About Left Handed People
Left handed people have always been just a little bit different. Only 7 to 10 percent of the world population is left handed. Slightly more males than females are left handed.
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Causes
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Genetics are, so far, the only link researchers have discovered. Most children will begin to favor a hand for feeding themselves and simply picking something up, so left handedness happens naturally. If someone loses or injures his right hand, then left handedness is the obvious result, but he would not share the same traits as those who are left handed naturally.
Creativity
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It's a common belief that left handed people are more creative, but there is a reason why some lefties can be more creative. The right hemisphere of the brain is the dominant side with left handers. That part of the brain is associated with creative, non-linear thinking. So left handers are often considered to be genetically more creative.
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History
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In less aware times, left handed people were considered evil or bad, with some even burned as witches. As late as the early 1900s, some parents still tried to switch their children to using their right hand. This practice came down from past centuries when there were no eating utensils or running water. People were taught to eat with their right hand and use the left hand for any grooming and toilet needs. It simply was bad hygiene to use the left hand, so people started to associate those who used their left hand predominantly as unclean.
Left Handers and Challenges
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More left handed products are available now than ever before, but left handers are still challenged by ironing, using scissors and trying to write on any paper that is bound on the right hand side. Many left handers have learned to do these tasks right handed and many left handers are considered ambidextrous since they can do so much with their right hand. However, most left handers cannot write with their right hand.
Famous Left Handers
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Both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were left handed, as is Barack Obama. Henry Ford of Ford Motors was left handed, and so are Tom Cruise and Ted Koppell. Many writers, artists and actors are also left handed, as well as visionaries in science and medicine.
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