How Humans Became (Mostly) Right-Handed

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No other placental mammal that we know of prefers one side of the body so consistently, not even our closest primate relatives. But being right-handed may have deep evolutionary roots in our lineage. And yet, being a leftie does seem to come with some unexpected advantages.
Big thanks to Julio Lacerda ( / juliotheartist​ ) for the excellent right-handed Neanderthal illustrations!
Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: / pbsdigitalstudios
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References: docs.google.com/document/d/1t...

[@eons]

Some commenters have pointed out that we say "after our lineage split with chimpanzees," "members of our lineage after the split with chimpanzees," and "after our split from chimpanzees" at various points in this episode. Just to clear things up, humans and our extinct relatives share a common ancestor with chimpanzees and their extinct relatives. After our lineage split from this common ancestor, we call our group "hominins." Living chimpanzees also have their own separate evolutionary history since that shared common ancestor.

[@domigonz7094]

First

[@dsp6373]

“Split with chimpanzees” is not the same as “split from chimpanzees”. Indeed we “split with chimpanzees” not split from them.

[@hackthis1767]

Could the culprit to hand dominance could be tied to agriculture development along with g protiens from early generation of gmo growth hormones which caused intellectual growth to the broca after its cycle thru the gaba system.

[@kayzeaza]

@darknightoftroy Listen this is science and they’re professionals who should get it right.

[@gunzakimbo]

@@kayzeaza If you're dumb enough to get confused with "Split From Them," and "Split With Them," maybe go back to English class.............. And if you wanna go into it, we did split "FROM THEM," notice how they're still around and the in-betweens aren't. Please make an argument someone older than 5 should make.

[@ashleysteinhaus9447]

I was actually born left handed But I had a stroke when I was very young which paralyzed the left side of my body meaning I had to grow up right handed instead. My favorite joke is “ I’m ambidextrous, I just can’t show you right now”

[@JellyAntz]

good job champ, you have pulled the big brain move with half of your brain

[@MicahangeloYT]

😂😂😂

[@MicahangeloYT]

...so...when can you show me? 🤔

[@stephanieyee9784]

My sister had a stroke 14 years ago. She was right-handed but is now a leftie because her right side doesn't work. She also uses her teeth a Lot from getting dressed to opening things to holding things.

[@mistersebaa6245]

That's an amazing story.

[@brittneyziegler5742]

I appreciate that some of our best old evidence of this is from people basically punching themselves in the face on accident.

[@dissapointedsoup4879]

yes thanks to those neanderthals damaging their teeth we have evidence. But rip neanderthal teeth

[@caseyphelps6232]

Makes me feel better about dropping my phone on my face as I watch KZbin.

[@111jkjk]

🤣🤣🤣

[@JosephDavies]

Punching themselves in the face by accident... with a rock... in the teeth.

[@Shadeem]

*by

[@tankerd1847]

As a left handed person, I think living in a right handed world forces you to be a lot more ambidextrous than the opposite for right handed people.

[@marietighe6328]

Very true

[@kirbycobain1845]

I definitely agree, I wonder if thats partly why we have less brain lateralization?

[@negativeindustrial]

So does mechanical assembly. I’d be surprised if your non-dominant hand is as agile and strong as mine.

[@TwoCiggyStory]

Yeah it’s everywhere. Just today I was thinking about this while I was messing with an automatic type knife. It’d come out into a left handed person’s palm.

[@DragonLandlord]

Because a lot of the time we get taught by righties, so you either learn that hand or figure out how to do it with your left.

[@riverboatsam]

You might be interested in how handedness has affected architecture. You will find that in medieval castles and other fortresses that have stairways , those stairways hug the walls such that upon ascending the walls are invariably on the right hand side. This is because it inhibits the movements of right-handed invading swordsmen, giving the (also right handed) defender above an advantage with greater room to swing his sword. Now, a lefty attacking would nullify a lot of that advantage, but the defender would still have the height & weight advantage of striking downwards.

[@ukcroupier]

Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland has a left handed design. Sir Andrew Kerr was left-handed and trained his men to fight left-handed.

[@BaronVonQuiply]

@@ukcroupier That says a lot about wealth and is entirely unsurprising that everyone had to learn to use a sword in their offhand so that one guy wouldn't have to.

[@justjoe5373]

In single combat shields become much less effective too. Sure you can still put a shield in front of you but if my sword and your sword are on the same side I can attack from an angle you can't defend as easily from, and while the other way around is also true a leftie would have fought more righties than a righty has fought lefties

[@iMertin]

There’s a clan in Scotland who built their castle stairs and trained the soliders to fight left handed so they have advantage for this

[@iMertin]

@@ukcroupierdamn bet me to it haha

[@petertrevorah7388]

Footnote: left-handedness had survival value in trench warfare of WWI - soldiers throwing improvised explosives in the dark with their left hand were less likely to be picked off by snipers (who would routinely shoot to the wrong side of the glowing fuse).

[@thomasbrennan1038]

@Alpha Omega what?

[@MattDawson01]

Sinister

[@Spasticmir]

Thanks

[@TheBreechie]

That’s interesting, can you provide a link or article to confirm this? The US taught lefties to hold grenades upside down so what you’re saying appears to contradict this which is why I was hoping you’d have some evidence to help clarify the discrepancy in information available

[@petertrevorah7388]

@@TheBreechie My knowledge is anecdotal. Australian soldiers, including my grandfather, landed on Gallipoli in 1915 and had little or nothing by way of ‘grenades’ supplied to them. Under constant fire from Turkish snipers, they would fill their biscuit tins with gunpowder, add an improvised wick (which would glow fiercely in the dark) and emerge briefly from their trenches to throw the resulting bomb.The Turkish snipers would routinely aim to the right of the glow - and, if the ‘grenadier’ were a lefty, the shot would miss. Hope that helps.

[@stratocruising]

Took a fencing course in college, was one of the best in the class. Finally went up against the other lefty. We engaged and backed off perplexed. Nothing worked the way it was supposed to.

[@WideMouth]

I’m also a lefty fencer. I’ve had the same problem. My class rival and I are always trying to one-up each other, but fencer each other is annoying because we’re both lefties.

[@ameliar6374]

Hahahha

[@PreceptorGrant]

Yep, I'm a lefty swordsman too (larp rather than fencing), can confirm I've had the same experience. Running into another lefty threw me off almost as badly as it usually throws righties.

[@Age__101]

It’s like playing with inverted controls

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

NOT in japanese fencing styles- our Law " there are No Lefthanded swordspeople" --- we play Right. worth the effort, and our advantages as lefthanders are more discreet . not to mention the right side and The Brain benefit lots .

[@kevindouglas2060]

About 40 years ago I worked at a company that made woodgrain trim for Jeep station wagons. It was bent by hand . I noticed that if a lefthanded person learned to make a part on one side of the car he could immediately make the same part for the other side. But a right handed person had to learn that side the same way as any other part.

[@skyhawk_4526]

A case of lefties having to adapt to a right-handed world would be my guess for why that would be the case.

[@mr.hanger]

I used to run a roofing crew. I would purposely hire a lefty because when coordinated with a righty things went quicker and smoother. Things like cutting off extra shingles would be done by the person more comfortable at that particular end of the roof. Sounds weird, but it helped.

[@deaj8450]

Hey I'm a lefty roofer. I can see it being a small advantage. When I'm laying a shingle we are laying them out left to right if possible. I butt up the seam, use my right hand to line up the rain groove on the outer edge, then nail left to right. I think my left hand, being my gun hand, has a little less work to do than a righty doing the same thing.

[@bobrussell3602]

That was very perceptive of you.

[@davetuscano5939]

RIGHT! Car mechanics, construction workers, more.... we come in handy 💪

[@FetsumBerhaneDire]

Football managers are now picking a left legged for left center defender and right legged for right center defenders because the lefty faces a right legged attacker the right legged faces a left legged attacker.

[@SadhviJenn]

Sounds mad logical

[@rhidiandavies1991]

Being a right handed judo player, grappling with a lefty always feels awkward whereas for the lefty it's business as usual. What's really funny is when you see a really good lefty finally come up against another lefty, because they suddenly look like a beginner again, with neither player knowing how to actually set up their throws because they so rarely encounter one another.

