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The Left Stuff: How the Left-Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World
This book demystifies the place left-handness has held in society, shedding new light on this controversial discussion.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
240 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 24, 2021
Jedna z mála knížek v angličtině, kterou jsem našla v naší řecký knihovně. Autorku jsem neznala a z ostatních reviews jsem byla skeptická, ale chtěla jsem si přečíst něco neznámýho. Navíc o leváctví nic nevím. Byla jsem nadšená, opravdu kvalitní literatura na tohle téma, jak pro laiky, tak pro ty, co se vyznaj v neurovědách a sociologii. Knížka pokryla námět z mnoha úhlů pohledu, ani mě nenapadlo, kam až se preference ruky propisuje lidem v každodenním životě, a jak hluboko v historii má kořeny. A odteď se lidem víc koukám na ruce, protože je to vlastně fascinující.
Hrozně zajímavý věci:
- Kontroverzní teorie tvrdí, že levorukost je patologie způsobená prenatálními podmínkami a stresem při porodu, což vyústí v poškození mozku
- V minulém století bylo jen 5% Američanů levorukých, dneska se prevalence ztrojnásobila
- Nejedná se o náhodu, ale o Darwinovu variaci, tudíž musí zajišťovat přežití (genetický repertoár praváků je více předvídatelný a limitovaný)
- V náboženství byla vždy levá ruka spojována se zlem. Ani ortodoxní Řekové, kteří vykonávají rituál v opačném směru než tradiční katolíci, se nesmí pokřižovat levou rukou. Pravá ruka boží zachraňuje a levá trestá – 21 veršů v Bibli blahořečí jeho pravou ruku
- Československo byla jediná země za železnou oponou, kde nebyli leváci nuceni k přeučení se na pravou ruku, v Albánii navíc bylo leváctví ilegální
- Praváci jsou více homogenní (mají dominantní i pravé oko a pravou nohou)
- Pravá hemisféra je více revoluční a generuje změny paradigmatu, kdežto levá je konzervativní a udržuje status quo
- 20% identických dvojčat mají rozdílnou preferenci dominantní ruky (přestože mají stejnou organizaci mozku)
- Výhoda ve sportu: leváci mají vizuální zpracování, motorickou kontrolu a 3D plánování umístěné zpravidla ve stejné hemisféře, kdežto praváci musí převést vizuální informaci z pravé hemisféry do levé, což je stojí 30 milisekund reakčního času
Hrozně zajímavý věci:
- Kontroverzní teorie tvrdí, že levorukost je patologie způsobená prenatálními podmínkami a stresem při porodu, což vyústí v poškození mozku
- V minulém století bylo jen 5% Američanů levorukých, dneska se prevalence ztrojnásobila
- Nejedná se o náhodu, ale o Darwinovu variaci, tudíž musí zajišťovat přežití (genetický repertoár praváků je více předvídatelný a limitovaný)
- V náboženství byla vždy levá ruka spojována se zlem. Ani ortodoxní Řekové, kteří vykonávají rituál v opačném směru než tradiční katolíci, se nesmí pokřižovat levou rukou. Pravá ruka boží zachraňuje a levá trestá – 21 veršů v Bibli blahořečí jeho pravou ruku
- Československo byla jediná země za železnou oponou, kde nebyli leváci nuceni k přeučení se na pravou ruku, v Albánii navíc bylo leváctví ilegální
- Praváci jsou více homogenní (mají dominantní i pravé oko a pravou nohou)
- Pravá hemisféra je více revoluční a generuje změny paradigmatu, kdežto levá je konzervativní a udržuje status quo
- 20% identických dvojčat mají rozdílnou preferenci dominantní ruky (přestože mají stejnou organizaci mozku)
- Výhoda ve sportu: leváci mají vizuální zpracování, motorickou kontrolu a 3D plánování umístěné zpravidla ve stejné hemisféře, kdežto praváci musí převést vizuální informaci z pravé hemisféry do levé, což je stojí 30 milisekund reakčního času
March 26, 2013
The Left Stuff By Melissa Roth, this book has questions and answers about how the left-handed people thrived in the world were "everything" is designed for the righty, and ultimately got better than the righty on most aspects of life. More than not, it tries to take scientific approach of explaining why the lefties are the way that they are. It succeeds and fails and on the scientific part.
