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The Left-Hander Syndrome: The Causes and Consequences of Left-Handedness
Nine out of every ten human beings are naturally right-handed. Those who were not right-handed were feared, shunned, or forcibly retrained in many periods and cultures. Indeed, some members of fundamentalist sects still regard left-handers as in league with the devil, and prejudices against left-handers are reflected in the multiple associations of right with good and left with bad that have become enshrined in everyday language and folklore. A “left-handed compliment” is actually an insult, and the dictionary definition of left-handed includes the terms “awkward,” “clumsy,” “ill-omened,” and “Illegitimate.”In his summary of scientific research into sidedness, Stanley Coren rapidly dismisses the notion of the southpaw as somehow tainted. Increasingly we are coming to understand, however, that left-handedness does have social, educational, medical, and psychological implications.Coren uses entertaining examples to illuminate the paths of research he has followed, and answers vitally important questions such What are the neuropsychological and behavioral implications of differences for left-handers themselves, as well as for their parents, teachers, spouses, children, counselors, and physicians? How can we determine our own patterns of sidedness? Are they encoded in our genes? And, very importantly, how can we make the world more comfortable and safer for left-handers? Coren persuasively argues that left-handers are an invisible minority who must define themselves and organize for self-protections in the same way that more visible minorities have done. Much (though not all) of the risk to which left-handers are exposed derives from the fact that the tools they use and the machines they operate are designed for right-handers, a flaw that given heightened public awareness would be easy to correct. Coren advocates a change in the way the right-handed majority treats its left-handed minority to eliminate the risks left-handers face.
433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 26, 1990
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June 4, 2008
This gets a slightly higher rating than it should partly because GoodReads doesn’t allow the awarding of ‘half-stars’, but also because the topic interests me, and while I haven’t gone out of my way to find similarly-themed works, the few I have acquired are totally lame; nothing but lists of famous left-handers or collections of ‘common and distinguishing traits’ that identify the left-hander (lists that are so vague they apply to anyone, even people without hands). All three of the other ‘lefty’ books I have also quote from The Left-Hander Syndrome, and it appears Dr. Coren ran into a bit of notoriety following its publication, which isn’t shocking considering some of his proposed implications for about 10-15% of the population.
With a bit of flat Canadian comedy here and there, a few startling discoveries based on research which appears to have been conducted on a shoestring budget, and a mission to save the southpaws of the world, Stanley Coren spends just under 300 pages in breaking the news that lefties are completely screwed; the world is designed for righties, they are going to leave this twisted mortal coil far earlier than the dominant righties, and life is going to be long, arduous, and completely unfair.
To the lefty, this isn’t shocking. By the time your average lefty is old enough to even care to read this book, they’ve experienced the gist of it; everything in life has been slightly more difficult, ill-designed for their use, and unfair. This is just how it is; the typical lefty quickly learns two things that every righty won't grasp for the majority of their formative years: first, that life is not fair and is never going to be fair and that existence is going to be a pain in the ass, and second, we know who the other lefties are. It’s common knowledge to the silent sinster inner circle that whenever we see someone grab some form of utensil to write, to huck a rock at some kid, or to brandish some implement to crack someone over the head with during a mugging, we automatically take note of which hand they do this with. This isn’t discussed in the book, but should be; in my time, I’ve noticed that every time a lefty sees me write something, they comment on our previously unnoticed and unspoken bond. I usually try not to say anything when I notice it myself, unless it happens to be a hot chick, then I absolutely feel compelled to mention it, if only for a reason to say something to her. Basically, unless I can kiss someone’s ass with the knowledge of their handedness, it’s not worth bringing up. In the less-common event in which a righty notices the preferred hand, they immediately give the old, “Oooh, you’re a lefty”, as if that explains their view of you. A lot of times they even mention that their old Aunt Mildred was a lefty, and Aunt Mildred always did some preposterous $hit like serve her recently-deceased husband for Thanksgiving Dinner one eventful year. Stop doing this, people; we don’t give a $hit that you know some silly southpaw. Hell, let’s get to the root of it, lefties do not f@cking like your right-handed ass; you design ‘your’ world around your own comfortable use, you put buttons on the wrong side of clothes from our vantage point, the controls on everything from microwaves to shop equipment to earthmoving equipment and lunar exploration modules are predominantly right-handed, and you also piss us off with car ignitions, spiral notebooks, vending machines, desks, and a million other trivial things, all culminating in an unspoken rage towards you and your ilk. Don’t play cute with us; we seem docile and unassuming, but let me warn you, the time will come when we gather en masse and we will bite your fleshy ass.