[@Skyisgoingbacktopluto]

I'm so glad that my usually undesirable trait gives me an advantage in literally every martial art form ever.

[@shruglifecomedy5709]

Came here to comment that, I did judo and was trained left handed as it came easier to me (even thought I write right handed). I also boxed left handed

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Since when does one "play" judo? Thought it was a martial art.

[@leaho3731]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 I never "played" judo (I always said "I do judo") but it is seen as a sport fairly often :)

[@binhalthier5151]

I am a lefty too And I did Judo(did not anymore bc of Corona) And I think I played just like a right handed would play🤷. And I never had that problem😅

[@timesathousand]

There was a family I knew growing up where a lefty man had married a lefty woman. And they had customized their house to accommodate this: the door hinges, doorknob turns, the refrigerator door, the drawstrings for the blinds etc. Spending time there felt like living in an Escher painting.

[@eliasaltman4439]

I need to visit that house sometime, sounds like a lefties dream

[@clayweier2901]

huh? ive lived in a right handed house this ENTIRE TIME LMAAOOO

[@checkmattee222]

As a lefty, I would like to visit them some time lol

[@kingofwishfulthinking2490]

All those are available at The Leftorium

[@therealveridicalyt497]

Then they had a righty child and yeeted the baby

[@camillelortie6319]

Most of my family members are either lefties or ambidextrous. We have always been very careful of who we sit next to during gatherings like Christmas and birthdays, so that we don't constantly bump into each others when eating. We have a lefties and a righties side of the table. I only very realized that it was an abnormal thing to think of. I went out with a group of friends and asked if we should organize the table according to hand preferences. They were all right handed lol

[@superman011000]

Same. My family is equally mixed. At big get togethers we try to sit without bumping elbows.

[@Fem_TM]

What if the real reason for right handedness is actually that simple? Because otherwise we would constantly bump into each other so when working in groups it made sense for everyone to use the same hand

[@leecowell8165]

Yep I have that issue. I try to sit on the left whereby no one sits on that side otherwise we'd be bumping elbows while eating! One of my brothers is also left-handed though thus we often sit next to one another. Our Father was also left-handed.

[@harrietjameson]

​@@Fem_TM if that happened you could just move, evolution only really happens when it provides some advantage to our syrvival and reproduction

[@dudemanofdude]

As a lefty ive always had to sit at the end of a table so my dad wouldnt get annoyed from me constantly bumping his arm

[@deejaydiabolic]

Funny story: i worked with a guy who applied for a grant from an organization that supports and recognizes left-handed people...he wrote out this multi-page essay about how he wasn't even left-handed and essentially just wrote this essay out of sheer boredome... they ended up giving him the grant because....he literally was the only person to submit an essay for this grant!

[@ashley-anne7043]

Does this grant still exist, because I could really use it

[@amberyadav.8628]

@@ashley-anne7043 me too

[@amberyadav.8628]

still exist?

[@504BlueDevil]

where is the funny part? you forgot the funny part...

[@deejaydiabolic]

@@504BlueDevil lol where's the part where I care?

[@Silver-Arrow]

one of my teachers used to call me and other lefties a "silver surfer" because whenever we wrote an essay our hand would be covered in graphite

[@gibbous_silver]

Ah, yes writer’s silver hand

[@firstnamelastname-zf3gg]

Ah lefties curse. Hand: smudged. Paper: dirty

[@nathanielb3510]

Apparently this is the real reason for Leonardo's "mirror writing" - it let him write in a direction so that he wouldn't get ink on his hand. There were even books in the 15th century aimed at lefties explaining how to do it.

[@malkavil]

damn i hated my draw teacher saying i wasnt clean enought and getting failed in class.....

[@Silver-Arrow]

​@@nathanielb3510 now i know that writing backwards is on par with a proto helicopter and proto tank

[@JarlSeamus]

I used to fence competitively, and found that most fencers have a very difficult time fighting a Leftie. It was a distinct advantage in many bouts.

[@Songbirdstress]

I came to say that LoI . It's actually worse if you're left handed (like me) Think about it. All the fencers in my class got to fence TWO lefties. My comrade and I only fenced ONE!

[@anujmchitale]

@@Songbirdstress I suffered the same way, being a left handers, but in Table Tennis. Luckily, these days I get to play against many left handers.

[@Dasel22]

Same as in boxing.The say its difficult to fight southpaws because they mostly spar with right-handed people and are not used to it

[@infinimineralex]

Same! But where I was, everybody in the region had already fenced many lefties so in both epee and sabre I didn't have as much of an advantage as I wanted :D

[@ishansharma5454]

🖐 high fives for lefties

[@lucilledelorme]

I’m friends with a pair of twins, one right and one left handed. This is called mirroring and occurs when the developing egg splits after a certain time. Identical twins (both right handed)divide before then. I wondered if it’s possible that some lefties could be the remaining twin after an early foetal loss. Often embryos lost very early on are not even noticed as more pregnancies end spontaneously at such an early stage. Just a little pondering of mine.

[@surfclimbcycle]

I'm a right-handed identical twin, with a left-handed twin brother. Same as your friends.

[@lucilledelorme]

@@surfclimbcycle Take photos of you both and then flip them so you look more alike.

[@18something]

im a left handed with a right handed twin as well.

[@surfclimbcycle]

@@18something wondering please - R U identical twins?

[@jaqkhan113]

I'm a left handed only child and this is something I've always pondered too.

[@EyeSeeThruYou]

Left-handed, grey-eyed, ginger woman here (apparently a rare critter, according to some, lol). Since dominant forelimbs in mammals and other vertebrates was mentioned, here are observations regarding avians: they, too, appear to have a dominant foot. And, there's an indication that it impacts how they prefer to interact with humans (avians living in captivity). I began observing this in avians kept as companion animals over the course of many years, and because they were the object of my interest, and I am left-handed, I wondered about them, too. Nine species of parrot and one domesticated breed of duck later, I did notice patterns. What I qualified as left/right dominant for each avian consisted of 2 distinct categories: 1) The preferred foot first extended for most activities, including stepping onto a human hand or arm, or holding and manipulating objects, like food. 2) The preferred human hand for interaction with each avian. Because all the birds, with exception of the Pekin ducks (2 individuals) and 1 individual Cockatiel, American Budgerigar, and Scarlet macaw, respectively, lived with other humans prior to residing with me, and my right-handed spouse, this provided interesting results. Most of the parrots exhibited a consistent and overwhelming use of dominant foot with stepping, holding, and defense (pushing another bird away, for example). The next observation was interesting, because some of the birds had first lived with my right-handed spouse, and came to know me later, or vice versa. The birds showed an absolute preference in terms of which hand we as humans offered food, a step up, or grooming and petting of their heads. If we offered the "other" hand, the macaws, Senegal, 2 Budgerigars, and both ducks either hesitated, waited, or pushed our hand away (with ther bills), refusing our approach. Switching our hand to match their dominant-sided foot proved notable, and I found out my right-handed spouse had noticed this before I'd discussed my own observations of the birds with him. He found himself naturally switching hands to approach each bird to avoid "misinterpretation" by individual birds. I myself had noted the same thing, and in discussing it, realized that the pstticines residing with us appeared to be largely Left-dominant in their own use of limbs. We noted that both ducks, which were acquired at 3 days of age and imprinted on me, but also interacted with my spouse a great deal, showed the same preferences when we picked them up, petted them, swam with them, or gave treats. While dominant foot in avians didn't seem surprising to us, the added element of requiring us as humans to use the "correct hand" to approach them added an additional layer of insight for us, since they were requiring us to adapt to their preference, regardless of our own hand-side dominance. Below are my observations from journals and notes. * = did not reside with other humans during lifetime Pekin duck 1 - Left Pekin duck 2 - Right Cockatiel 1 - Left Cockatiel 2 - Right Budgerigar 1 - Left Budgerigar 2 - Left* Budgerigar 3 - Right Budgerigar 4 - Left Budgerigar 5 - Left (disfigured legs and feet due to neglect and abuse) Budgerigar 6 - Right Budgerigar 7 - Left Scarlet macaw - Left* Blue & Gold macaw - Left Senegal parrot - Left Golden-capped conure - Right Blue-crowned conure - Right Nanday Conure - Right Indian Ringneck parrot 1 - Right Indian Rigneck parrot 2 - Left

[@LoradLP]

Left handed advantage in fencing is actually insane. It's not about surprise, it's about having to invert all your well trained motions when fighting a left-handed person.

