Just saw this on the golf forum. Not only for golfers; as a right-side brain dominated thinker, I had many looks and probs with things, slight but annoying, when I was in Asia. Left hand is dirty, etc. I can be ambidextrous at times (my samisen sensei refused to let me strum with my left hand), and I was conscious never to give or receive anything with my left hand. But, one does have to sign official papers and I always got a "look". My first-grade teacher tried to make me write with my right hand and it was the only time my mom told a teacher to P*O*. Maybe that's why some Asian people get mucked up being forced to use their right hand when their brain says left. Jimi Hendrix just turned the guitar upside down. I get used to seeing the wrong side of a coffee mug and using implements made for righties. Guess that's why lefties are considered more creative -- we always have to improvise.

Just saw this on the golf forum.

The rest of the post or a pic/url you forgot to add?

Sorry, TAWP, just saw the thread title. I can post a pic of my left hand if you want. Looks like my right hand but the thumb is on the right side unless it's palm upward.

I was more asking what 'this' in your first segment was refering too. I guess it was the post itself. =)

I've often thought about why are there so few left handed persons? You would think that the natural evolutionary processes would produce an equal number of lefties as righties much the same as the almost equal split male/female. Maybe at some point the evolutionary process decided that the world only needed so many artists and musicians but needed more hunters and gatherers. The early implements, stone axes and spears etc, could be used left or right handed so there's no pressure there.

I'd never considered the problems of being left handed in a society where the left hand is considered unclean.

Hmmm, today's muse point.

I have one fully functional limb (meaning, page turning, mouse clicking, writing etc) and it's on the right. Wifey is equally adept with either arm (very handy as her right one is in a plaster cast at the mo) but, what's really scary, is that she can lie in bed, pick up the remote for the TV with one foot and use it with the other one.

She takes ambidextrous to entirely new levels.

Yeah, I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

It's easier to drive a stick shift in America. I handled OK in Asia with all the stuff being on the wrong side, but it's better to steer with your strong arm while shifting gears. I do like table place settings, tho. Do you use the fork with your left or right hand? Seems kinda stupid to have to shift it over from the left side. And then things like calculators with the add keys and stuff on the right side. My Jpn calligraphy teacher said I would never be good unless I used my right hand. Huh! If I write right to left, I never smudge anything.

Yer right, Gorgons were never hunters/gatherers, Philly. Those peons.

They did get a special left armed desk for me at school, but imagine my abject misery when I had to change classes and all the desks had right-armed wings. Discrimination.

Here I was thinking this was going to be a political thread. Teach me to judge a book by it's cover.

Now that I think of it, if you can't judge a book by it's cover, shouldn't someone in marketing be fired?

I wonder if there is a "concept" here for a "candid camera" show where people have "I'm left handed so I eat with my left hand and wipe my bum with my right" as one of those temporary tattoos on their forehead in Thai or Arabic script or whatever and went around proferring their right hand in the normal socially acceptable way.

I've often thought about why are there so few left handed persons? You would think that the natural evolutionary processes would produce an equal number of lefties as righties much the same as the almost equal split male/female. Maybe at some point the evolutionary process decided that the world only needed so many artists and musicians but needed more hunters and gatherers. The early implements, stone axes and spears etc, could be used left or right handed so there's no pressure there.

I'd never considered the problems of being left handed in a society where the left hand is considered unclean.

Hmmm, today's muse point.

This is an interesting thread. Depending on who you believe, there are between 10-20% of the population who are left-handed. In the bible the tribe of Benjamin were left-handed. Also, being left or right brain dominated has nothing to do with your 'handedness'. This is a common mis-conception! It purely refers to the dominant side of the brain when using the right or left side of the body. Neither side is the more creative either. It is interesting though how many cultures consider left-handedess a bad thing, our own included. My brother is left handed and at school (50 YEARS AGO!) they actually tied his left hand to his side!!! Today that would be considered child abuse!

Neither side is the more creative either.

Really ..... source please .... everything I have read would indicate that one side is. Or were you indicating that one side is logically creative and the other is more abstract?

P.S. they used to tie our left arms to our sides at school, but that was only for the egg and spoon race

I too suspected a political thread. I wonder if there are more "lefty" expats in Thailand or do we just make more noise?

Back to the OP, the reason there are more right handers than the other is that right handed males have far stronger pheromones than left handers therefore we are more attractive to women. We are also better looking with larger penises which helps again.

(Don't even think about contesting this opinion with out at least three reputable web sites to back you up. Pointing out the few exceptions to support your case won't work either).