She quotes lots of scientists and researchers to backup, or to prove her points, it works some times, I thoroughly enjoyed most of her findings. However, most of these points and facts seem to be inclusive.
Nonetheless, my lefty disposition wants those points and facts to be true. Because, it does make me feel more superior than the righty, to think that I use more brain potential than the majority.
She quotes lots of scientists and researchers to backup, or to prove her points, it works some times, I thoroughly enjoyed most of her findings. However, most of these points and facts seem to be inclusive.
Nonetheless, my lefty disposition wants those points and facts to be true. Because, it does make me feel more superior than the righty, to think that I use more brain potential than the majority.
January 7, 2022
I've had this book on my shelf for well over a decade. It was a gift from a friend. As southpaws, this was something we both wanted to read. My review reflects more of my experience, than the book. Like it's not her fault that most of the science and pop culture references are old and that the science quoted is also `15-20 years old.
I feel like this could have been a series of Atlantic articles. It didn't need to be a full book. Some chapters were really fun and others were painstakingly difficult. Ms. Roth's tone also switches. I enjoy when writing non-fiction, the author includes themselves and their process in the story. The ones I've read, it works successfully. Ms. Roth doesn't commit to this. She does it here and there and occasionally her tone is cheeky, but it's not constant. I don't think you really get to the subtitle "how the left-handed have survived and thrived in a right-handed world" until the last two chapters.
It's weird reading things like architecture has a lot of left handed people and the number is 23%. Like honeys, i get it, that's still more than the overall average of lefties, but there are still 77% righties.
I did learn some things in this. That the idea that left handers will die sooner is false, how the brain is divided and handedness extends to other things outside of writing. It would be interesting to see what would be included if this book was updated.
Overall though, I would not recommend this book. Her writing style is easy enough but there were days I couldn't get more than a page or two complete because the material was dense or weighed down in scientific language that I'm unfamiliar with.
I feel like this could have been a series of Atlantic articles. It didn't need to be a full book. Some chapters were really fun and others were painstakingly difficult. Ms. Roth's tone also switches. I enjoy when writing non-fiction, the author includes themselves and their process in the story. The ones I've read, it works successfully. Ms. Roth doesn't commit to this. She does it here and there and occasionally her tone is cheeky, but it's not constant. I don't think you really get to the subtitle "how the left-handed have survived and thrived in a right-handed world" until the last two chapters.
It's weird reading things like architecture has a lot of left handed people and the number is 23%. Like honeys, i get it, that's still more than the overall average of lefties, but there are still 77% righties.
I did learn some things in this. That the idea that left handers will die sooner is false, how the brain is divided and handedness extends to other things outside of writing. It would be interesting to see what would be included if this book was updated.
Overall though, I would not recommend this book. Her writing style is easy enough but there were days I couldn't get more than a page or two complete because the material was dense or weighed down in scientific language that I'm unfamiliar with.
September 30, 2008
This book contains some information from scientific studies and a lot of speculation about why left-handed people have persisted in the human population.
I can only laugh when the author tries to explain what "special" qualities lefties have that have allowed them to breed in spite of prejudice against them historically.
And her theory that lefties are more adaptable and stubborn because they have had to use right-handed tools seems a little crazy to me.
The author's tracing back of right preference through apes and monkeys to some early pro-simians that just happened to jump from branch to branch leading with their right foot without any explanation of why that should be is pretty weak.
I understand that the mechanism for inheritance of handedness is not understood, but the author latched on to a theory of a right-shift-gene and then tried unsuccessfully (in my mind) to make it fit the facts.
I found the new information that is being learned about brain organization and development from fMRIs very interesting.
This book was published in 2005. It would be interesting to find out what has been learned since then.
I can only laugh when the author tries to explain what "special" qualities lefties have that have allowed them to breed in spite of prejudice against them historically.
And her theory that lefties are more adaptable and stubborn because they have had to use right-handed tools seems a little crazy to me.