[@darensylvara7690]

I’m a lefty,took fencing in school,stuck everyone within seconds.the instructor brought in a guy that was on the fencing team,only time I got beat.

[@100apples5]

@@darensylvara7690 when I was fencing, the only bouts that felt strange were lefty vs lefty ones since I trained so much against righties

[@jasonsabbath6996]

Same with boxing!

[@hansgruber9685]

@@darensylvara7690 Should have used pocket sand.

[@kaizen5023]

Yes it is difficult fighting someone left-handed, including when fencing.

[@sirich7751]

Knew a girl in High School who could write cursive with either hand neatly. She could also write cursive with either hand as a mirror image neatly. It was fascinating.

[@tippytoe1250]

My 12 year old uses both hands well depending on what she’s doing. She will write with her left then get tired and switch to the right. I have 2 other kids. One is strictly right handed and the other is strictly left handed. My 12 year old will use whatever hand is easiest due to which sibling she happens to sit next to. We have quite a bit of lefties in our family.

[@the_algorithm]

I often challenge people to tell me which hand I signed my name with. You have a 50/50 chance... to get it wrong I am literally listed as ambidextrous by the military/va I can throw a football/baseball with both hands and shoot basketball. While I do have preferences in many tasks, I can always perform said tasks with the opposing hand with ease. That does exclude specific training... (like baseball) I can throw a ball ~65MPH Left Handed, but as a kid I trained to throw right handed so I can throw 85MPH right handed... (I only had a glove that fit my left hand since we were VERY poor and I used hand me down equipment. My twin sister would take the glove off to throw left handed while I found that to be cumbersome)

[@ianmangham4570]

I can write CURSIVE with my foot

[@chxsen11]

Goals

[@sarenhs4535]

When I broke my left hand I got really good at drawing and writing with my right hand.

[@JohnDoe-on6ru]

Some of us reached perfection earlier than others and remained left-handed.

[@itsROMPERS...]

I've sometimes thought that handedness developed as an expediency. We need to grab stuff with a hand so often that it's best to have a default idea of which hand to use, rather than having to decide in each situation. Imagine if each time you wanted to grab something you had to take a few milliseconds to think, "right or left?" If you were fighting with someone who had already decided, he'd beat you every time. Why it's right i have no explanation for.

[@DafneMarchesan]

you're correct

[@兄さん]

but ambidextrous people exist and still usually have a default hand

[@SadhviJenn]

Well technically, dominant is the side that gets the signal first. Brain signals sent two locations -which one will get it first. That’s the one that’s already activated while the other is still waiting for ennervation. I always notice that when I try using my non-dominant hand.

[@itsROMPERS...]

@@SadhviJenn interesting.

[@liluziBurt667]

I was the only left handed kid in my 1st grade class. The other kids wondered why I always had lead pencil stains on my hand. Right handers don’t know our struggle.

[@vexaris1890]

Or ink stains

[@Bishka100]

"Right handers don’t know our struggle." I know the feeling. It is a burden we have to bear for being superior.

[@Raj-dy2cn]

I guess it depends on the language, for arabic the right handers would struggle

[@bussinbees7064]

im right handed but i draw a lot so when i used to use pencils for everything, my hand would always be shiny and silver. it causes a lot of smudging on my art. that mist be so annoying while writing a paper especially if you need it to look clean

[@twisted_fo0l]

Pretty simple just be dyslexic

[@SearchingforScraps]

If somebody doesn’t say “oh hey your left-handed, didn’t know that” are you even left-handed ?

[@christophercrawford2736]

Oh hey, my left handed... 🤔

[@Amghannam]

Oh so many times, haha

[@PRIDEALKIMIST]

Damn this is so real

[@hunterstarkey5089]

Felt this

[@lorddio2737]

Im actually an advocate of using the left to write and the right to shave, comb hair and brush theeth but I cut with the left while cooking and with the right while eating. The non dominant hand is called for certain tasks and training to use it is beneficial to both hemispheres.

[@100perdido]

As a lefty liiving in a right handed world, things can be frustrating. The doors knobs are on the wrong side and those things at the bank have the pen attached on the right side making them hard to use. Even the gear shifts in cars are installed on the wrong side.

[@alisonauchterlonie8212]

Not in the UK. We drive on the left. 😅

[@Gertyutz]

You can't install the gear shift near the door, so you're stuck.

[@Gertyutz]

@@alisonauchterlonie8212 So the gear shift is on the wrong side for righties.

[@dudemanofdude]

Especially those electronic pens, those are the worst cuz they have the shortest damn cord, makes it easier to write with your finger.

[@NoName-fv5oo]

@@GertyutzYh lol I just realised that

[@DL96L288]

It all started when a guy realized that he made a mistake. Frustrated that he was not right... He just left. ^^

[@cutecats532]

Eons: "Turns out Neanderthals have been using their teeth as a 3rd hand for quite a while." Me, using my teeth to hold something while opening a door: "Oh, you don't say."

[@wendymoyer782]

My exact thought...when steaming a dress, I hold the steamer in my right hand, and my left hand and teeth to hold the dress taut to get the most effective straightening.

[@just_radical]

Considering that quadrupeds don't have as many chances to use their forelimbs to hold things one might might say the mouth is the original hand.

[@duybear4023]

Imagine how handy you'd be if humans still had tails.

[@auburneytuckerson2959]

I use my teeth like a third hand a lot.

[@auburneytuckerson2959]

@@duybear4023 That would only be possible if apes never split from monkeys because humans are apes.

[@rianamomo6597]

Being a Leftie is fine for me until I went to school where their armchairs only have a right arm rest.

[@jacob_90s]

There's a special place in hell for the people who design those types of chairs

[@rianamomo6597]

@@jacob_90s LOL. well i agree, those chairs are such a pain.

[@lunarcrusaderArt]

Idk bout you guys but i got used to those

[@rianamomo6597]

@@lunarcrusaderArt yeah there's no choice but to deal will it. You're a Champ!

[@force528]

If you're lucky, then there's a left-handed seat on the aisle. It's like being treated as disabled.

[@keithmoriyama5421]

One important group is left out of this conversation-- musicians. Most instruments incorporate equal dexterity in their mastering. Born right handed, playing drums made me reasonably ambidextrous. They even have a name for it--"matched grip"

[@SurfinScientist]

My granny was left-handed and as a kid she was forced to write with her right hand at school. As a result, her handwriting always sucked later in her life. Even at old age, she complained about these experiences when she was young.

[@BrunoBrusantin]

"70% to 95% of us to be exact"... i chuckled

[@Desklamp1234]

i would like to buy exactly 2-5 burgers please

[@EggBastion]

good for you

[@501thtrooper4]

Huh?

[@luisa9628]

@@501thtrooper4 "to be exact" "70-95%" its funny.

[@SD-ym1rt]

@@Desklamp1234 so you owe us 3 burgers thank you

[@dave900575]

A friend broke her arm when we were in second grade. I started practicing writing my name with my left in case I ever needed to sign a paycheck left handed. It was for naught 'cause I broke my left arm in my 40s

[@asmith8692]

When I broke my dominant arm, I startled nurses when I was able to competently utilize a fork in my non- dominant hand. But I was taught to hold my fork in the non-dominant hand while cutting with the dominant, so not really a big issue, since I had always conveyed food to my mouth with my non-dominant hand.

[@Primalxbeast]

I used to go bowling with my friends once a week. I suck at bowling, but somehow managed to bowl a turkey one time when I broke my right hand and had to bowl with my left hand.

[@elliotville7820]

Big Oof

[@kindlin]

You used a quotation mark. I was trying to understand the quote when I found no closing quotation mark, and then I finally realized the quotation mark came right before a word that was abbreviated, and figured out it was supposed to be the word: 'cause. I wish stuff like this happened to me less... I take things too literally.

