A question regarding being left handed.
- Thread starter DarkSeraphim02
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So what does that mean for those of us who can use both hands interchangeably in most activities (I can only write left-handed, but then either way my handwriting is terrible) have what... Do we have a superpower? It's useful in golf, I carry right and left handed irons. Baseball loves it's switch-hitters and I can throw and catch with either hand as well. I don't favor either foot in soccer or kicking/punting in football. I don't think it affects my typing, but I can use 2 mouses (mice?) which actually comes in handy in my job as I can use 2 computer systems more or less at once.
But knowing all that, just as I wouldn't classify lefties as having a mental disorder (and I do self-identify as a lefty because it is the only way I can write) I wouldn't say someone with skills like mine with my off-hand is mentally or physically superior either. It's just useful.
But knowing all that, just as I wouldn't classify lefties as having a mental disorder (and I do self-identify as a lefty because it is the only way I can write) I wouldn't say someone with skills like mine with my off-hand is mentally or physically superior either. It's just useful.
About as accurate as phrenology. I and my mother are both lefties and we're probably the smartest people in our families.
Just a bit inconvenient when you're using a pen, that's all.
Just a bit inconvenient when you're using a pen, that's all.
I wouldn't sweat it, some random person could say anything is a mental disorder. I've heard that being left-handed is more of a mutation than anything which could be classified as a disorder. Compared to most disorders, I guess it's nice to be left-handed then. I like being left-handed if only because Link is in most incarnations, plus it's nice to have a fairly unique trait that is subtle.
In the UK firearms training in the armed forces concentrates on using the right hand due to the fact that our bullpup rifle will break your cheekbone with it's cocking handle if fired in the left hand.silverhawk100 said:
This clearly righty propaganda driven by jealously of our greater creative minds. Power to the lefties! 
The only time being a lefty kind of sucked was in school where my handwriting would get smudged but that was more the schools fault for supplying crap pens instead of just normal biros. Also I had to use the yellow and green left handed scissors because apparently being left handed I lacked the capacity to use normal scissors in my right hand or even just use normal scissors left handed.
Although in some circumstances I seem to quite right handed. If I play racquet or bat sports I favour playing right handed and in fact I'm vastly better playing them right handed then left handed. The same is true of throwing, I can't throw shit with my left hand. Which I find weird as no one ever forced me to use my right hand for those things and yet I naturally favour it in those situations, while everything else I do I favour the left hand or foot.
The only time being a lefty kind of sucked was in school where my handwriting would get smudged but that was more the schools fault for supplying crap pens instead of just normal biros. Also I had to use the yellow and green left handed scissors because apparently being left handed I lacked the capacity to use normal scissors in my right hand or even just use normal scissors left handed.
Although in some circumstances I seem to quite right handed. If I play racquet or bat sports I favour playing right handed and in fact I'm vastly better playing them right handed then left handed. The same is true of throwing, I can't throw shit with my left hand. Which I find weird as no one ever forced me to use my right hand for those things and yet I naturally favour it in those situations, while everything else I do I favour the left hand or foot.
Sorry, but to be pedantic but many left handed batsman are right handed in everything else. Graham Smith of South Africa bats left handed but bowls right handed. Most left handed batsmen have the top hand as the dominant hand, which is the right one.Caiphus said:
I wouldn't say being Australian is a mental disorder but more of sign of criminal tendencies. Seeing they have just lost the ashes 3-0 to England after England lost a one day series to New Zealand, Australia aren't that good at cricket either.
That reminds me of something very annoying. Twilight Princess. On the gamecube version he is left-handed, and on the wii version he is right-handed. There is no option for changing it (as far as I know). They probably changed it because it would be weird if the opposite hand was used. Then I play as a left-handed person, works perfectly, yet still annoying. They changed the one famous left-handed game character in version I own just to conform to right-handedness...Hero of Lime said:
On skyward sword on the other hand... The game actually glitches around when I play. The sword jumps all over the place, which is frustrating as in twilight princess I at least could perform all the actions.
Edit: for trivia, I'm left handed in most things. Ambidextrous when it comes to cutlery. Use scissors and a compute mouse in right hand, as there was no alternative growing up. Using a rifle feels most comfortable when used right-handed, but due to my left eye being dominant I keep missing unless I shoot the lefty way.
For gamnig it causes two problems: low APM due to mouse in offhand, and worthless at button mashing for the same reason. Otherwise works fine.
Historically, people have been easily creeped out by anything uncommon. I'm guessing it originates from human tendencies to prefer something that is biologically similar to them, because mutations and rare conditions can be the root of unhealthy genetic situations, and you don't want to breed with that. So, until recently, lots of cultures have seen left-handedness as being just over that line into "oh dear, there is something wrong with you," so they've treated it as a sickness or a curse or some other such negative thing.DarkSeraphim02 said:
Nowadays, nobody in the medical community who is sensible sees anything wrong with being left-handed.