The author's tracing back of right preference through apes and monkeys to some early pro-simians that just happened to jump from branch to branch leading with their right foot without any explanation of why that should be is pretty weak.
I understand that the mechanism for inheritance of handedness is not understood, but the author latched on to a theory of a right-shift-gene and then tried unsuccessfully (in my mind) to make it fit the facts.
I found the new information that is being learned about brain organization and development from fMRIs very interesting.
This book was published in 2005. It would be interesting to find out what has been learned since then.
June 6, 2011
Maybe I've just read too many books on left-handedness, but this one didn't do it for me. There was some new information, but way too much speculation presented as fact, and I got completely bogged down in the section on brain hemispheres.
November 16, 2016
The advantages that left-handers have and provide
October 28, 2024
This was an enjoyable read that was everything I could have hoped for in terms of learning more about the origins of handedness and the differences in the brains of the typical left-hander. As an added bonus, lots of fun nuggets in here to serve as cocktail party fodder when the factoid of my left-handedness comes up.
The book is structured such as to start with a retelling of the ways that the left-handed have been discriminated against throughout history, with there even being a book released in the early 1990’s suggesting that left-handedness was a ‘syndrome’ that led to various psychological problems and shorter life spans. That said, as a child of the 1980’s, fortunate to admit that I’ve never been discriminated against for being left-handed. Nevertheless, that section was an illuminating read, particularly how the incidence of left-handedness varies widely among cultures, with lower rates in countries with high social norms of conformity (e.g. East Asian countries). Here in the USA, we’re sitting at about 12% or so of the population defined as left-handed.
Which raises the question, how do you define left-handed? And how do you categorize somebody like me, one of the 6 percent of the population that writes right-handed, but does most other things left-handed? Broadly speaking, if you do one of the “Big 3” tasks, writing, eating, or throwing, left-handed, you’re generally categorized as left-handed for research purposes. That said, handedness is a continuum, and often researchers are looking to place people into subcategories based on the strength of their handedness. For evaluating those buckets, a number of handy evaluations have been developed to determine the strength of one’s handedness. Below is an example of one of those tests; interestingly, about 30-35 percent of Americans perform at least two of these tasks with their left hands.
1. To write a letter legibly?
2. To throw a ball to hit a target?
3. To hold a racket in tennis, squash, or badminton?
4. To hold a match whilst striking it?
5. To cut with scissors?
6. To guide a thread through the eye of a needle (or guide needle onto thread)?
7. At the top of a broom while sweeping?
8. At the top of a shovel when moving sand?
9. To deal playing cards?
10. To hammer a nail into wood?
11. To hold a toothbrush while cleaning your teeth?
12. To unscrew the lid of a jar?
Also interestingly, there’s a distinction between performing certain tasks with different hands and being agnostic as to which hand you use to perform a task. People in the latter camp are actually more apt to have neurological or developmental issues that prevent them from being able to recognize a dominant hand. In past studies, when that population got lumped in with lefties, it skewed the results and made it look like left-handed people had higher incidence rates of those issues.
Most of the remainder of the book gets into the architecture of the brain and differences between lefties and righties in terms of where brain processing occurs. Generally speaking, the left hemisphere of the brain organizes and plans controlled movements, is where memorized facts are stored, etc. whereas the right hemisphere is more responsible for visuospatial tasks, artistic expression, “big picture” thinking, etc. It turns out that because brains are cross-wired (i.e. the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body), one of the typical side effects of being left-hand dominant is that there are more neural pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain and the centers of the brain activated in various tasks is more diffuse between the brain hemispheres rather than being isolated to one hemisphere. The theory then goes that left-handed folks are strong at identifying relationships, making big picture connections that others miss, and balancing rote tasks and strategy. One of the likely downsides, however, is that the interwiring between left and right brain makes it more difficult for lefties to multi-task, which I would anecdotally agree with.
My take was that the second half of the book that was focused on brain wiring got a little long and the science didn’t seem particularly conclusive as to exactly how left-handed brains are different and/or why it’s the case that left-handedness survived as an evolutionary trait over the years. That said, the whole book is only 200 pages and by the time I got to the brain stuff, I already had some pretty good material and was willing to skim a little bit to get to the end.
