Are you lefthanded? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 04:37:15 pm
content: Being left-handed I noticed that at employment with a hand full of companies I seemed to often find myself in a much higher then 10% lefty crowd. Lets see if this site deviates from 10%.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 04:39:34 pm
content: It was a small engineering department (Three engineers and a manager) but there were three of us that were left handed, and only one right handed engineer. When the one right handed guy left, we were 100 percent left handed.

author: PauloConstantino
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 04:43:41 pm
content: I was born left handed, and taught to do things with my right hand. I still do lots of things with my left, and I use my left leg for leg stuff.I have been teaching myself to write with my left hand for some time now, but although I can write cleanly with it, it's not comfortable

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 05:59:43 pm
content: is it valid a right-handed by accident was disabled his right arm temporarily and he had to learn all with the left hand?

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 07:27:50 pm
content: I am right handed but years ago I had surgery on my right shoulder that immobilized my arm. I learned to do everything left handed. I can still eat left handed, I play pool left handed, drive left handed and can mouse with either hand. I write right handed.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 07:49:32 pm
content: I'm right handed but if needed, i can use mouse with left hand or eat with my left hand, use hand tools with my left hand ... handwriting is a bit tricky but if i really have to i could probably manage it.

author: med6753
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 09:10:57 pm
content: Lefty here in most tasks....eating, writing, etc. But I throw a ball right handed. And some tasks either hand.I used to use a mouse lefty until I started to get carpal tunnel and I switched to right hand.

author: 5321488
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 10:44:08 pm
content: I'm a lefty when writing and most things but oddly kick with either and bat in cricket right handed. I can use my right hand for most things, only a little worse than with left hand

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 12:35:32 am
content: Always been a righty.This thread reminded me of a laptop I sorted for a guy with health problems. It had a fingerprint scanner - which he was keen to set up. I told him to use at least 3 and to use fingers from both hands in case of injury to a finger or a hand.He was a righty, too.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:45:33 am
content: I have always been right handed but I now practice doing things as much as possible with my left hand. About the only things I do not do with my left hand are using the mouse, writing, and using some tools like screwdrivers and hammers but I am working on those. In practice this means for anything else, I use either hand as needed but prefer my left hand for practice.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:56:36 am
content: I was born ambidextrous, but after years of writing with my right hand, it would take me a bit of time to retrain my left to write. However, my hand-eye co-ordination is superior on my left hand. I can bowl and throw better with it.When I play the piano, I am almost as good with my left hand, however I have never been trained to play a piano, and play by ear, so maybe that has something to do with it.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 02:26:06 am
content: I'm generally right handed, but there are oddball things I catch myself using my left hand for, like eating ice cream cones or any food of similar nature. In any kind of sport I also shoot left, while most people seem to shoot right. Not that I play sports very often. I don't think Wii counts.

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 02:58:30 am
content: Right handed mostly, but when it comes to playing with titties, suddenly I'm ambidextrous...

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 03:00:34 am
content: Quote from: P90 on May 15, 2017, 02:58:30 amWith this there is a question that's on everybody's mind.Are they yours?

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 03:07:46 am
content: Quote from: TwoOfFive on May 15, 2017, 03:00:34 amLOL... where's the fun in that...

author: jitter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 05:03:31 am
content: Quote from: retrolefty on May 14, 2017, 04:37:15 pmRighty here, but I seem to favour the left hand for things like opening a bottle, so I can't take the vote.Perhaps it's not this site you should be looking at, but your jobs. Are there certain character traits that are stronger with lefties?But looking at lefties from a certain age, you might think they're righties. My father is left handed but was forced to write right handed and hence has done ever since. I found out not that long ago that Paul McCartney wasn't the only lefty in The Beatles...

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 06:17:48 am
content: Quote from: retrolefty on May 14, 2017, 04:37:15 pmNot a 100% leftie (mouse and phone with the right hand for example)I try to use tools with both hands because it's hard to find power tools for usyesterday i was with some friends and we found ourselves to be a handfulof lefties (somebody said oh shit you know you're all left handed?)

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 10:53:41 am
content: Surprised no one has said...I was born right handed, like all humans, but was able to overcome that disability at an early age.Ever see a left-handed oscilloscope?There are some tasks that are more easily done with the right hand, like hammering in a toenail on the right side of a stud. For that and many other tasks, I use my right hand. Anther example is tightening a right-hand screw (muscles in the forearm are stronger for supination than for pronation).As for driving a car with the left hand, isn't that because the right hand is usually holding a cellphone?Finally, for very fine motor control (e.g., tuning an analog radio) the non-dominate hand is often better.John

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 11:12:13 am
content: Left hander here.

