Unorthodox Poets Society

Music:

Member Since: 10/1/2006
Band Website: thornbox.com
Band Members: Mr. Skurge & INFINITO 2017
Influences: "Southpaw" redirects here; for other uses, see Southpaw (disambiguation).

A person who is left-handed primarily uses his or her left hand, more so than the right hand; a left-hander will probably use the left hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on. Writing is not as precise an indicator of handedness as it might seem, because many left-handed people write with their right hand but use their left hand for other tasks.

Left-handedness and intelligence

A common belief suggests that left-handed people are more intelligent or creative than right-handed people. While there is an unresolved debate within the scientific community on how to operationalize both intelligence and creativity, some studies have demonstrated a small positive correlation between left-handedness and creativity/intelligence.

In his book Right-Hand, Left-Hand,[18] Chris McManus of University College London, argues that the proportion of left-handers is rising and left-handed people as a group have historically produced an above-average quota of high achievers. He says that left-handers' brains are structured differently in a way that widens their range of abilities, and the genes that determine left-handedness also govern development of the language centres of the brain.

In Britain, around 11% of men and women aged 15-24 are now left-handed, compared to just 3% in the 55-64 age category.[19] McManus suggests a number of factors that may be driving this increase:

* Left-handers were severely discriminated against during the 18th and 19th centuries and it was often "beaten out" of people * In adulthood, left-handers were often shunned by society, resulting in fewer marrying and reproducing * As discrimination was reduced in the 20th century, the number of natural left-handers who stayed left-handed increased * The rising age of motherhood contributed as, statistically, older mothers are more likely to give birth to left-handed children

McManus says that the increase could produce a corresponding intellectual advance and a leap in the number of mathematical, sporting, or artistic geniuses.
Unfortunately, they tend to be over-represented at both ends of the intellectual scale, and as well as geniuses, the group also produces a disproportionately high number of those with learning handicaps. There have been suggestions of links between left-handedness and dyslexia, stuttering, and child autism, among other disabilities.[citation needed]

In 2006, researchers at Lafayette College and Johns Hopkins University in a study found that left-handed men are 15% richer than right-handed men for those who attended college, and 26% richer if they graduated. The wage difference is still unexplainable and does not appear to apply to women.[20]

As well as possible intelligence advantages, being left-handed can also bring about other benefits, including:

* Warrior and shield: Warriors hold their shield with their left hand to protect the heart which is slightly on the left-side of the body. This leaves the right hand free for weapon use.
* Brain hemisphere division of labor: The premise of this theory is that since both speaking and handiwork require fine motor skills, having one hemisphere of the brain do both would be more efficient than having it divided up. * Advantage in hand-to-hand Combat: Left-handers have a 'surprise' factor in combat, since the majority of the population is right-handed.

Sounds Like: how we sound
Record Label: Egruks / Nephew Of Frank (South)
Type of Label: Indie