Coren begins the book by challenging the common concepts and stereotypes against left-handers, presenting irrefutable proof that in every language spoken across the planet (from English to Urdu to the recently-interpreted hissing of reptile) is inherently biased against the left. In early English, ‘lyft’ meant ‘broken or weak’, and all contemporary meanings of ‘left-handed’ in dictionaries are downright slanderous. The French heap it on with the endearing term ‘gauche’, the Russian ‘levja’ is an insult, those cuddly Krauts bestow ‘linkisch’ (awkward, maladroit), the Wops dub the affliction ‘mancino’ (maimed), and the most-cited is Latin’s ‘sinister’. The coolest is in Spanish for coming up with ‘no ser zurdo’ (to be clever), literally translated as ‘not to be left-handed’. Informing the reader of this general slant against the left, Coren delves into a bit of ingroup/outgroup psychobabble and shows that the left-hander is prejudiced against, but in very slight and subtle ways. Going back through history, however, he provides some facts about left-biased persecutions in those fond times of the Witch Trails, Inquisition, and Crusades. And why not, according to his studies, the Bible is probably the single most aggressive anti-left-handed propaganda ever put to paper.
We now come to the thick of it, where Coren has to make good on his promises to ‘answer’ the following timeless questions on the sleeve of the book: “Is L-H acquired genetically or socially?”, “Why do lefties seem to die earlier?”, and “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?” Most of Coren’s research seems to stem from one of his initial findings in his research, that while L-H is reported in about 10% of the population (which I think is low) in younger age groups, the percentage takes a staggering drop over time, and his research shows that about half a percent of the population is L-H at age 80. Coren’s goal is to discover where the hell all the lefties are going. He examines if society creates right-handers, he checks to see if genetics play a role, hell, the guy even checks out the human brain. He somewhat sits on the fence as to whether there are any real benefits of L-H, like most studies, he postulates that there have been many notable lefties in various fields over time and that their handedness was a major contributor, due to the way the brain is cross-wired. That a lefty uses the right side of the brain should explain many of the perceived differences, but the data is inconclusive, with lefties doing well in both right and left-brain activity, or doing poorly in both. One of the major obstacles is that while the lefty appears in higher concentration within the intellectual elite, they also make up a large portion of those less-fortunate, who Coren refers to as ‘retarded’. Also, Coren notices that many lefties seem to have suffered from birth-stress; premature birth, ‘older’ mother, prolonged labor, breech birth, caesarian delivery, Rh incompatibility, multiple birth, and use of instruments in delivery. Going on the principle that LH may be pathological and where there is smoke there is fire, he presents his infamous ‘Signs of the Left’, in which his studies show that lefties are more prone to suffer from the following conditions: alcoholism, autism, bed-wetting, brain damage, criminality, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, homosexuality, immune disorders, mental retardation, psychosis, schizophrenia, school failure, sleep difficulty, slow physical development, and yes, incomprehensibly large genitals (most left-hander penises resemble elephant trunks). Coren dedicates a little time to some of the more compelling of these issues and their supposed ties to L-H, and even briefly touches upon some of the things which lefties appear to do somewhat adequately, like putting together jigsaw puzzles (whoopee). After demonstrating how the world is designed for right-handed use everywhere from the kitchen and home, the workplace and even the center of the Milky Way galaxy, he is ready to sum it all up, but not before keeping good on his promise to note that a woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood.
What I walked away with was that Coren’s research shows that both genetics and social pressure factor into the handedness of the poor, birth-stressed left-handed multitudes, and that the world we live in gradually forces lefties to become slightly more right-handed and the associated hazards of handedness make it easier for the lefty to end up in a casket.
