Poll: Are you left-handed or right-handed?

[frobalt]

Yesterday, I went to see about getting contact lenses at the local opticians. When it came to being taught how to put in the contact lenses, I was asked "Are you left-handed or right-handed?". I had to stop and think about this for a second, as I don't really have a dominant hand, so I said ambidextrous.

This sort of thing got me thinking about dominant hands in general.

As a kid, I always assumed that when people asked this question, the answer to it referred to which hand you write with, so growing up I'd always say I was left-handed. I've since come to realise that a lot of people will use one of their hands for most (if not all) one handed activities. Am I right in thinking that people that are right-handed can only use their right hand for things or is it a matter of simply favouring their right hand?

As I said, I write most comfortably with my left hand, but can write(albeit uncomfortably) with my right hand. There are some things I can do with both and others I can only do with one - Although admittedly I can't think of many examples for the 'Can only do with one' category.

So, since I'm starting this discussion, I thought I'd attach the very obvious poll. On top of the poll, you could also state if your answer is because you favour that hand or if you're useless with your 'off-hand'.

 

[Artina89]

Even though I write with my write hand, I tend to use scissors, cutlery etc with my left hand, when I played tennis at school I also used my left hand, but when I played ice hockey I was right mainly, so I would say I am fairly ambidextrous. It tends to run in my family as well, as my brother can write comfortably with both his left and right hand, and my mother writes with her left hand, but uses scissors, tin openers etc with her right hand.

 

[Evonisia]

Left handed master race all the way. Writing with my right hand just makes all my writing look like an average signature.

Luckily nobody tried forcing me to use the right hand, until my primary school took a trip to a Victorian Mill and we had this essentially roleplaying experience. I can barely write well with chalk anyway, nevermind with the right hand.

Edit: Though I do have some control with the right. Mouse control is the most obvious and I don't use the bullshit "southpaw" options for video games.

 

[Hoplon]

okay, first having low hand dominance is not ambidextrous, If you can do anything with the same skill with both hands that is ambidextrous.

Maily left handed, but have low hand dominance so somethings i do right handed (mouse use, golf for instance)

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Just waiting for the poll to inevitably shift to right handed. The bulk of people I know are right handed and previous polls have done so here in the past...

 

[OneCatch]

I'm... not quite sure tbh. I can only write properly with my right hand, but I do most other things either neutrally or with the left hand dominant. So I went 'ambidextrous' in the poll even though I'm not strictly so.

Knife and fork - Left handed
Computer Mouse - either - I generally use right hand purely because of gaming buttons
One-handed typing - slight left preference - probably out of habit because of typing while using mouse in right
Racket sport - either
Bowling - either
Shooting - very slight left-handed preference
Throwing - either

So I think that perhaps I was encouraged to pick a writing hand in primary school and kind of settled into right-handedness, but since that impetus wasn't there with other things I didn't 'specialise'.

 

[Hoplon]

Just waiting for the poll to inevitably shift to right handed. The bulk of people I know are right handed and previous polls have done so here in the past...

Also it's like 90% of the population or something.

 

[Twintix]

Leftie here. I do most things with my left hand. The only activities I do right-handedly that I can think of right now is play my guitar (and ukulele, by extension) and handle cutlery, and even then, I sometimes switch to my left hand when I'm eating.

What I find interesting is that your dominant hand isn't always a sign of which is your dominant foot. I have a friend who's left-handed, but right-footed. I'm left-footed as well as left-handed, though.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I'm ambidextrous, it's great when playing pool since you can hold the cue in either hand which is really handy when you need to use certain angels which you just can't get with one hand but you can with the other. It also really messes with the opponent's mind leaving them confused as how to best snooker you.

 

[Elfgore]

Left-handed with a majority of things I do. The only thing I'm a righty for is guitar, mouse control, and a few other things I can't think of right now. Other than that, I'm all left.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

Right-handed, of course. Lefties are the spawn of Satan and they need to be taught a lesson. It is unnatural and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

 

[Lilani]

It can be...complicated. In the past, and to a certain extent here in the present, children were vehemently encouraged to use only their right hand. My grandmother was subjected to this: she was punished and badgered at school until she wrote with her right hand all the time. But, she is still left-handed, so in all other tasks but writing she favors her left hand. I imagine there are a few children like that now, who were told so much they have to be right handed that there are certain tasks they do left handed and certain tasks they do right. Or perhaps for some it just comes naturally that way, like they are ambidextrous but certain tasks they favor one or the other due to muscle memory.

I'm completely right handed, there is nothing I prefer to do with my left hand if at all possible.

 

[StormShaun]

Funny thing.
I write with my left hand [sub]and something 'else'[/sub], yet do everything else with my right.

The reason for this, I guess, is that my left hand feel more lighter than my right, which has a stronger grip and feel.
One funny thing about this is that my handwriting is pretty bad, so there is quite the double-edge with both hands.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I'm definitely right handed. I can use my left hand decently mainly due to using it when playing guitar etc. but when it comes down to something requiring fine levels of control like writing, I'm hopeless.

 

[Stu35]

okay, first having low hand dominance is not ambidextrous, If you can do anything with the same skill with both hands that is ambidextrous.

This.

I find so many people I come across (it's weird how often this comes up in conversation) who claim to be "ambidextrous" cannot, in fact, write with the hand they don't normally write with.

I don't know if it's just a misunderstanding on their part, or people think that they'll come across as being more of a unique little snowflake if they claim they're equally good with both hands.

I suppose it doesn't really matter.


As for me - I'm right handed all the way. I will occasionally play squash with my left hand, but usually only against people who are fairly new to the sport/otherwise aren't very good. I'm not very good with my left hand, but as with all things in life the occasional practice is helping.

 

[kasperbbs]

I can only write properly with my right hand, it doesn't matter which hand i use for everything else, even now i'm moving my mouse and typing using my left hand because the right one is too busy supporting my bored head.

 

[necromanzer52]

I'm right handed, but over the last few years I've been trying to get my left hand to start pulling its weight. So now I can do most things just as well, though writing is difficult.

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

Right-handed, and all but hopeless with my left.

 

[L. Declis]

I'm a lefty, but due to a lifetime of living in righty's world and being forced to do things righties way, I have learnt to do things with my right hand. However, I always default to left handed with new things.

 

[Caffiene]

Lefties are the spawn of Satan and they need to be taught a lesson. It is unnatural and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

The word you're looking for is "sinister [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sinister]" (see definitions 2 & 4).

On an unrelated note, Im left handed. Mwuahahahaha... ha.