For people who are left handed, life seems to always be a challenge for them living in such a right handed world. There are many myths about being left handed and science really doesn’t know a whole lot about left handed people. Science, in fact, can’t even really determine how many lefties there even may be in the world. Their wild guess still remains at between 5%-30%. A ridiculously wide range to be safe on.
Social, cultural, and even religious forces have, over the decades and centuries, prevented many humans from becoming lefties. In Christianity, for example, it was widely believed, and preached, that people who were left handed were actual children of Satan himself. Public schools would force left handed people to become right handed as a matter of educational course until only quite recently.
Not so long ago, lefties were treated as having a mental illness. Much like the science sect of psychology treats introversion today. Parents were expected to enforce the school rule that every child was to graduate right handed. Science once propounded that left handedness was due to some sort of trauma that happened at birth. Was it the trauma of birth? Did the doctor drop the baby on the floor? Science even proposed that it may be matter of Darwin’s theory on natural selection having something to do with it but admit that they are not quite sure.
One of the most bizarre facts about being left handed is that there are no left handed primates found anywhere in any primate species. Lefties, among primates, be they apes or monkeys, simply don’t exist. In fact, the primates tend to be rather ambidextrous and can go with either hand when performing a task.
All in all, no one really knows all that much about lefties and why they are a certain percentage of the population. Most of the research studies that have been done, and they are few, have shown no definite conclusions and any evidence regarding a theory has been flimsy at best.
For those lefties out there, perhaps you can take heart from this anonymous quote:
“God made everyone right handed. The truly gifted overcome it.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Rantsports.com