On a serious note.. Left handed golf clubs are nearly impossible to buy in Thailand. Sure the shop may have one set, most often not suitable for everyone....

Apart from that, lefties make the most entertaining dinner guests when they begin a tirade of anti capitalism sentiment.

Soundman.

Interesting assumptions here. I am a leftie, more creative than sensible in common terms, yet very sensible when I am creative.

Are there left handed animals? I mean animals who have hands like you can't have left handed jellyfish or snakes. But are there left handed chimpanzees, orang utans and gorillas or even kangaroos and wallabees?

Considering that only 10 - 20% of the population are left handed would indicate that the evolutionary process considers it to be a disadvantage. Of course it is a disadvantage if you are a left handed golfer and can only buy right handed clubs but I doubt if that was forseen 500,000 years ago. But other than things like writing, cutting paper with scissors or using a tin opener is there any disadvantage that would have suppressed the development of lefties?

There are situations where it could be an advantage. For instance the custom of shaking the right hand upon meeting comes from the days when it showed you weren't carrying a weapon. A leftie could use the distraction to slide a blade between the ribs of an opponent whilst using the concilliatory handshake as a decoy.

There are situations where it could be an advantage. For instance the custom of shaking the right hand upon meeting comes from the days when it showed you weren't carrying a weapon. A leftie could use the distraction to slide a blade between the ribs of an opponent whilst using the concilliatory handshake as a decoy.

Don't be giving my secrets away now, Phil. You already gave out TLW handshake secrets to Bendix this morning.

There are situations where it could be an advantage. For instance the custom of shaking the right hand upon meeting comes from the days when it showed you weren't carrying a weapon. A leftie could use the distraction to slide a blade between the ribs of an opponent whilst using the concilliatory handshake as a decoy.

<deleted> have you been reading? or are them some deep down desires we should be aware of.... Sh!t there's no sadist icon...

Soundman.

Just saw this on the golf forum. Not only for golfers; as a right-side brain dominated thinker, I had many looks and probs with things, slight but annoying, when I was in Asia. Left hand is dirty, etc. I can be ambidextrous at times (my samisen sensei refused to let me strum with my left hand), and I was conscious never to give or receive anything with my left hand. But, one does have to sign official papers and I always got a "look". My first-grade teacher tried to make me write with my right hand and it was the only time my mom told a teacher to P*O*. Maybe that's why some Asian people get mucked up being forced to use their right hand when their brain says left. Jimi Hendrix just turned the guitar upside down. I get used to seeing the wrong side of a coffee mug and using implements made for righties. Guess that's why lefties are considered more creative -- we always have to improvise.

Hi Jet - I was a natural left handed kid but we used to write with a fountain pen and it was strongly suggested that I swap hands at an early age to make it easier. I am now about 50/50. If I use a desktop 'puter I put the mouse on the left hand side which severely messes up every right handed person I have ever met. They almost turn themself upside down to use it. My laptop has a touch pad for ht emouse but I naturally swap the buttons to left handed - also confuses Right handers. I play guitar right handed, I mentioned this in another thread today. There are distinct advantages to be a natural left hander playing a right handed guitar. But a disadvantage if playing piano where the notes are oriented to being right handed. I eat as a right hander but tend to put my coffee cup on the left hand side of my desk. In Australia I always drove a car with a stick shift so the gear lever is in the left hand. I can still write left handed but I am finding it more awkward as I get older. My preferred writing hand is definitely right handed,even with a pencil. Tattooing I used to swap between hands because some lines are definitely easier with the opposite hand. Also gives relief from the vibration of the machine. I normally draw right handed but sometimes will swap to the left if I am working on that side of the page or when doing circular lines in a clockwise direction which is easier with the left hand. I cut the nails on my right side toes with the right hand and the left nails with my left hand - I have no idea why but it is a habit. It still causes me concern in my house to have the toilet paper which I NEVER use on the left but the bum gun on the right - just seems wrong.

In Asia sometimes being Left handed gets the person a few odd looks but try being in country like Afghanistan where it is an insult to everyone when they see a left hander do anything. Eating there I firmly stuck my left hand under my leg to avaid even moving my hand when we ate with the Afghans.

