemispheres occurred in a different way .

8. It was believed that the heart of lefties was on the right side
For the same nineteenth century there were those who even assumed that the left-handed person would have the heart on the right side of the chest . But anatomists soon showed that this was not true.

9. Left-handed children were once forbidden to write with their right hands.
There was a time when some countries were intolerant of left-handers and in some schools it was forbidden to write with the left hand . Even in the 1980’s and 1990’s there were parents and teachers who tied the “bad” hand behind the back of the left-handed child to force him to use the right.

10. Confusion between the left or right side
There is a relationship between a left-handed handwriting and reverse handwriting. There are children who, when learning to write, invert the letters “b” for “d” and “p” for “q” . And when forming the letters, many run the pen (or pencil) in the opposite direction as a right-handed person would. This situation even affects when turning when they are driving, because sometimes they confuse their left with the right.

11. Famous people like Charles Chaplin who have been left-handed
In human history there have been several characters who were left-handed , for example, there is the actor Charles Chaplin, who in one of his films played the violin with his left.

In the field of literature, we find Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. It is likely that reverse writing inspired him to create the play “Through the Looking Glass ” (which is the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland”) in which everything is reversed.

Other left-handed people that may sound familiar to you include:

Leo Messi
Marilyn Monroe
Barack Obama
Robert DeNiro
Paul MCCARTNEY.
Queen Elizabeth II of England
Phil collins
Bill Gates
Sylvester Stallone
Nicole Kidman
Julia Roberts
celine dion
Angelina Jolie
Jim Carrey
Keanu Reeves
Hugh Jackman
Whoopi Goldberg
Pele
Rafael Nadal
Iker Casillas.

Even in cartoons there are characters who are left-handed
It has been said that Leonardo da Vinci was also left-handed . That’s because there is ample evidence that he wrote and painted with his left hand, although he proved to be ambidextrous on occasion.

12. A brief explanation about homogeneous and crossed laterality
Homogeneous laterality is when the hand and foot (also the eye and ear) offer dominance on the same side, either on the right (right-handed) or left (left-handed) side.

Cross laterality is when there is no side dominance in our body functions (for example, you are left-handed with your hand, but you hit the ball with your right foot).

It is said that this is synonymous with learning problems, especially in the reading and writing processes.

13. August 13 is International Left-handed Day
International Left-Handers Day is an international day promoted by “Lefthanders International”, which aims to publicize the difficulties encountered by left-handed people in a predominantly right-handed society.

How many of these left-handed curiosities did you already know? Well, if you are left-handed, it is most likely that you have even experienced some of these situations yourself. don’t you think?