Perhaps most interestingly, in high school, one English requirement was a class called ‘Speech’, in which you had to give about 7 speeches to the class. I ended up giving exactly three, none of which had anything to do with the subject matter and probably perplexed my classmates. In once speech I tried convincing my fellow fools that socialism trumps capitalism, in another I tried expressing how individuality is futile (and most of those kids now have ‘ink’ so they can be different, just like everyone else), and lastly, I rapped about the pageantry of left-handedness. This was no ordinary speech, this was a manifesto, about how righties were actually helping us by forcing our dual-handedness, making us the next evolutionary step, excelling in the worth dual-limb activities such as swimming and drumming, using both hemispheres of the brain, and yes, using that fantastic previously-mentioned appendage to stack the gene pool in our favor. About ten years later, I caught a ride home from a wedding with a family of friends of the groom, one of which had been in that long-forgotten Speech class. I had always known she was left-handed since high school, but during this uncomfortable ride home she brought up the speech and her disproportionately left-handed kin were all ears. While I didn’t have a lot of knowledge to bestow upon them while near-dead, I did prove one of our common faults when, about 10 minutes from home after an hour and a half drive, I had to get out and puke on the side of the road.
With a bit of flat Canadian comedy here and there, a few startling discoveries based on research which appears to have been conducted on a shoestring budget, and a mission to save the southpaws of the world, Stanley Coren spends just under 300 pages in breaking the news that lefties are completely screwed; the world is designed for righties, they are going to leave this twisted mortal coil far earlier than the dominant righties, and life is going to be long, arduous, and completely unfair.
To the lefty, this isn’t shocking. By the time your average lefty is old enough to even care to read this book, they’ve experienced the gist of it; everything in life has been slightly more difficult, ill-designed for their use, and unfair. This is just how it is; the typical lefty quickly learns two things that every righty won't grasp for the majority of their formative years: first, that life is not fair and is never going to be fair and that existence is going to be a pain in the ass, and second, we know who the other lefties are. It’s common knowledge to the silent sinster inner circle that whenever we see someone grab some form of utensil to write, to huck a rock at some kid, or to brandish some implement to crack someone over the head with during a mugging, we automatically take note of which hand they do this with. This isn’t discussed in the book, but should be; in my time, I’ve noticed that every time a lefty sees me write something, they comment on our previously unnoticed and unspoken bond. I usually try not to say anything when I notice it myself, unless it happens to be a hot chick, then I absolutely feel compelled to mention it, if only for a reason to say something to her. Basically, unless I can kiss someone’s ass with the knowledge of their handedness, it’s not worth bringing up. In the less-common event in which a righty notices the preferred hand, they immediately give the old, “Oooh, you’re a lefty”, as if that explains their view of you. A lot of times they even mention that their old Aunt Mildred was a lefty, and Aunt Mildred always did some preposterous $hit like serve her recently-deceased husband for Thanksgiving Dinner one eventful year. Stop doing this, people; we don’t give a $hit that you know some silly southpaw. Hell, let’s get to the root of it, lefties do not f@cking like your right-handed ass; you design ‘your’ world around your own comfortable use, you put buttons on the wrong side of clothes from our vantage point, the controls on everything from microwaves to shop equipment to earthmoving equipment and lunar exploration modules are predominantly right-handed, and you also piss us off with car ignitions, spiral notebooks, vending machines, desks, and a million other trivial things, all culminating in an unspoken rage towards you and your ilk. Don’t play cute with us; we seem docile and unassuming, but let me warn you, the time will come when we gather en masse and we will bite your fleshy ass.
Coren begins the book by challenging the common concepts and stereotypes against left-handers, presenting irrefutable proof that in every language spoken across the planet (from English to Urdu to the recently-interpreted hissing of reptile) is inherently biased against the left. In early English, ‘lyft’ meant ‘broken or weak’, and all contemporary meanings of ‘left-handed’ in dictionaries are downright slanderous. The French heap it on with the endearing term ‘gauche’, the Russian ‘levja’ is an insult, those cuddly Krauts bestow ‘linkisch’ (awkward, maladroit), the Wops dub the affliction ‘mancino’ (maimed), and the most-cited is Latin’s ‘sinister’. The coolest is in Spanish for coming up with ‘no ser zurdo’ (to be clever), literally translated as ‘not to be left-handed’. Informing the reader of this general slant against the left, Coren delves into a bit of ingroup/outgroup psychobabble and shows that the left-hander is prejudiced against, but in very slight and subtle ways. Going back through history, however, he provides some facts about left-biased persecutions in those fond times of the Witch Trails, Inquisition, and Crusades. And why not, according to his studies, the Bible is probably the single most aggressive anti-left-handed propaganda ever put to paper.