[@anteconfig5391]

you broke your left arm because it's natural to use it for defensive measures... because you're a righty.

[@TheBcvg2002]

I had also learned about handedness and distribution of language function having a correlative relationship. Interesting topic!

[@wonderbucket1242]

King Solomon had all his left-handed fighters in one division. I can imagine how that can be advantageous if the enemy is facing waves of attacks, and suddenly one wave are all left-handed.

[@EponaPat]

Horses are “handed”, going more easily one direction than the other. We spend a lot of time training them to be ambidextrous.

[@sf7862]

Horses have hands 🤯

[@EponaPat]

I put “handed” in quotes to align with the article and yes, we use the word “hand” because we go clockwise or the “right hand” because I use my right hand to turn in that direction. Most horse are “stiff” on the “ right hand” and “hollow” to the “left hand”, meaning they take too much pressure on one side and not enough on the other. Horses also tend to prefer one canter “lead” to the other.

[@savegraysoncats]

Yes. Horses prefer one lead over another when centering and it is easier for them to corner in one direction than the other

[@inferlynx737]

Pic confirms your qualifications!

[@nikoewindstorm8490]

So do dogs, cats, monkeys, even fish. What they were saying about no other animal not having a preferred side is flat out wrong. It’s simply evolutionary for complex organisms because it helps with short cuts in the brain.

[@mlooky1221]

It had taken me 18 years to realise that everything around me was designed for right handed people. I always wondered why I sucked at pc gaming. It wasn’t until I was 18 and during my first ever exam that I saw someone asking for a left handed chair( there was a table attached to the chairs) then I asked for one and I was blown away by how much since it made compared to the right handed one. I took it for granted that my hand movements sucked but now I know why.

[@Mr.Monta77]

Sucking at PC gaming is a blessing. Perhaps this way you wasted less hours of your life on PC gaming and did something more useful?

[@mlooky1221]

@@Mr.Monta77 unfortunately I wasted it on Console gaming instead. But thankfully I left that behind me after enrolling in college.

[@Mr.Monta77]

@@mlooky1221 I'm glad to hear that. Congratulations on growing up.

[@vichentez]

I’m left handed, I recall my parents buying me some left handed scissors as a child, and I still have them 20 years later! But, I have no idea what a left handed chair is? Can you elaborate?

[@melalepou]

@@vichentez some chairs (in a school for example) have a built in little desk, that comes out of the right side of the back of the chair. the left handed chair would have it on the left, since a left handed person would have to write with their left hand

[@c.t.1755]

This was fascinating. Really makes me wonder what other everyday things like this may be evolutionally influenced/shaped

[@EasilyEternallyMissed]

This was very interesting to watch! I often ask myself if I'm right or left handed, while I can use both with ease and often favour my left than my right and vice versa in certain things. There some things that I do that using my left hand comes so naturally, then there's things I do naturally with my right hand. I naturally use my phone with my left hand and when I'm on a call to my left ear as well, I use a knife in my left hand and the fork in my right (funny enough I can't seem to do it the other way around 😅 (it feels extremely awkward and unnatural). I was often told as a child to use my right hand as I would often swap my hands when learning to write or to draw, and even to use scissors (which I used and still use my left hand for - again feels natural).

[@senyorpreus]

”Kangaroos are mostly lefthanded”, that's why they drive on the left side of the road.

[@donkmeister]

Common misconception from those who live in the 60% of the world that drives on the wrong side of the road 😉 Driving on the left of the road is the righthanded approach... At least, it's the righthanded way with the standard configuration of car controls. Naturally, it is safer to do the more complicated, safety-critical action (steering) with your dominant hand, and do the easy muscle-memory activity (changing gears - there's only a limited number of points you need to move the stick to) with your non-dominant hand. Take manual gearshifts out of the equation and it comes town to preference, which generally comes from what you're used to. So if you have spent your life in a left-hand drive country, then you'll probably think "driving from the left of the car is the natural way". But if you have spent your life in a right-hand drive country, driving from the right of the car feels more natural.

[@caitolent]

@@donkmeister Disagree. Steering is the easy part. Trying to figure out why Pandora won't sync via Bluetooth, again, is the hard part. ;)

[@diazinth]

@@donkmeister I dunno. I'm right-handed, and I'd prefer to have half a car between my valuable right hand and a drunk driver. Better to have the left side exposed, it's more expendable ;)

[@mal2ksc]

@@diazinth So if you get half smashed in a crash, you'll be all right?

[@diazinth]

@@mal2ksc the odds for recovery of my favourite parts are better than fully smashed. It works like COVID: the more you stack the odds in your favor, the better your outcome will be over time :)

[@billbadson7598]

Right-handed people will never know the pain of having to write left-to-right with a number 2 pencil all throughout school and constantly having to scrub the graphite off your hand because of how it smudges as it moves over what you just wrote.

[@sleepycryptid8275]

As a righty, I actually know the pain quite well xD

[@RetropUk]

We had to use cartridge pens and ink at school. Blue hand and shirt cuffs.

[@kokolanza7543]

Smudges still happen if I write a card on the wrong kind of material. Also looks a little odd with that left hand bent at a right angle to the forearm. My grandfather wrote with the top of the letters slanted to the left.

[@billypilgrim5329]

@@RetropUk Yes, I recall it with horror. And then one was given a failing grade in writing as an extra incentive to doubt oneself.

[@hashbites]

artists: am i a joke to you?

[@leftysheppey]

Im whats called Cross-dominant. I can use both hands, but for different tasks. I cant write with my right hand, but I play golf right handed. Some things I can do equally well with either hand. Some things I suck at with both hands. Playing things like tennis or rounders when I was a kid always confused me. I never knew which handedness I should be.

[@keepcalmlovedinosaurs8934]

I use this reference during the Ice Age segment of my novel. Its a good thing this video was uploaded mere weeks before I sent it off otherwise I would have missed out!

[@mavvi860]

have we considered that the less-lateralized brains in lefties could be a result of lefties being forced to do more tasks with their right hands, since the world as we know it and the majority of the tools we make are very biased to right-handedness these days? like having to navigate keyboards, guitars, door handles, etc. (all put the important things on the right side), forcing these people to adapt more significantly than a right-handed person would. not to mention cultures where your left hand is the one you don't eat or touch with.

[@kylealexander7024]

I agree with that completely. I have been using more variety of tools lately and can tell when a tool is specifically right handed. Skill saws for example

[@patrickmccurry1563]

I'm VERY left handed but don't really encounter problems in the modern world due to that. As a kid, there weren't any real left handed scissors, but that's it.

[@pello7048]

This is absolutely true. Left handed people need to constantly learn how to use tools and activities in the opposite way they were designed. I've always thought it helps with things like problem solving

[@kylealexander7024]

@@pello7048 i agree but when u say something a lot of right handed people cant see what u mean just looking at it sometimes cause theyre evaluating from a different angle. Me and my boss have got this down pretty good. I do the lefty stuff. He does the righty

[@AM-tc9ct]

@@pello7048 As a middle-aged lefty, I never "had" to learn how to use tools the "right" way. Fortunately I was not in the generation where lefty kids were forced to write with their right hands, which actually has been proven to be psychologically damaging. Right handed ladles in the kitchen, still used my left hand - probably enhanced my coordination to pour precisely from a less pointed spout. Right handed scissors only available in school, cool, I make them work with my left. Right handed baseball mits only available, figured out how to make it work. It wasn't that tragic. Call it forced creativity, but I'm sure there was a benefit to our 10% of the population.

[@gonzo2.0]

Being left handed and living in a right handed tool world, has given me almost ambidextrous nature. I can pitch a softball, bowl, and anything else done underhanded with either hand. I play drums open handed on a right hand set, which is 100 times easier than crossing your right hand to play the hi hat. I play guitar equally bad left or right handed. Overall I would rather be left handed than right handed, except when a fountain pen is involved.