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 11:28:48 am
content: left handed students always have ink pen stains on their left hand... LOL perhaps not as much today since everyone takes a laptop to class...

author: magetoo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 12:15:05 pm
content: Righty, and has made some conscious effort to be more "even handed", not that it seems to have made much of a difference in practice.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 12:43:26 pm
content: Right. Back in the day, I played basketball high school competitively. For the world, I could not learn to be as fluent with both hands, no matter how much time and effort I put into it. It kinda matters, places more distance between the ball and the defending player, but my accuracy was just bad.The results will be biased BTW. I would look up what the name of the bias it is...

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:18:32 pm
content: Quote from: TwoOfFive on May 15, 2017, 03:00:34 amErr, no. Sorry to disappoint but it's only you.

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:20:47 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 15, 2017, 10:53:41 amNo, only idiots do that.

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:29:45 pm
content: Quote from: Zbig on May 15, 2017, 01:18:32 pmLOL

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 02:19:36 pm
content: Quote from: jitter on May 15, 2017, 05:03:31 amI do not know if this is still done but in the past in the US, left handed children were trained to be right handed. Right handedness was enforced at an early age.Quote from: jpanhalt on May 15, 2017, 10:53:41 amI am not sure if you are serious or just making a point but left handedness is genetic although not in the sense most people think of. If it was purely random, then handedness should be evenly distributed. Genetics produces an uneven distribution making most people right handed. (1) (2)The odd distribution of left handedness was recognized in ancient times leading to the etymology of sinister and dexter. It also influenced architecture; stairs wind upward in a clockwise direction advantaging the defender whose right hands are free and disadvantaging the attacker whose right hands are against a wall. The pragmatic Romans used left handed soldiers on one side of the phalanx where right handed soldiers would have been at a disadvantage.(1) This gets tricky. A genetically determined trait requires variation of expression, right? There is little or no variation but does anybody doubt that 5 fingered hands are completely determined by genetics?(2) In some snails, the direction of their spiral shells is the phenotypic expression of the *mother's* genotype. If you were to look at the individual's genetics, no link would be found but it is still a trait controlled by genetics, just another individual's genetics.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 02:31:50 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on May 15, 2017, 02:19:36 pmMy partner's father was trained to be right handed even though he was naturally left handed, it was seen as a weakness by his father.The result is that he's ambidextrous, equally incompetent with both hands(joke, he's a skilled woodworker and an all round good bloke)As a child I was 'encouraged' to be right handed but that didn't last long, unfortunately back then it was very rare to find a teacher who knew how to teach a left hander how to write and as someone else has noted, using a fountain pen left handed is a guarantee of ink covered hands.

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 04:01:10 pm
content: When I was a child, I was forbidden to hang around left handed kids, in case left-handedness was contagious...

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 04:09:14 pm
content: I am ambidextrous, in the sense that I am clumsy with both hands. I can do most things with either hand, though I definitely write better right handed.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 05:24:43 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on May 15, 2017, 12:43:26 pmSelf-selection bias. People who share the dominant trait (right-handed) will not open the thread.Quote from: David HessThe heritability of handedness is somewhere below 25%.QuoteThe point is that there is no scientific meaning to "genetically determined trait". Heritability is measured as the percentage of variability that is caused by genetic differences. When few genetic differences exist, most variability is caused by environmental differences. So the heritability of finger number is extremely low.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 07:51:01 pm
content: Quote from: helius on May 15, 2017, 05:24:43 pmThat research is based on phenotypic expression. Handedness is probably just as heritable as left-right asymmetry.The heritability of handedness or the heritability of the variation in handedness? Something is biasing handedness massively toward people being right handed.QuoteThat is the opposite though. The heritability of finger number is extremely high despite little variation and environmental differences have a puny effect. That is why this is so tricky.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeritabilityA prerequisite for heritability analyses is that there is some population variation to account for. This last point highlights the fact that heritability cannot take into account the effect of factors which are invariant in the population.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 08:37:57 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on May 15, 2017, 07:51:01 pmHuh? Handedness is a phenotypic expression.Twin studies have shown that handedness is determined by approximately 24% genetic effects with the rest being environmental influences.Quote?? Does not compute.QuoteI don't think anyone knows the exact answer to that question. The real question is why is the brain heavily lateralized? Handedness is just one manifestation of brain lateralization. IOW, brain lateralization and handedness go "hand in hand".There is a long and rich anthropologic research history into the evolution of human language and associated brain lateralization. There is also a long history of modern human neurology research mapping brain lateralization.Why the large majority of humans are left hemisphere dominant (and thus right handed) is not known. A quick search came up withthis paperwhich gives a pretty good overview of this question and possible answers.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 08:42:08 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on May 15, 2017, 07:51:01 pmYou should specify if you are talking about finger number in the population or only in neonates. There are about 22,000 amputations of orthonumerary fingers every year in the US; I would think that has a greater impact on the overall number of fingers than polydactyly.At first it may seem odd to talk about heritability of amputations from accident or disease. But since you don't a priori know what causes amputations, it makes perfect sense to study them as one more contributor to variations in phenotype. This open-mindedness is especially important when it relates to heritable differences in behavior, since they are not self-evident when the individual is born.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 09:07:43 pm
content: Quote from: P90 on May 15, 2017, 11:28:48 amI draw primarily with my right hand, and I still have ink stains on my hand.I also happen to use a fountain pen, so that may be part of it.