This makes sense. An overwhelming portion of the population is right-handed. If you want motion control to resemble what the character is actually doing, most people will be holding the Wiimote in the right hand, so the character should be holding his sword in the right hand as well.Angelowl said:
Gingers have lots of souls! They eat them, so they must be positively filled with souls!Colour Scientist said:
Here's something I bet you never considered about lefties: it's really difficult when you have to use a lefty's desktop PC. I had to use a friend's PC, who it turns out is left-handed, which means his mouse is on the opposite side :\
No compensation, but the Headteacher eventually got done for fraud. So much for the Roman Catholics.MetalMagpie said:
Lefties do indeed have distinctive handwriting. Mine is absolute shit, for example. Yet I hold a pen in the same way, which given the change in posture is possibly the wrong way. I actually have a preference to pencil over pen (heralded originally from my second Primary schools' desire for everyone to write in fountain pen)and because my handwriting is legible. But how I hold a Knife and Fork is completely screwed up.
And yes, I usually write with the paper at anything between 45degrees and 90degrees to myself. Makes life easier.
I'm a bit of an odd ball. My dominant hand is my left hand, however, for most active activities, my right is dominant. I bat right, bowl right, pitch right, throw right, shoot right, etc. This is because my right eye is my dominant eye, so whenever hand/eye coordination comes into play, I'm forced to use my right hand or it's awkward for me. But eating, writing, general use of my hands is dominantly left. It's highly annoying, trust me.
Several people tried to force me to be right handed when I was a young child. Teachers, a couple aunts, a friend of the family. It always made my mother furious. She would lay into them, telling them to leave me(and my sister, who is also a lefty and had to also put up with this shit) alone and let me be who I am.
Oh, and speaking of eating. I once hurt my left shoulder, and was unable to use my left arm for anything. Trying to eat even a bowl of cereal was awkward as hell. All that coordination my right hand has when playing sports, shooting a gun, swinging a hammer, etc, goes out the window when I'm trying to feed myself.
Several people tried to force me to be right handed when I was a young child. Teachers, a couple aunts, a friend of the family. It always made my mother furious. She would lay into them, telling them to leave me(and my sister, who is also a lefty and had to also put up with this shit) alone and let me be who I am.
Oh, and speaking of eating. I once hurt my left shoulder, and was unable to use my left arm for anything. Trying to eat even a bowl of cereal was awkward as hell. All that coordination my right hand has when playing sports, shooting a gun, swinging a hammer, etc, goes out the window when I'm trying to feed myself.
See as a lefty I always felt that the "normal" setup is actually lefty-centric. To me it makes much more sense to keep the mouse on the right side and used by the non-dominant hand to leave the left side of the keyboard open as a work space for taking notes, reading, etc.FireAza said:Gingers have lots of souls! They eat them, so they must be positively filled with souls!Colour Scientist said:
Here's something I bet you never considered about lefties: it's really difficult when you have to use a lefty's desktop PC. I had to use a friend's PC, who it turns out is left-handed, which means his mouse is on the opposite side :\
I don't think Left handed is a disorder, but a privilege! I was a baseball pitcher and had scholarship offers from schools that all they really knew about me was I was 6'4" and left handed! Right now I have two young (right handed) sons and people ask me if we want a girl. I tell them no, I want a lefty!
Hm, now that you mention it... So do I, every now and then. Never thought about it. Developed my own writing technique though, with only the pinky finger touching the paper for stability. Barely any of the usual problems, but I can get tired in the hand after a while.Me55enger said:
Something I tend to do also is start writing on a page about an inch and a half past the margin. It helps when I'm writing in something like a ringbound folder etc because my hand would catch on the edge.Angelowl said:
As such I have a somewhat... wasteful... perspective to the space of a page.
Believe it or not, my school also tried to get me to do things right-handed. It wasn't until my mother raised holy hell that they let me do things my way: left-handed.EeveeElectro said:
OP: You should totally check out the book "The Natural Superiority of The Left-Hander" by James T. deKay. He is also the author of "The Left-Handed Book". Needless to say, some famous lefties have left an indelible mark on history. Notably, we have the likes of H. G. Wells, Pablo Picasso, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Jim Henson, Marilyn Monroe, Joan d'Arc and Billy the Kid! Even lefty Albert Einstein, who had a reputation for being tardy at school, was told by his teachers that he did things backwards!
The only mental condition I perceive is how the other 90% of the world views us lefties. Harumph.(/sarcasm)
Mikey's part of that group, too! Us lefties are just a weird friggin' bunch, ya know?Angelowl said:
And if you think that's not enough, check this little tidbit of info out taken from the last few pages of the first book I mentioned:
Generally, 10% of the human population is left-handed at any given time. 7% are male and 3% are female. No one knows the reason how more males are left-handed than women, but the point I'm about to make makes the gender info moot.
...one out of every four astronauts turned out to be left-handed (and this includes Mr. Buzz Aldrin) - a figure [HEADING=1]250%[/HEADING] greater than statistical probability.
Pretty cool, huh?