[@geoffstrickler]

I’m generally considered a lefty because I write left handed, and mostly use silverware and cutlery as a lefty, however, I can pretty easily switch hands for eating, unless I’m using chopsticks, which I can only do left-handed. However the reality is much less clear. Ive found that things requiring strength or fine arm control, I tend to do right handed. Examples, bowling, throwing, tennis, volleyball serve, golf, etc. Things requiring fine finger control like writing and chopsticks, I do exclusively left handed. While I can cut things with a knife in my rot hand, I don’t have the same level of control, so use a knife almost exclusively left handed. I use right-handed scissors, exclusively, with my left hand. But i can switch hit as a batter, more power right handed, more accuracy left handed, probably because I’m right eye dominant. I shoot pool with either, started left, have been switching to right because of eye dominance. I shoot rifles and shotguns right handed, but can easily user either hand for a handgun. I kick a ball right footed, but can play soccer and control the ball well with either foot. I use a mouse of trackpad with my right hand, totally suck at using them left handed. I can write on a whiteboard/chalkboard almost equally well (or poorly) wither either hand, as that’s arm and wrist control, not finger control. Also, I juggle, which has no particular hand dominance. Tool use varies, generally following the same strength/control factors outlined above. Hammer right, most power tools are either hand with a tendency to use them left most of the time, but ability to switch as needed. Hand saws vary, usually left for fine control, right or switch for strength. Basically, a mish-mash that mostly follows the patterns I mentioned in the first paragraph, with a few things are exclusively left or right.

[@G8GTJav]

Listen, I know right-handers are inferior but you don't have to call them tools. 😉😂

[@JeSt4m]

For me even as I'm forced to live my whole life as righty it's harder for me to handle delicate task with my right hand. e.g drawing, putting threads on a needle, or using a chopstick. Basically I'm now ambidextrous with caveat of my right hand being pretty clumsy.. which actually a huge thing for me since I always thought myself as suck at drawing or handicraft for over 20 years before I discover that it's okay to use your left hand for stuff. The biggest tell for me that made me realize that I'm left handed is actually from reflex. whenever I'm about to do or take something.. Even after years of being righty, my left hand always moved first by reflex.. it's feels more natural to pick up dishes or opening the door with my left hand.

[@geoffstrickler]

@@JeSt4m I hate hearing about people being forced to use their right hand. A teacher tried that with my older brother, Dad was also a lefty and was having none of that crap. My 3rd grade teacher allowed my to use my left hand, but insisted I was placing my paper in the wrong position when learning handwriting…again, Dad stepped in and had a word with her telling her in no uncertain terms I could position the paper in any that worked for me when writing.

[@OneDirection2V]

Wow I've been searching through the comments for who asked.

[@vladislavkaras491]

Thanks for the video!

[@sls12III]

I am a left handed person and it shows in the way I write and use my mouse on my left hand during gaming. Sadly, I was forced to use a right handed guitar because my guitar teacher told me it's better off for me to learn right-handed than left-handed. So far, it kinda helped me because I have a stronger grip on my left and it was easier for me to do bar chords.

[@ploutophylax]

Leftie advantages: You always know what to say when the teacher asks a fact about yourself, so you get to sit down quicker.

[@unexpected2475]

The newest selection pressure in human lineages: icebreakers.

[@karsten69]

@@unexpected2475 That's actually true. only those with icebreakers get to procreate, meaning that is natural selection.

[@jaybird5885]

Both hands master race

[@Flying-Bunny]

@@karsten69 My icebreaker doesn't work that well ... "Hello, I'm austitic" tends to end the conversation rather quickly or makes it way longer that it needs to be. ​ @Jay Bird Also... Ambidextrous is indeed the way to go, welcome to the party.

[@unexpected2475]

I kinda wish I was ambidextrous, ngl.

[@jkryanspark]

As a righthanded person who plays guitar, I'm often amazed at the intricate fretwork I can accomplish with my left hand. Yet, if I try playing lefthanded, the same left hand becomes utterly spastic when I use it to strum.

[@Ashitaka255]

I'm a mixed handed person who plays guitar right handed. I just tried to play left handed. I noticed that my left hand is bad at plucking/strumming but my right hand is down right useless at fretting. I think in general my left hand can do a better job of copying things I'd normally do with the right, but the right is not as adaptable.

[@jc.1191]

And watching lefties is confusing as hell. Lol

[@fossar_]

I'm a leftie who plays right-handed because one of my first teachers said it would be easier. As others say it would be near impossible to change now. I think it's as much to do with training than handedness for guitars, plucking and fretting are very much learned skills (not intuitive).

[@blitheringrando1410]

I was gonna come say the exact same thing, the left hand being the fretting hand is such a weird anomaly.

[@Ashitaka255]

@@blitheringrando1410 right? It seems more logical that the right hand would be the fretting hand (for a right handed person) as it requires more fine motor control with some of the triciker chords, arpeggios, hammer ons, bends etc.

[@Unleashed75]

That was insightful, thanks

[@izabellewoods3985]

A thing that has always been noteworthy for me: when I was really young (4 or so) my left handed aunt taught me to knit and crotchet using my left hand. I am otherwise right handed, but on both sides left handed-ness is very common. She grew up in a time that forced her to learn to write with her right hand and later remarked that she didn’t even realize she was teaching me on one hand vs the other. I still can’t make my brain knit or crochet using my right hand as a dominant hand. I think it’s because I was taught so young that the muscle memory is just engrained that for these two crafts it’s a left handed as dominant hand task.

[@teawrecks1243]

lefty: *uses left hand in the middle ages* everyone: "iS tHiS wiTchCraFt?"

[@509Gman]

My dad was in school during the days of corporal punishment, he writes with his right hand but does everything else left handed.

[@peterharrison5833]

I feel his pain.....

[@thelukesternater]

@@peterharrison5833 I am sorry. I went to school with a set of twin one left one right. Good school let her write with her left. Good humans do good things nicely.

[@user-zq7vi8lm4z]

Me : being ambidex and write with left hand in modern day as a kid My muslim mom : DONT USE LEFT HAND!! SATAN IS LEFTY!! DONT BE LIKE SATAN!!!

[@user-qo5co8sp9q]

Ikr

[@michaellyons992]

"Although we're the only species on Earth that's so strongly handed" My man's never seen a fiddler crab, I guess?

[@bdnrg6306]

Good point , look at lobsters

[@marclytle644]

Did you see those other guys? They were like giant claws with bodies attached!

[@diefenbaker7853]

From what I found Fiddler Crabs have an enlarged left claw. If they lose the enlarged left claw the right claw grows in size to replace the lost one however their lost claw will grow back as a normal size claw. If they lose the right claw after the left has been damaged the left claw will grow in size to become a large claw and the cycle repeats. That said the left enlarged claw is for "jousting" with other males, defense, offense, etc and the smaller claw is the one they use to feed themselves with. This makes the Fiddler crab right clawed with an enlarged left claw unless the left claw has been damaged or lost.

[@joermnyc]

@@diefenbaker7853 probably because the giant claw can’t reach their mouth... but if they lose their smaller right claw, they must have some way to survive until it grows back... right?

[@whitewolf262]

I'm pretty sure they specified placental mammals, which a fiddler crab definitely is not

[@zaid.farid.11]

In cricket, the left-hand bowlers are considered to have an X-factor as they have a different angle, and they cause problems for most batters. As a result, any good left-handed bowler is picked earlier than the others making the aforementioned interaction more favorable for them because you don't usually find left-handed bowlers in domestic circuits. For anyone wondering Shaheen and Starc are prime examples of this today

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

Love this type of stuff!

[@ohitsyang]

I’m a left handed boxer (southpaw) and I used to go into the ring with my opponent in a right hand stance until my opponent was tired or if I was losing the fight. As soon as one of those two things happened, I would wait until the next round and get into my Southpaw stance and when my opponent saw the switch, you could see the dreaded look in his eyes. Priceless 😂😂😂

[@thejuggernautofspades9453]

In the gladiatorial arenas in Rome, left handed fighters won more often cause they had the surprise and fought right handed opponents and hot use to their fighting style

[@itchycroe411]

Isn’t that the whole plot of rocky?

[@fatweevlogs]

I think I am right handed, but somehow in boxing I prefer the left handed stance as I hit harder with my left straight n hook, right is comfy for quick jabs though. And somehow I feel that my right uppercut is stronger than my left. But yeah i feel at home with the lefty stance.