CB

Hi Jet - I was a natural left handed kid but we used to write with a fountain pen and it was strongly suggested that I swap hands at an early age to make it easier. I am now about 50/50. If I use a desktop 'puter I put the mouse on the left hand side which severely messes up every right handed person I have ever met. They almost turn themself upside down to use it. My laptop has a touch pad for ht emouse but I naturally swap the buttons to left handed - also confuses Right handers. I play guitar right handed, I mentioned this in another thread today. There are distinct advantages to be a natural left hander playing a right handed guitar. But a disadvantage if playing piano where the notes are oriented to being right handed. I eat as a right hander but tend to put my coffee cup on the left hand side of my desk. In Australia I always drove a car with a stick shift so the gear lever is in the left hand. I can still write left handed but I am finding it more awkward as I get older. My preferred writing hand is definitely right handed,even with a pencil. Tattooing I used to swap between hands because some lines are definitely easier with the opposite hand. Also gives relief from the vibration of the machine. I normally draw right handed but sometimes will swap to the left if I am working on that side of the page or when doing circular lines in a clockwise direction which is easier with the left hand. I cut the nails on my right side toes with the right hand and the left nails with my left hand - I have no idea why but it is a habit. It still causes me concern in my house to have the toilet paper which I NEVER use on the left but the bum gun on the right - just seems wrong.

In Asia sometimes being Left handed gets the person a few odd looks but try being in country like Afghanistan where it is an insult to everyone when they see a left hander do anything. Eating there I firmly stuck my left hand under my leg to avaid even moving my hand when we ate with the Afghans.

CB

Be honest now CB.

Which hand do you play the fiddle with?

Soundman.

Aww. Thanks, Cawbie. I had a set of calligraphy nibs for lefties. Yes, played samisen right-handed. We are ambidextrous when forced. But I am a leftie. Hidari kiki as they said in Japan. But. I don't mind.

Neither side is the more creative either.

Really ..... source please .... everything I have read would indicate that one side is. Or were you indicating that one side is logically creative and the other is more abstract?

P.S. they used to tie our left arms to our sides at school, but that was only for the egg and spoon race

This is a big subject with a lot of research being done. It gets complicated as it's difficult to define creativity. However, the side of the brain active when engaging in certain activities is interesting. Eg Art, music, sculpting, the right side of the brain is active, maths, playing chess, computer programming, left side is active. Does this mean that the maths/chess genus is not creative? certainly not! If you bring into it the capacity for logic and abstraction it gets even more complicated. Right brain = capacity for logic, left brain = capacity for abstraction. The point is that we 'learn' to use one side of the brain and become right/left brain dominant. If we can develop a balanced approach to brain use we develop our creativity exponentially! Take Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo Buonarrotti, both were great at all the disciplines that we assign to either one side of the brain or the other. Point taken though, when you encounter a right brain person they'll do well at our 'traditional' interpretation of creative.

ps You can be creative in both a logical and abstract way.

I hope this makes sense!

Pliz , what's abstraction ?

I went from addition to subtraction but then I got expelled.

True, Tiggy! I was truly scared when I had to pick a science course at uni in my first year. I went for computer science and it fascinated me. Making programs that did stuff. All I remember was "If xxx. then yyy". To dilute the problem into several small seriously simple steps and then create a complicated program that worked for the user thrilled me. (I also liked sitting in the terminal -- ya haha -- room with all the geeks. They liked me because I was probably the only one there that bathed everyday.) I also sat in on logic classes, because I loved the theories. I think that helped my painting and the way I approached essays, too. Applying the simple steps to create the overall work. I also used this theory when I started financial editing. Didn't even know what a P/E ratio was. The analysts treated me really harshly at first, questioning my grammatical changes. So, I ensured I had the terminology for every type of grammar/syntax ruling at hand. When that shut them up, I started financial courses (who, me? maths loser). I still like to dwell in my right-side brain, tho. Dreamer that I am.

Pliz , what's abstraction ?

I went from addition to subtraction but then I got expelled.

Well Mr Pedant...

abstraction

• noun - the quality of being abstract.

So would sleeping on a certain side affect your logical, and creative balance? Blood does tend to pool in the lower regions so is one side of the brain being fed better than the other?

So would sleeping on a certain side affect your logical, and creative balance? Blood does tend to pool in the lower regions so is one side of the brain being fed better than the other?

Interesting thought CD, I have never considered it, there may be something in it. Maybe Leonardo et al, slept on their backs!

So would sleeping on a certain side affect your logical, and creative balance? Blood does tend to pool in the lower regions so is one side of the brain being fed better than the other?

Interesting thought CD, I have never considered it, there may be something in it. Maybe Leonardo et al, slept on their backs!

With guys like Leonardo and Michaelangelo around a lot of people woudl have slept on their backs - safer

CB

So does being a leftie or otherwise pre-determine one's sexual orientation?

Soundman.

So does being a leftie or otherwise pre-determine one's sexual orientation?

Soundman.

Most definitely not! Nor does it determine your creativity. Come on soundman, read the entire thread!!!