We now come to the thick of it, where Coren has to make good on his promises to ‘answer’ the following timeless questions on the sleeve of the book: “Is L-H acquired genetically or socially?”, “Why do lefties seem to die earlier?”, and “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?” Most of Coren’s research seems to stem from one of his initial findings in his research, that while L-H is reported in about 10% of the population (which I think is low) in younger age groups, the percentage takes a staggering drop over time, and his research shows that about half a percent of the population is L-H at age 80. Coren’s goal is to discover where the hell all the lefties are going. He examines if society creates right-handers, he checks to see if genetics play a role, hell, the guy even checks out the human brain. He somewhat sits on the fence as to whether there are any real benefits of L-H, like most studies, he postulates that there have been many notable lefties in various fields over time and that their handedness was a major contributor, due to the way the brain is cross-wired. That a lefty uses the right side of the brain should explain many of the perceived differences, but the data is inconclusive, with lefties doing well in both right and left-brain activity, or doing poorly in both. One of the major obstacles is that while the lefty appears in higher concentration within the intellectual elite, they also make up a large portion of those less-fortunate, who Coren refers to as ‘retarded’. Also, Coren notices that many lefties seem to have suffered from birth-stress; premature birth, ‘older’ mother, prolonged labor, breech birth, caesarian delivery, Rh incompatibility, multiple birth, and use of instruments in delivery. Going on the principle that LH may be pathological and where there is smoke there is fire, he presents his infamous ‘Signs of the Left’, in which his studies show that lefties are more prone to suffer from the following conditions: alcoholism, autism, bed-wetting, brain damage, criminality, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, homosexuality, immune disorders, mental retardation, psychosis, schizophrenia, school failure, sleep difficulty, slow physical development, and yes, incomprehensibly large genitals (most left-hander penises resemble elephant trunks). Coren dedicates a little time to some of the more compelling of these issues and their supposed ties to L-H, and even briefly touches upon some of the things which lefties appear to do somewhat adequately, like putting together jigsaw puzzles (whoopee). After demonstrating how the world is designed for right-handed use everywhere from the kitchen and home, the workplace and even the center of the Milky Way galaxy, he is ready to sum it all up, but not before keeping good on his promise to note that a woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood.
What I walked away with was that Coren’s research shows that both genetics and social pressure factor into the handedness of the poor, birth-stressed left-handed multitudes, and that the world we live in gradually forces lefties to become slightly more right-handed and the associated hazards of handedness make it easier for the lefty to end up in a casket.
Perhaps most interestingly, in high school, one English requirement was a class called ‘Speech’, in which you had to give about 7 speeches to the class. I ended up giving exactly three, none of which had anything to do with the subject matter and probably perplexed my classmates. In once speech I tried convincing my fellow fools that socialism trumps capitalism, in another I tried expressing how individuality is futile (and most of those kids now have ‘ink’ so they can be different, just like everyone else), and lastly, I rapped about the pageantry of left-handedness. This was no ordinary speech, this was a manifesto, about how righties were actually helping us by forcing our dual-handedness, making us the next evolutionary step, excelling in the worth dual-limb activities such as swimming and drumming, using both hemispheres of the brain, and yes, using that fantastic previously-mentioned appendage to stack the gene pool in our favor. About ten years later, I caught a ride home from a wedding with a family of friends of the groom, one of which had been in that long-forgotten Speech class. I had always known she was left-handed since high school, but during this uncomfortable ride home she brought up the speech and her disproportionately left-handed kin were all ears. While I didn’t have a lot of knowledge to bestow upon them while near-dead, I did prove one of our common faults when, about 10 minutes from home after an hour and a half drive, I had to get out and puke on the side of the road.
May 5, 2015
There are two kinds of people in the world, right-handers and everyone else. Humans are programmed to be right-handed. If you're left-handed or multi-handed like me (all my fine motor skills are left-handed and the gross motor skills are right-handed), there's something wrong with you...most likely brain damage due to birth trauma. Go ahead ask your mother if you had any kind of problem during birth. I asked my mother about my birth and that of my four brothers. I was high forceps (mixed handed), #2 brother was breach (totally left handed) and brothers #3 - #5 had no birth trauma and are all right-handed.