[@itchycroe411]

@bobby shmurda's Hat no,it's Rocky2

[@user-cv8qe9ru8c]

They do say lefties are better off in fights. Makes sense

[@thecreaturezoid478]

Since childhood I've had a Quaker Parrot that is decidedly left handed (footed? clawed?). If you hand her anything like a Cheerio to eat, she will always grab it with her left foot. Likewise she will always step onto your finger left leg first, and step off of it in the same manner. When she was about 20 years old, she fell from a perch and broke her left leg in 3 places. The vet said they didn't have much hope for her surviving the injury, but we gave her constant care and made sure her leg was always well bandaged and dry. She made a full recovery and regained full use of her left leg which she still uses almost exclusively for any task. I've never had another animal with a distinct preference for one side over the other but she was determined, even with a serious injury to continue using her dominant leg and the vet believes that it was her constant use of the leg after the bandages came off that allowed it to regain all of its strength.

[@deborahlabbe3492]

My parents only noticed that their dog was left-pawed after having him for 5 years… If you ask him to “shake hands”, no matter which paw you put your hand in front of, he will only shake with his left paw.

[@KCUFyoufordoxingme]

Vets are typically extremely closed minded when it comes to animal recovery.

[@jesspostle7012]

I have a quaker parrot too and she’s also left hand dominant, stepping up, eating etc. Interesting! Glad she’s doing well now after injury

[@anyascelticcreations]

What a beautiful story. 💖

[@Robynhoodlum]

@@KCUFyoufordoxingme probably because their patients are more stubborn.

[@musicauthority-kt6zy]

Handedness is often hereditary, like my case I inherited being left handed from my father. it's like the saying says, "left handed people are in their right mind".

[@Subfightr]

The boxing example is so true. When I taught southpaws, or ESPECIALLY switch fighters (capable of switching stances well) I would often feel like I was standing wrong for a bit. Takes some getting used to.

[@selene6.238]

the worst are the scissors that are designed to be so painful to use if you arent right handed 😭

[@tiedupsmurf]

True, you can buy left handed scissors

[@cutworm7027]

girl yes. as an industrial seamstress i can tell you even the left handed scissors work better right handed 🙄

[@noneyadamnbusiness33]

Spiral notebooks are a pain also

[@ragnkja]

@@cutworm7027 As in, they only mirror the shape of the handle and not how the blades actually cross each other? That’s sloppy and ignorant of the manufacturer, since it’s how the blades cross each other that _really_ determines whether a pair of scissors is suited for left- or right-handed use.

[@enricocasaquia4045]

I think I have a problem, because I'm left handed and use scissored like a right handed person

[@karsten69]

PBS host: Being a leftie can have advantages Me, a leftie: oh really? How many decades/centuries did it take you to make scissors that work for both hands?

[@rlosable]

Its not because it is so difficult, we just prefer you lefties have no sharp and pointy objects... we are keeping an eye on y'all!

[@muhamadsayyidabidin3906]

ikr lol. As a leftie you're forced to learn how to used tools, eat, etc using right hand. Some people demonized left hand so much they would constantly asked about why you primarily used left hand lol

[@dewiz9596]

As a leftie, I can use scissors quite erm, handily. I’ll posit that lefties are better at adapting to their environment. There is a much higher preponderance of lefties among aviators than in the regular population.

[@thebackyard7661]

@@muhamadsayyidabidin3906 “Why I prefer my left hand? Oh I don’t know, why do you prefer your right hand?”

[@stefanosntailianis1511]

You guys are smarter.

[@tipring6956]

Another leftie living in a right handed world. My older brother taught me to swing a basball bat - right handed of course, so I'm a bit a switch hitter, though I actually prefer to hit (and golf) right handed. Still swing tennis and pingpong rackets with my left hand. Being a leftie also helped me when learning the piano... my left hand didn't struggle with bass lines, and my right hand dexerity was already well developed so the instrument just really brought the skill level up on both sides.

[@georgevprochazka5316]

Fascinating ! Thank you.

[@dixietenbroeck8717]

I had an lovely aunt (now deceased) who was a University Math Professor, and who was also ambidextrous. I was told that the 1st day of each class she would enter the room, quietly face the blackboard or whiteboard, then put up TWO complex mathematical equations - _SIMULTANEOUSLY!_ From that moment on she had *every* student's attention. 😉👍 (I miss you, Aunt Jean!)

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

As someone who fears math, she would terrify me lol

[@lonestarr1490]

@@WouldntULikeToKnow. It's not the math you fear, but your own lack of comprehension.

[@vshatriya5254]

@@lonestarr1490 Indeed, but Math scares me. People fear something they don't understand, from aliens to a simple math problem.

[@sokka47]

She must've enjoyed doing that to new classes. What a flex.... ❤️

[@ursulabach566]

Bro I can write decently with both hands but could NEVER write two different things with both of them at the same time. That takes some serious coordination!

[@letradavis8260]

My daughter is left handed and self taught herself to play the guitar. When we finally took her to get professional lessons her teacher was shocked that not only did she play left handed but she also perfectly played her chords upside down. He said he, as a professional should correct (not playing left handed) the upside down playing but it intrigued and fascinated him so much that he allowed her to continue and it actually was her greatest strength

[@KKFWB]

watch sum Elizabeth Cotten, she played a very particular style for similar reasons, very inspiring

[@arifb222]

I have a friend who also plays that way. It baffled me at first, then I tried imitating him but failed. I always wonder why my dominant right hand seems to be worse with chords than my left hand when I first learned the guitar. Strumming with my left hand also doesn't work lol

[@djm7494]

My son did this as well.

[@letradavis8260]

@@djm7494 that’s awesome

[@mikemc4549]

@@arifb222 I play a little bit of guitar for fun ,right handed ,and have always wondered if I would have started left handed what the results would have been .Had an old guitar player tell me once the magic is in the picking hand and hopefully your fretting hand can keep up.

[@louisblack1965]

“Seventy to nintey five percent, to be exact”… VERY SCIENTIFIC!! LOL

[@ShadowReaper-pu2hx]

Maybe they used a high confidence level and/or a small sample size.

[@drewthompson7457]

Being left-handed is such an advantage, that there need be only 10 - 12 % of us....

[@kilroysgeneral9565]

I'm a piano player and it is usually pretty easy to see what kind of handedness the composer has just from looking at the music, most people are right handed and tend to write more difficult parts higher on the staff. As a right-handed person, imagine my shock any time my left hand has to work more than my right

[@contagiousintelligence5007]

Who was a left handed composer?

[@sybariticcupboardrat3763]

Omg, is this why I don't like piano music much? I have a strong preference for lower notes - in voices, strings, brass, woodwinds, etc. If most piano music leans toward higher notes because of right handedness...

[@AlpenTree]

Fascinating l was not aware of this

[@boxsterman77]

Makes total sense and something I've never thought about. I guess they don't make piano's with a reversed order of keys to accommodate.

[@Bpaynee]

As a non piano player but with a growing interest in music structure, I assumed this was because bass lines are often more repetitive and consistent and then the higher notes sort of 'play around' that grounding line?

[@victoriareissilveira9129]

I only realised I was ambidextrous when I was about 10, and found out that right-handed ppl don't "just choose to use their right hands most of the times bc of social reasons". I was shook.

[@Kanzu999]

Being ambidextrous is pretty interesting to me. I'm actually a bit confused that I don't feel that way at all. I was born left-handed, but when my mom saw me drawing with my left hand as a kid, she told me that you have to draw with the right hand, because she was apparently afraid I would get teased by being left-handed or something like that (strange, I know). Since then I've been right-handed my whole life. And my right hand feels very dominant now. But you just never thought about which hand you were using? What about when you're writing or drawing? Are both hands the same to you?

