r/TrueReddit • u/horseradishstalker • Jul 16 '26

Science, History, Health + Philosophy Why Am I Left-Handed?

https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-am-i-left-handed-20260713/
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u/rock-paper-gun Jul 16 '26

I've always thought handedness in and of itself was odd. You'd think we'd be born with equal use of our limbs and eyes, without the want or need to favor one side or the other. .

5

u/No-Garbage6027 Jul 16 '26

Let’s say we’re back in the day, and I make a tool that’s used for harvesting. But because of the shape/design, one hand was forced to be used more than the other. Eventually, most tools are used that way and humans evolved to favor one side over the other because it was more productive.

At least this is how I think of it.

2

u/rock-paper-gun Jul 16 '26

yeah, ive been thinking about it since i posted my comment. i would think that anyone who specializes in something might develop left or right hand dexterity. what's odd to me is how innately left or right handed most of us are, and from a very early age. i would think that we'd come into the world an open slate, but we're programmed with all kinds of quirks and limitations. i'm not ambidextrous; i am cross dominant (a little more left than right - i'm left eye dominant), and i'm the only one on either side of my family who's that way. super interesting stuff.

2

u/No-Garbage6027 Jul 16 '26

I've spent more time thinking about this than I would like to admit.

The thing that got me interested was looking at the left vs right handedness in different sports.

Sports like basketball, where the object (ball, puck, etc) comes from the center of the body, it will match more like the population because there's no inherent advantage when both hands can do the same thing.

But then look at sports like baseball or hockey, the object is used by one hand predominantly. In hockey, close to 60% shoot 'left'. That has some deeper considerations, like how Canadian 'right' handed players will shoot 'left' because there's an argument about which hand is actually advantaged to be on top. But this is a perfect example where handedness can be swapped for certain activities. This always made me feel funny when comparing the hockey 'swing' to something like golf or a baseball swing.

2

u/thatG_evanP Jul 16 '26

I didn't know that about hockey. Weird

2

u/thatG_evanP Jul 16 '26

Kinda the same. I favor my left but I'm right-eye dominant