General Chat

For Brian: my brother-in-law is left handed but made to write with his right hand at school (strict catholic school- v.cruel)and it set him back for ages with writing. He also stuttered as a child. I am left handed but when it came to sport i copied all the other children and held the tennis racket/rounders bat in my right hand- I was hopeless, until one teacher finally noticed and suggested I used my left hand. I now do most things with my left- except cut- damn scissors don't work the 'other way round'!!!

How has this thread been nudged up from February ,as soon as i put one on re left handers??????

My son is left-handed, as is his grandfather (my father). Both are extremely bright. My son could read fluently before starting school and was assessed last term (aged 5 and a half) as having a reading age of well over 9 years old. He's come on even more since then and I've no idea what his reading age is now. Everyone who meets him is surprised at how grown up he is for his age. We've never pushed him, only responded to his badgering us for new experiences and new knowledge. When he got interested in words and numbers he used to read everything - advertising hoardings, shop signs, the writing on carrier bags. We couldn't keep up with him. He understands money, the concept of earnings/outgoings, time in both 24 hour and traditional clocks, is speaking basic French - not sure where he's getting that from so I think one of the teachers at school must be doing it with him though they haven't mentioned it. Since he was 4 he's also been able to sort our computer out when it crashes. Again, not through being taught but by watching me. Its scary that he's so independent and learns whether or not he's taught things. I make sure he does all the usual things (playing football etc) as I don't want him to get precocious. He can be a bit of a handful at times but so far he's quite balanced and when he's naughty its the usual stuff for his age - the difference is he uses bigger words when he argues!!! Angela

To answer the original question - my son also reminds me of this statement (he is a leftie) - Paul McCartney and Prince Charles are two lefties who spring to mind BUT so also was Hitler - take your pick!

nudge for the left handers

My husband and some of his cousins are left handed, our grandson too. I've found that husband's g-g-grandfather who married twice, ran a business, owned property and left a will never signed a document. I wasn't particularly surprised about this given that he was born in 1827 but now I find that his siblings did sign their marriage certificates. I'm wondering now if g-g-grandfather was left handed and how difficult it would have been back then. Don't suppose I'll ever know for certain. Heather

Just did Helens test and I'm right handed, right footed, right eared and left eyed! Although I am predominantly right handed, I knit and crochet left handed and eat my main course left handed but my pudding right handed (find eating a pudding with a fork and spoon impossible!) Norah - I always try the left shoe on first cos that's my biggest foot! Sue in Wiltshire - Make your husband jealous and tell him I own a left handed moustache mug. It's no good to us cos we're all righties - and I decided to shave my moustache off! lol Jeanette

Cor, what a lot of left-handed and right-handed folk! Particularly interested in the larger families with a mix, takes me straight back to genetics at school, and the study of Gregor Mendel and his experiments with peas. I'm generally right handed, altho I find it easier to use the computer mouse with my left. Possibly comes from my dad, who could play the organ with both hands and feet. My son is definitely left handed, usual problems at school etc when he was growing up. Not sure about the intelligence link, though. Still find I'm clumsy, whichever hand I use Lol! Philip

I am Left Handed too, But eat right handed, Totally Cack handed so they say!, No one in my house can use the can opener I use, as it's used to going in the opposite direction. My grandmother who is 90 used to hold my left hand behind my back when I was little to try and make me use my right hand... hence eating righthanded!. She used to say It was the doings of the Devil!. Most bizarre! I'm glad to say she has moved on with the times now and is quite open minded to all sorts. My niece is left handed and so's my son. I was the first in my Family to be left handed according to my Nan.

Hi Norah, 3 of my 9 children are left handed, but 1 of my right handed ones have been 2 university and another right handed one is guaranteed a university place - my oldest left handed one is a housewife with no qualifications - so put your feet up and have a cuppa and feel proud - us right handed people are no more dunces than the left handed :o) Take care Lynda

Nudge

I have three children one is left handed, both my right handed children used to do Archery one of which drew left handed. When we joined the Archery Club six years ago their were three lefthanded Archers Now fifty % are left handed. Two off my children are Dyslexic both of them are right handed they went on to collage, my other child went on to Uni Sue

Dear Brian in Essex Yes there must be some truth in it, I am left handed and as a child my mother was told to strap my left hand up to encourage me to use my right hand, (must add from a doctor with victorian attitudes) this caused me to stammer, so i was allowed to revert back to my left hand. The medical explanation to this conundrum is simply that the left hand side of the brain is the strongest. Shirley in M/C.

ime left handed ,my wifes left handed and my son is also left handed when i was at school i used to get caned for using my left hand and it was only after i had developed a stutter that my parents went into the school and got things altered

I heard that the percent is around 25 but they more than make up for it in some respects. I am married to one. Try helping to put a quilt cover on! However, if you look closely at TV actors/actresses there do seem to be a disproportianate number of lefties. So they do "create" a lot more. Eric

In the book "Right hand, Left Hand" Chris McManus (Professor of Psychology and Medical Education at University College London) gives very many interesting facts and statistics concerning handedness. On dealing with the statement that left handers are more intelligent on average he states. "The questioon is best studied by looking at measures of intelligence in large scale studies of representative populations"...in one such study in whic he was involved "...looked at 11,000 children at the age of eleven. The result was clear enough in statistical terms. There was a difference in intelligence, but it was right handers who were slightly more intelligent." taking this study with another it showed that compared with an average IQ of 100 lefthanders had an average IQ a mere half point or so lower at 99.5." In view of this I reluctantly own to being left handed.

If the population of the UK is about 58 million and 5% are genii, The proportion of left-handers is 13.6% so that works out at 394 thousand left-handed genii. The remaining 86.4% being righthanders would, therefore, have 2.5 million genii (or geniuses, if you prefer) in their ranks. Of course, there is no where near 5% genii. It is calculated (by Mensa) that only about 2½% of the population is bright enough to graduate from university (a few don't who should and a few do who shouldn't - but let's ignore that) and few of those would qualify as a genii. Len

I'm left handed, and even though I'm at uni etc, I ain't no genius!! hehe. My dad is left handed and he is actually smarter than my mum, but still not genius smart because neither got past O levels. I like the left handed thing, the only thing that bugs me is that apart from my dad, only one other person in my family is left handed, and she's a cousin, but to be left handed it has to come from both sides of the gene pool somehwere, same with having ginger hair. I want to know which ancestors I got it from! But sadly it's that kind of information that we'll never find out. :-( Chloe PS - when I first started writing, with my left hand of course, my mum thought I was weird and started putting the pencil in my right hand! Oh, she's such a leftist!! LOL

It's been amazing reading through your replies, didn't realise there were so many genius's out there. My left-handed genius was one of six children born to right-handed parents. Three born September, three born December. Three were left-handed, three were right-handed, until they came to eat. Yup you've guessed it. The three right-handers ate left-handedly and the three left-handers ate right-handedly. So this is a much more common occurrence than I had thought. So much fun though. Norah

I am a leftie and I had the most horrendous time at school when it came to sewing lessons On many occasions I had my skirt lifted and my legs slapped for sewing a hem back to front ,our needlework teacher was an ancient old biddy who belonged in the victorian age.However I wouldn't say I am a genius but I do have the most amazing ability to remember the most outlandish bits of useless information that are only of any use when watching quiz programmes on the telly.