[@Painted_Owl]

Also ambidextrous. Back in kindergarten, my teacher forced us to choose one hand over the other, so after a week of fussing with it, I went with my right hand. It was easier to write with, with English flowing from left to right. Never really thought about being ambidextrous until I realized that I had a left preference for opening soda cans. Blew me away. I started paying attention to myself after that, and discovered my preference changed depending on what was more effective. And I was over here thinking I was doing it the “right” way the whole time

[@snakevenom4954]

I think there are simply more neurons in the stronger side. More neurons means more muscles get activated giving more control and a stronger arm. It would explain ambidextrous people like yourselves and people who have opposite sides like being right handed but kicking with your left leg

[@victoriareissilveira9129]

@@Painted_Owl similar to my experience! Never had to strongly choose, but just went with whatever felt right, which often meant either hand. A few things are a bit stricter - I play guitar/bass left handed, but everybody around me said I should play with my right bc it is easier to find instruments and stuff. Bad advice, and bc I did not have a left-handed guitar, I ended up learning to play with my left hand on an "upside down" instrument. That one still annoys me haha

[@charby1980]

I was born left handed but thought I was wrong for using my left hand so learned to use my right. Now I switch between hands depending on the task or if one arm is tired.

[@michaeledwardharris]

That was excellent!

[@taniacollyer7490]

I love that you guys not only explain the 'what', but you also explain how we know these things. I have lofty hopes that people who are less cognitively inclined can understand these things better rather than grasping onto conspiracies that require mental gymnastics to fit a narrative for things they don't understand

[@joejoseph3078]

I am a RN and I worked on a neurological unit for several years. Part of my patient population was stroke victims. One thing neurologists and neurosurgeons always note is the patients dominant hand which identified the patients dominant brain hemisphere. This is because if a person had a stroke that effects the non-dominant side of the brain, they have a higher percentage of recovery because the dominant side of the brain can take over for the damaged side. Now this is very simplified and there are many other factors, but it was always something that was noted in their records.

[@Google_Does_Evil_Now]

What is an RN? I'm so used to military videos that I thought it was Royal Navy. I'm guessing it's some type of nurse but what is an R nurse? I've been reading reading a couple of Wikipedia articles on left and right handedness during watching this video. And some of the writing and Wikipedia is terrible. Instead of writing right and left there are several sentences where they say right and "non-right-handedness" Instead of saying right-handed and left-handed. Can you imagine writing "non-right-handedness" instead of left-handed? :-)) It makes reading it difficult because there is mixed terminology between positive and negative depending on the study that they're referring to and then they're mixing positive and negative when using a terminology for right or left-handed instead of just using right or left-handed. And Wikipedia writers can be quite crap! Strange how some studies can say one thing and then another set of studies can say the opposite thing and then another study can say there's no difference at all. They can't all be right.

[@honey2683]

@@Google_Does_Evil_Now registered nurse

[@ameliacorazon4015]

I wonder if they were including ambidextrous people in the “non” category? 🤔

[@drewhempwood2113]

​@@honey2683you know what though? Who's a non registered nurse

[@BeckBeckGo]

Brh. I’m going to rock my future stroke recovery. I’m ambidextrous

[@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers]

I taught my son to read and write pre-school. I'm left handed, he just naturally copied me. However, it seems he's more naturally right handed. Now, as a dentist his ability to swap sides or hands appears to help him a little.

[@martianmurray]

I always saw the advantages of using both hands since I write right handed and throw lefty. In elementary school I thought I could be doing my work and throw stuff at the same time, so I could be like “no I didn’t throw it, see I’ve been writing the whole time.” ha

[@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers]

@@martianmurray ah yes, incontrovertible proof of advantage. 😁

[@boblob3509]

Wow he became a dentist 👍

[@BatMan-xr8gg]

@@martianmurray My father wrote left handed but threw right handed. But he could also paint with both hands. And when I did boxing as a kid, I learnt how to switch from Left to Right so no one had an advantage.

[@pinkegg3179]

@@therewasoldcringe me too, I write with right, but most everything else left. I think I was probably taught to write with right hand in school like "normal" kids, but things that I wasnt taught to do, like doing makeup or using a can opener or using a spoon, I use left hand. there isn't anything I can do with both right and left hand. only one or the other. I suppose I am anti-dextrous

[@Qwerty.240]

There could also be another point added that i just thought of: Wernicke's and Broca's regions (language centers) are mostly located in the left hemisphere. Our lingual abilities could also be linked to hemispheral dominance in humans. Evolution may have favoured left hemisphere for some reason. Specialized areas for tasks like tool making, language comprehension and communication seem to be located in left side more..

[@Nevarek_]

@1:43 suboptimal knife grip, chef's grip is better (and imo safer) for most cutting, also the grip on on the carrot like asking for an injury

[@ignemuton5500]

this comment section would have you believe that 80% of humans are left handed lol

[@gotguts5423]

Right handers don't feel special enough to comment. We are just observing out of curiosity.

[@kokolanza7543]

Haha, good point. Grateful for some sort of affirmation! (Speaking as a left-hander.)

[@gotguts5423]

@Sapient Sepiid yeah, but use the sword with my right hand, heh!

[@maxsmart61]

Lets kill all right handers

[@MochaFur1]

@@maxsmart61 we won't have an advantage tho

[@foxwaffles]

I do my eye makeup like eyeliner and eyeshadow with each hand corresponding to my eye. I can also use a knife, thread a needle, sew, and do almost any other non-writing task ambidextrously. Unfortunately when I was a kid my teacher saw me regularly write with both hands and told me to stop and only use my right hand. So I can't write well with my left hand anymore.

[@tafazzi-on-discord]

that makes sense, the teacher probably didn't want to correct assignments with smushed ink if she didn't have to.

[@foxwaffles]

@@tafazzi-on-discord I suppose but it makes me sad, it would've been a neat party trick to show off how I can write with both hands lol. At least I can still draw and craft with both hands!

[@tafazzi-on-discord]

@@foxwaffles In my opinion drawing is still more impressive :)

[@benmiller5015]

Us ambidextrous people are the superior species. The one handed people have been trying to hold us back for thousands of years

[@Neenerella333]

Jealous of the eyeliner thing. I am ridiculously right handed. To train for a rock climb, that had the crux pulling with the left hand, I trained the left arm exclusively. Like Ricky from Lady in the Water.

[@BupeshKumar1]

0:34 70 to 95 percent of us to be "exact" always gets me!

[@ellendiane27]

My husband was left handed as a kid until he brike his left hand and started using his right. He can write, use a utensil, and do most sports with both hands now. This is very helpful for me as I'm left handed and there's no sitting on the wrong side of the table with one another

[@darknigthangel]

Charles Xavier: "Welcome to the X-Men. What's your mutant power?" Me: "I'm left handed."

[@nuzayerov]

Haha.

[@zikrim1227]

Me : "I cant see green!"

[@icircumcisedmonkeysafterfo4781]

Me: I can move my ears Charles Xavier: *fascinating*

[@jcbvortex22]

I’m left handed and have the rarest blood type in the world, ABneg.

[@nuzayerov]

@@AlexTonar, Hello. fellow Lefty! I am left handed too! #Unique #Left-Handed.

[@Shatterverse]

My mother was a leftie and got forced, as most were at the time, to learn to write and do other things right handed. So she became semi ambidextrous as a result - she could even hit me with either hand, though I think she preferred her right hand for that, and for throwing shit at me.

[@sophiecat5713]

This was what I endured as a child, I remember having my left hand put in a mitten to force right handed writing, this was practiced right into the 80’s in Ireland . But I’m a true leftie that’s just learned to adapt to a right handed a world like all the other lefties....I can’t even find a left hand emoji now 🙀

[@patrickmccurry1563]

Yeah. My mom lightly tried to make me a righty, but from birth I was VERY left handed. Doing things with my right is akin to using a foot with long toes. With practice, a lot is possible, but it ain't ever going to be a "real hand".

[@sceaserjulius9476]

I can hit with both hands, i use right hand for really powerful blow, like throwing and punching, but write, eat and others using left hand.

[@dorabrooks76]

My mother is also a leftie and was forced to write with her right hand at school. The teacher would smack her hand with a ruler if she was caught writing with her left hand! That is until my grandma found out... she was a fierce lady about her kids!

[@gildedbear5355]

My father was the opposite. He was a righty but his sister didn't want to be the only leftie in the family so she insisted that he learn to write left handed.

[@aashutoshmule]

Wow...what great information

[@robertterrell3065]

I found this video too late. Oh well. But it doesn't seem to explain an art class of mine back in 1976. One day, the professor asked for a show of hands of how many were left handed. So many students in the class held up their hand including me. He was very surprised, and so was everyone! But since then I've watched closely in films. It seems that there are quite a few left-handed actors, too.