Oh, mass murders are more likely to be left-handed, we're more accident prone and we die significantly earlier than right-handers. In summary, I suppose it really is good to be right(handed).
Oh, mass murders are more likely to be left-handed, we're more accident prone and we die significantly earlier than right-handers. In summary, I suppose it really is good to be right(handed).
November 7, 2009
The word "syndrome" in the title of this book should serve to red-flag contents. Because the author views left handedness as a "pathological" aberration from the norm, his approach is to analyze it accordingly, which he does with painstaking attention to the science and statistics of neuropsychology. Much of what he presents as fact is interesting, and may be correct. The connection with birth trauma is particularly valuable. Coren does not, however, devote much time to addressing the opposite phenomenom, that of the gifted left-hander. My concern with this unbalanced approach is that it creates the impression that most, if not all, lefties are somehow seriously hampered in their abilities to lead "normal" lives. In truth, southpaws are disproportionately represented among athletes, artists, and intellectuals. Regarding life span, a study conducted in 1993 by the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University found no significant difference among death rates for right or left hand dominance.
All human characteristics have their good and bad features, so why should left-handedness be any different? Just something to keep in mind....
All human characteristics have their good and bad features, so why should left-handedness be any different? Just something to keep in mind....
July 18, 2010
"Only left-handed people are in their right mind."
July 22, 2013
Finally! It was okay, but being a left-handed myself I found the book bothersome. While some people delight in the fact of encountering a left-handed and believe that we are smarter, this book is the total opposite. My daughter is left-handed too and while I feel very proud I can't help but think that I was born premature, that I suffer from allergies, my daughter does too - but I don't remember her having any birth problems ... I was hoping to find something more positive about our condition. Thanks, but no thanks.
January 22, 2024
This book helped me to understand my left handedness in a way I never thought I would. It also validated the struggles of living in a right handed world (eg, computer mouses, notebook and book bindings, can openers, scissors… just to name a few).
Read
December 21, 2012My husband is a proud left-hander, and he also quietly rooted for each of our children to be left-handed, too. Both times he was disappointed. But this little lefty cheering squad made me (a righty) interested in the subject. This is an odd book. The author is a Canadian researcher who has spent most of his career researching handedness. The book is alternately dry (as he reviews research protocols and percentages) and chatty (as he throws in conversations, tidbits of left-handed trivia, and an image of himself stomping up and down the corridors with smoke coming out of his ears because research had been misquoted in the press). The book builds gradually to a grand conclusion that because left-handers struggle to perform daily tasks in a world where all the equipment is set up with the switches and blades doors on the wrong side, left-handers suffer accidents at a higher rate, and die at a younger age. He believes that left-handers should rise up and demand their rights, as women and minorities have done, so that attention will be paid to their needs. I agree that a little awareness in the field of design could make things more comfortable for everybody, and I'm all for that, but I thought through most of the book that the author overstates his case. I have a hard time believing it is as bad as all that, that lefties are constantly bumping into things, dropping things, etc. I also thought that he leaned too heavily on a connection between birth trauma and left-handedness. Maybe some left-handers suffer from residual neurological damage from birth, but most are not damaged, but just different. I know I am influenced by living with my left-handed husband. He always makes a point of sitting on the left end of a crowded table so he doesn't bump elbows with the person next to him. And he owns a guitar strung "backwards." But other than that he seems to sail through life doing all things with ease.
January 25, 2008
Ironically I read this just before and after I had surgery on my left shoulder, which has rendered me an involuntary righty for the next few months. It is dry and heavy at times, especially under the influence of pain medication, and can be particularly depressing to read as a lefty, but it has some points that will be very interesting to anyone who's left-handed or just has to live with one.
Read
February 16, 2011This book is basically about left-handed people and their lives. It talks about this man's reserch he did to find out if they really did live for a shorter amount of time and what caused lefthandedness. Genteics? Society? How had lefties survived since the burnings in Europe and all of the crap they got before then?
I found it facinating, being a leftie myself, but it kind of rambles on.
I found it facinating, being a leftie myself, but it kind of rambles on.
August 15, 2012
A must read for lefties! It is a right handed
World! I remember having my hand slapped in third grade for trying to use the computer mouse with my left hand. I even had to have a different box cutter at work different color and everything. This book was depressing to read as a lefty, but after reading just how rare us lefties are I felt proud to be left handed!