author: WZOLL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 02:40:34 am
content: 100% left handed with everything except things that con only be used right handed like guitars. I was born left handed and no one else in my family that i know of is left handed. As a student, the struggle with binders, desks, and "pencil lead hand" is very real.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 03:21:00 am
content: Who says guitars can only be used right handed?

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 03:47:14 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on May 17, 2017, 03:21:00 amI play guitar with both hands. you kind of have to. lol

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2017, 12:34:57 pm
content: Quote from: helius on May 15, 2017, 05:24:43 pmExactly, thank you. Also, the Non response bias.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-response_biasNot because right handed people are unable to click on it, because they dont care to click on it.Imagine, you make a telephone survey, and find that 90% of people who answered, tend to answer telephone surveys.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2017, 02:21:25 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on May 18, 2017, 12:34:57 pmFrom your example, it's clearly not possible to eliminate these types of biases in the data. So what polltakers attempt to do is tracking: to sample the same population over time and see how their answers change. If you know that your data has a bias in a certain direction, you won't be interested so much in the absolute results, but the differential can still be useful. It's harder to do this with online polls because of the times people vote not being recorded, and the change in views over time obscuring any underlying variation.

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2017, 07:55:18 pm
content: Quote from: helius on May 18, 2017, 02:21:25 pmThe 'polls' run here are far from statistically valid for many reasons, sample size alone. However the results so far are pretty weird. True Ambidexter people represent only 1% of the general population, so over represented here (11%) or just not 'True' Ambidexter, but rather useful with either so they voted that way? And of course the left handed vote is higher then 10%.I guess I should have used the name left dominant in the poll question rather then left handed, as one who is truly left dominate will usually have better vision left Vs right eye, foot size slightly larger, hearing better, etc. There is truly a genetic difference that environment could have no bearing on. An example of environment effect is I am lefty all the way, but as a youth I could only play around with golf using right handed clubs (nobody around had lefty clubs), so that is what I 'learned' on, and to this day a left handed club does not feel correct and I continued to use right handed clubs, a matter of having to first 'unlearn' first. That is an environmental effect, not genetic.QuoteWell the majority of poll voting responses are right handed, so that statement seems wrong or misstated?Lefty

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2017, 08:36:45 pm
content: Quote from: retrolefty on May 18, 2017, 07:55:18 pmTrue. It should be "People who share the dominant trait (right-handed) areless likely toopen the thread."Which will of course skew the results.

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2017, 08:38:27 pm
content: Quote from: mtdoc on May 18, 2017, 08:36:45 pmWell I guess it's just a case that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it vote.

author: jitter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2017, 04:58:19 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on May 17, 2017, 03:21:00 amI tried to play the guitar but missed the stamina to keep going. What I found curious was that the left hand (as a righty) has to do all the difficult work, but I wouldn't dream of playing the guitar left handed...However, I do know there are left handers who choose to play right handed, e.g. Mark Knopfler. But Paul McCartney tried to play right handed and found his progress wass not very good and switched to playing left handed. Ringo is the other lefty, however playing a right handed drum kit.I also always wondered about right hand drive countries and changing gears in a manual gearbox...