[@filipvitek204]

In Europe, passage in tunnels underneath the castles and stairways were turning right. For it was difficult for right-handed attackers during siege to strike "behind the corner". Thus, left-handed squads were formed and highly used for their striking from left to right with ease - somewhat of today s.w.a.t. reminiscence.

[@kristinemorley4337]

Warwick castle

[@miscellaneousz2681]

@@kristinemorley4337 cockwack castle

[@enrater123]

That's interesting

[@AdrianDanielGuard]

This is the case with Neamt Castle in Romania, where the medieval bridge has right turns

[@maskcollector6949]

That explains that odd past life memory of tunneling with swords.

[@tiny5663]

As a lefties, I just figured out how to use a can opener this year, I have to say I'm proud

[@saptamiram]

As a rightie who still can't use a can opener, I'm proud of you too

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

As a lefty* ...

[@brainretardant]

Scissors always work better in your right hand

[@Idellphany]

Me and my son are lefties, and he just figured the can opener out last week lol

[@Shvetsario]

Lol no wonder people made fun of me for not knowing how to use it, forgetting I’m left handed

[@patbrennan6572]

I only use my left hand for drinking beer so I take it with me where ever I go.

[@ryankane8836]

This is fantastic

[@adamdorsky5465]

I feel like a significantly higher ratio of left handed people clicked on this video than right handed people.

[@youngsavage9874]

Ik I did 😂

[@rosemarym5334]

Yeah... We don't get left behind. 😂

[@PositivelyKush]

Yeah I did 😅

[@adamalexander5978]

Yup

[@Fiufsciak]

Nah

[@TimeBucks]

It's amazing how smooth the host rocked his outfit of the day

[@viktorkukuruzovic5332]

Looks like the type that enjoys hackey sack and dislikes paying back his debts, or, in other words, a left handed guy

[@Water-ym3ew]

@@viktorkukuruzovic5332 lmfao

[@notspacekeeper]

He's in ridiculously good shape too.

[@rickyscars2921]

Am I the only one that's dying to know what kind of shoes he was rocking with that outfit

[@dooeytee6715]

Every outfit you wear is the outfit of the day

[@sofiabrasil]

I have the impression that left handed people tend to be smarter and/or more creative

[@nikgokuhil]

I always assumed that our heart is more to left so left hand tended to be in more protective stance

[@JohnCran]

My late Dad was right handed except for eating. The first thing he would do when he sat down to eat he would swap his knife and fork. As kids we would prank him by setting his place for left handed so that he would have to do a double swap. Miss you dad ❤️

[@bobman929]

I am the same. Except no one pranks me, they just call me wierd

[@martijn9568]

I've gone years without knowing where to use the knife and fork. This made me very clumsy until I started using them the right handed way, but I still do use them a bit strangely when I don't know what I should use the knife and fork for.

[@jennw36]

Or he was taught to,eat by Europeans.

[@edbroaotearoa1198]

I'm the same. I don't trust my left as I'll miss my mouth and get my nose

[@skepticmoderate5790]

I never understood why it's standard to hold the knife in the dominant hand. This has always felt wrong to me. Doesn't the fork obviously require more precision? The knife just uses the fork as a guide anyway.

[@michaelgreenlee5659]

I am surprised that eye dominance wasn't mentioned because there is usually a correlation between the two. When aiming and throwing and other handed activities, having your dominant eye towards the front is a huge advantage.

[@rixatrix]

Yes! I just started taking an adult art class and they had us identify our dominant eye. For anyone who wants to know how do it, you hold out both hands and make your thumbs and pointer fingers into a triangle. Then center an object inside the triangle, and close one eye, trying both sides. The object will still be centered when you’re looking with your dominant eye. I’m right handed and left eye dominant, which is wild, because my left eye is also more near sided than my right by a few points. I assumed my slightly better eye would be dominant, but nope. Super interesting exercise.

[@morganst.pierre]

As well as leg/foot dominance

[@user-qi6ez4se4r]

@@rixatrix wow I never even thought of this. I'm left handed and I've never had glasses but my left eye vision has always been very fuzzy and all my clarity comes from my right eye which has perfect sight. Sure enough I'm right eye dominant which would make sense for being left handed.

[@braxalln]

@@user-qi6ez4se4r exact same story here!

[@boxsterman77]

So is there a known association with eye and hand dominance? If a person is right-handed, is it more likely that they are also right eyed? Or left eyed?

[@richardsimms251]

Excellent

[@beeg56]

Growing up, my dad and two of my three sibs - as well as me - were lefties. I had no idea that right-handers were dominant until I was in school (and began the long search for those weird lefty desks from middle school all the way through all my college years.)

[@cravidana1182]

This video just came in handy.

[@wjbt3]

🤣 damn you!

[@multiyapples]

You made my day Cravid Ana.

[@rogerpaquin625]

8 minutes after the video is uploaded and you smacked them with a pun. 😂

[@squeallymae]

buh tum tis! 😂

[@chikensuup7746]

This is getting out of hand

[@Tawishma]

Literally was just thinking to myself I was itching for an eons video. I'm clearly well conditioned by their upload schedule

[@apfel3188]

@@SnowyButterfly1 thank you for this

[@gapetheapegod7976]

@@SnowyButterfly1 source? Because Humans and bugs are both in animalia and fungi are in fungi which is separate a separate kingdom (I think it is kingdom)

[@theperfectmix2]

@@SnowyButterfly1 I am 99% sure this is false

[@beze9632]

@@SnowyButterfly1 I call BS on that. Fungii are a completely distant evolutinary group than animals.

[@jay6817]

"I think most would prefer to be left. But he could be right" 😅

[@nathangray-bain1340]

From my experience volunteering at a rescue, parrots are usually left-footed. They grab and manipulate things much like a hand, and they do tend to prefer one foot over the other (more often their left foot). Just thought I'd mention it, they too are bipedal like us and the kangaroo and since they're birds, they have a completely different evolutionary history, yet they also prefer one side over the other. It definitely suggests bipedalism has something to do with it.

[@farrahupson]

I once had an encounter with the greeter at the grocery store that I frequented, an older man who only had one arm (it was his left, and I got the idea that he had lost his right arm at a very young age.) I visited the store shortly after badly breaking my left humerus and was in a full left-arm cast from my shoulder to my hand at the time, and he stopped me to ask about the injury. He asked if I was having trouble doing things with a broken arm, because he had "heard that people prefer one hand over the other". It was so bizarre to hear from someone who had no personal experience with handedness.

[@olopaxx]

Surely he'd have experience with left or right footedness? For example like in football

[@roddydykes7053]

@@olopaxx maybe he only had one leg too.

[@JoBrew]

The key is in the word ‘handedness’

[@olopaxx]

@@JoBrew handedness and footedness feel the same with regards to preference for a specific one. He wouldn't have had to hear it from someone else otherwise

[@tohaason]

@@olopaxx I'm right handed, though not overly so, as I mentioned in another comment - I do a lot of things with my left hand. But I have *never* felt anything "handed" about my feet. Feet are used very differently from hands where one hand typically holds something and the other hand works on it.

[@DanteYewToob]

My best friend growing up was a very rare “true ambidextrous” person. He was perfectly ambidextrous even at a young age, with full 100% even control with both hands and he did tons of studies growing up about it and showed that his brain was symmetrical, to an odd degree even beyond the average ambi person. He would often do demonstrations writing with both hands, but also capable of writing backwards with one of them, at the same time! It was weird and kinda cool. Pretty neat. I always liked people with interesting quirks, like my exgf with an odd heterochromia. People are awesome!

[@urmama54]

was ur best friend growing up high iq, eq, what was his personality like? what kind of work did/currently involved with?

[@Helperbot-2000]

not sure what you mean by his brain beeing symmetrical, if it was equal on both sides he would be missing a brain functions since some are exclusive to the left or right side

[@davetuscano5939]

I am old lefty machinist. A drill press and a milling machine are made for lefty's. You drill the hole with yer "dumb" hand. But you control the object with yer "smart" left hand.