World! I remember having my hand slapped in third grade for trying to use the computer mouse with my left hand. I even had to have a different box cutter at work different color and everything. This book was depressing to read as a lefty, but after reading just how rare us lefties are I felt proud to be left handed!
February 3, 2024
So, I am left-handed. I have no problem being left-handed. I never thought much of it. I read that only 10% of the population is left-handed. I was so excited to get this book then I read it. This is the opinion of the Author who must be completely out of his ever-loving mind as well as old school AF. He writes:
If you are left-handed, he writes you may be associated with:
a history of birth complication
a slower pattern of growth
sleep problems
immune system difficulties
neuroglial damage
autoimmune problems
diabetes
epilepsy
thyroid problems
myasthenia gravias
alcoholism
criminal activities
antisocial behaviors
homosexuality
psychopathologic conditions
schizophrenia
shorter life span attention deficits
autism
brain damage.
impulsivity
learning disability
low verbal ability
mental retardation aggression
psychosis
allergies
attempted suicide autism
bed wetting
drug abuse
I'm sure there are a lot of right-handed people suffer from these things also. I have nothing on this list that fits me but sleep issues. My biggest issue with being left-handed is writing letters my side of my hand smears the ink, and I use my left hand so much it often gets numb from repetitious reading, or cleaning, holding phone, typing. I don't believe a word of this book whatsoever.
If you are left-handed, he writes you may be associated with:
a history of birth complication
a slower pattern of growth
sleep problems
immune system difficulties
neuroglial damage
autoimmune problems
diabetes
epilepsy
thyroid problems
myasthenia gravias
alcoholism
criminal activities
antisocial behaviors
homosexuality
psychopathologic conditions
schizophrenia
shorter life span attention deficits
autism
brain damage.
impulsivity
learning disability
low verbal ability
mental retardation aggression
psychosis
allergies
attempted suicide autism
bed wetting
drug abuse
I'm sure there are a lot of right-handed people suffer from these things also. I have nothing on this list that fits me but sleep issues. My biggest issue with being left-handed is writing letters my side of my hand smears the ink, and I use my left hand so much it often gets numb from repetitious reading, or cleaning, holding phone, typing. I don't believe a word of this book whatsoever.
November 23, 2018
Sometimes I think I was the last American southpaw to be forced in kintegarten to be forced to write right-handed. I have met others that went through it. But, I recall being the only one in my class and I've never met anyone younger than I that went through it. It means I will never forget the name of that insistent teacher: Mrs. Cole. So, I thought from the title maybe this was related to that. Forcing right-handedness on students is really a footnote to the main thrust of this book: left-handedness as a deadly pathology. That is, birth stressors causing left-handedness land the person in a world of dangerous right-handed power tools and carrying the seeds of destruction from those same stressors so that when 10% or so children are lefties, but only something like 0.5% of octogenarians. Apparently, Coren's research was quite controversial back in the day and I suppose if it were as widely read now it'd be at least as controversial as the bell curve. Some of the minor facts are real groaners, like suggesting the etymology of "footman" is from Roman servants posted to observe that the propitious foot leads into the house, etc. So, that makes me have to take with a grain of salt what I am not taking the time to research. Still, as science writing for a popular audience, I greatly appreciate the author's success is engaging, clear material distilled from many studies and research.
March 15, 2024
A read for every Southpaw
A book that should be read by every lefty out there. Some things already realized by my left handedness but tons of others brought to light by this research. I will be more aware of the biases against lefties because of this reading. Sad to know of the propensity for an 8 year earlier death because of my handedness. Hopefully I can avoid that outcome.
A book that should be read by every lefty out there. Some things already realized by my left handedness but tons of others brought to light by this research. I will be more aware of the biases against lefties because of this reading. Sad to know of the propensity for an 8 year earlier death because of my handedness. Hopefully I can avoid that outcome.
Want to read
May 8, 2023Suggested by "Rob" from sleep study.
March 26, 2009
As a committed southpaw, I've always been conscious that I live my life like a square peg in a round hole.... this book was bought as a start on a path to enlightenment, to try and understand the origin of my left-handedness and to make some sense of how lefthandedness affects my life, now and in the future.
