It is no secret that we live in a predominantly right handed world. Studies show that “roughly around 90% of people in the world are right handed.” Although it is not one of the rarest occurrences, meeting a left handed person doesn’t happen quite as often as meeting a right handed person does. Now this post isn’t going to be one to discriminate against left handed people, as there are many benefits to being left handed, but it will show an observation that has been made.
Studies have shown that the average life expectancy of a left handed person is usually about 9 years shorter than the average life expectancy of a right handed person. If you’re a lefty don’t be alarmed as this may only be due to chance. Because it would be difficult to implement an experimental study to this hypothesis, most of the results found are based off of an observational study.
Although it is not thought of as directly causal, left handedness has often times been associated with disorders such as dyslexia, schizophrenia, and ADHD. Another problem that left handed people face is their inability to use tools such a scissors or knives designed for right handed people. These tools are specifically designed for right handed use and are harder to control and use if you are using your left hand instead. Many accidents accrue over the course of a year due to the inadvertent misuse of right handed products. For example with knives, “They are designed for right-handers – if you use it as a left-hander it cuts on the slant all the time, whereas for a right-hander it cuts straight.” The misuse of products like this can be very dangerous and may lead to serious accidents.
All of this information shows that there is a correlation between being left handed and having a shorter life expectancy. I think that this information on left handed people is good to know but it is not exactly something that all left handed people need to worry about. Although there is a lot of negativity related to left handedness, there are also many benefits included with it. Left handed people have been recorded as being better at sports and better in school. As recorded by a study, “There were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than right-handed people – which is the genius bracket.” So is there anything to be afraid of? I’d say the only thing to worry about is smearing ink in your notebooks.
Sources
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23988352
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204083204577080562692452538
http://www.lefthandersday.com/tour/lefthanded-intelligence#.VH1Zw1fF8Sg
I found this blog post extremely interesting because on my dads side his mom, him and one of his sibling is right handed, and his father, and other two siblings are left handed. I never new that there was a correlation between left-handed people and shorter life expectancy and that left-handed people are often smarter than right-handed people. I don’t know how sure this concept is and I am sure there is more behind the idea of this correlation that should have been demonstrated in your blog. I have heard such claims of left handed people being more intelligent before reading this blog. I am curious as to why there are so many less left handers than people who predominately use their right hand. I think this also could have been added to give us more information on the subject matter. After researching more on facts about left handed individuals I found a very interesting article I think you would enjoy, http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living-pictures/little-known-facts-about-lefthanders.aspx
From your blog, two things stood out to me the most; there is a correlation between left-handed people and shorter life expectancy and that left-handed people are often smarter than right-handed people. I find this interesting very interesting and it may explain why both my left-handed friends are so smart in school. However, from your blog I would suggest putting an experiment to prove that there’s a correlation between left-handed people and shorter life expectancy. Currently, we can’t just assume that there is a definite correlation present due to, for example, “inadvertent misuse of right handed products.” Also, remember that correlation does not equal causation and there is always the possibility of chance and third variables. Overall, good job with the blog!
I think this is an interesting concept that I have never heard of before. Although I think it’s interesting I wouldn’t say that this concept is flaw proof. I think the idea that left handed people have a shorter life expectancy is entirely due to chance or third variables. I would say that what we really need to look at is how people become left handed in the first place. Is there a health reason that occurs specifically in left handed people that causes them to be born left handed? I know when I played T-ball as a kid I always batted lefty but I am right handed. I’m certainly not unique in being this way but it’s definitely something to consider when making these claims. I see where you get these ideas because the first link that popped up was this one below which says a lot of the things that you said in your blog. I think if anyone wants to make this claim they need to do a lot more research and provide a lot more support. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2857749/Left-handed-likely-earn-Lefties-not-financially-successful-right-handed-colleagues-claims-study.html