Although this book takes a look at the history, the anthropology, the social implications and the biology of lefthandness, I was left a little unfulfilled by this book..... I don't doubt the authors scientific credentials, but Coren is repetitive and simplistic in his writing, he waffles and every example is laboured. And I'm not convinced about some of his scientific work: his explantion of the pathology of lefthandedness isn't convincing (to me), and on first read I was dubious of many of his assumptions.
As a biologist, I was expecting alot of science in this book, and I was disappointed; I felt that Coren focused on his own work rather than give the reader a comprehensive view on this area of human biology. However, Coren offers a starting point and I shall certainly be investigating further.
PS I've just realised that this could be the same Cohen who has written about how to talk to your dog. I take back my view that "I don't doubt the authors scientific credentials"...
Although this book takes a look at the history, the anthropology, the social implications and the biology of lefthandness, I was left a little unfulfilled by this book..... I don't doubt the authors scientific credentials, but Coren is repetitive and simplistic in his writing, he waffles and every example is laboured. And I'm not convinced about some of his scientific work: his explantion of the pathology of lefthandedness isn't convincing (to me), and on first read I was dubious of many of his assumptions.
As a biologist, I was expecting alot of science in this book, and I was disappointed; I felt that Coren focused on his own work rather than give the reader a comprehensive view on this area of human biology. However, Coren offers a starting point and I shall certainly be investigating further.
PS I've just realised that this could be the same Cohen who has written about how to talk to your dog. I take back my view that "I don't doubt the authors scientific credentials"...
December 5, 2016
A number of years ago I began to look for books about left-handedness. I though it passing strange that human factors are taken into account in design for size, sex, disabilities, etc., but not so much for that 10% of the population that has a dominant left hand. This is one of the few books that I found. While much of the book is devoted to the history, causes, and social consequences of left-handedness, there is enough treatment of the psychology of left-handedness, and insight into the life of the left-handed to make this a good resource for a designer. Chapter 12 in particular is a revealing look at what it means to operate as a left-handed person in a world made for right-handers. Ever tried to use a can opener (not an electric one) using the left hand to crank? Ever seen a left-handed drill press? Probably not. I'm not left-hand
ed, so I'm not beating my own drum, but I am trying to be empathetic and I always try to think of this "human factor" in all the design that I do.
ed, so I'm not beating my own drum, but I am trying to be empathetic and I always try to think of this "human factor" in all the design that I do.
November 16, 2009
This dithering mess of a book was recommended to me by a friend of mine (lefty) and basically confirmed everything I already knew/suspected about lefthandedness. We're more likely to die younger, become serial killers and so on. I was expecting a bit more conclusive evidence and scientific research, this book revealed nothing startlingly new.
Desks, ATMs, scissors, seatbelts, vehicle ignition keys....everything in the world is geared to the right-handed. You live with it, you adapt, you grumble a bit...& you move on.
Being left-handed only came in mildly useful at school, when I was forced to learn a certain language that is read (& written) from right to left. I stocked up on spiral notebooks for that class, let me tell you.
Desks, ATMs, scissors, seatbelts, vehicle ignition keys....everything in the world is geared to the right-handed. You live with it, you adapt, you grumble a bit...& you move on.
Being left-handed only came in mildly useful at school, when I was forced to learn a certain language that is read (& written) from right to left. I stocked up on spiral notebooks for that class, let me tell you.
August 15, 2007
As a Militant South Paw I definitely found this book interesting. Birth trauma is apparently a big factor in determining whether or not you end up left-handed. After reading the book, I asked my mother about my birth...to my surprise, and I couldn't believe I hand't heard it before, but it turns out, there was some trouble - umbilical cord wrapped around my neck - which is one of the traumas listed. Crazy....Maybe that's why I'm gay, too.
September 29, 2007
I have this on a list of books I read in high school, but I don't remember much about it. But of course, being about lefties, I'm sure it was good.
February 24, 2010
Intreging and very thorough!!! I learned I really am a very ambidextrous person! :D Great read for lefties!
December 17, 2012
Too much information and not that interesting. I don't think I buy into the whole "left-hander syndrome," though initially I found it interesting.
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March 27, 2011excellent
May 31, 2014
I thought this was very interesting book. it goes though several studies and how the brain and its working was developed. I'm not a left handed person but more glad I'm not.
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May 22, 20132
December 7, 2012
This is a disturbing read, if you're left-handed! Lots of dire predictions...
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