The book is structured such as to start with a retelling of the ways that the left-handed have been discriminated against throughout history, with there even being a book released in the early 1990’s suggesting that left-handedness was a ‘syndrome’ that led to various psychological problems and shorter life spans. That said, as a child of the 1980’s, fortunate to admit that I’ve never been discriminated against for being left-handed. Nevertheless, that section was an illuminating read, particularly how the incidence of left-handedness varies widely among cultures, with lower rates in countries with high social norms of conformity (e.g. East Asian countries). Here in the USA, we’re sitting at about 12% or so of the population defined as left-handed.
Which raises the question, how do you define left-handed? And how do you categorize somebody like me, one of the 6 percent of the population that writes right-handed, but does most other things left-handed? Broadly speaking, if you do one of the “Big 3” tasks, writing, eating, or throwing, left-handed, you’re generally categorized as left-handed for research purposes. That said, handedness is a continuum, and often researchers are looking to place people into subcategories based on the strength of their handedness. For evaluating those buckets, a number of handy evaluations have been developed to determine the strength of one’s handedness. Below is an example of one of those tests; interestingly, about 30-35 percent of Americans perform at least two of these tasks with their left hands.
1. To write a letter legibly?
2. To throw a ball to hit a target?
3. To hold a racket in tennis, squash, or badminton?
4. To hold a match whilst striking it?
5. To cut with scissors?
6. To guide a thread through the eye of a needle (or guide needle onto thread)?
7. At the top of a broom while sweeping?
8. At the top of a shovel when moving sand?
9. To deal playing cards?
10. To hammer a nail into wood?
11. To hold a toothbrush while cleaning your teeth?
12. To unscrew the lid of a jar?
Also interestingly, there’s a distinction between performing certain tasks with different hands and being agnostic as to which hand you use to perform a task. People in the latter camp are actually more apt to have neurological or developmental issues that prevent them from being able to recognize a dominant hand. In past studies, when that population got lumped in with lefties, it skewed the results and made it look like left-handed people had higher incidence rates of those issues.
Most of the remainder of the book gets into the architecture of the brain and differences between lefties and righties in terms of where brain processing occurs. Generally speaking, the left hemisphere of the brain organizes and plans controlled movements, is where memorized facts are stored, etc. whereas the right hemisphere is more responsible for visuospatial tasks, artistic expression, “big picture” thinking, etc. It turns out that because brains are cross-wired (i.e. the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body), one of the typical side effects of being left-hand dominant is that there are more neural pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain and the centers of the brain activated in various tasks is more diffuse between the brain hemispheres rather than being isolated to one hemisphere. The theory then goes that left-handed folks are strong at identifying relationships, making big picture connections that others miss, and balancing rote tasks and strategy. One of the likely downsides, however, is that the interwiring between left and right brain makes it more difficult for lefties to multi-task, which I would anecdotally agree with.
My take was that the second half of the book that was focused on brain wiring got a little long and the science didn’t seem particularly conclusive as to exactly how left-handed brains are different and/or why it’s the case that left-handedness survived as an evolutionary trait over the years. That said, the whole book is only 200 pages and by the time I got to the brain stuff, I already had some pretty good material and was willing to skim a little bit to get to the end.
April 8, 2018
An interest discussion & summary of research done on the hows and whys of left-handedness.
May 4, 2009
My friend passed this on to me after checking it out at the library - definitely not a book to be judged by it's cover, it looks like some old textbook from the 70's but was actually published in 2005. Roth debunks many of the myths surrounding left-handedness and breezes through a history of scientific studies and theories, providing just enough depth to be convincing and interesting without becoming cumbersome and boring. It helped me to understand how my husband and I (both left-handed) could end up with three right-handed children, and I found the research on brain development absolutely fascinating. The author also notes the many famous people who are left-handed and the significance of lefty over-representation in certain prominent fields.
July 23, 2015
This book brings together a lot of data from studies about left-handedness and presents it very well. There are no interesting conclusions or unexpected revelations.
The content is well-written, and there are some great phrasings that I'll be sure to quote when my friends and family refer to me as weird or backwards. Quite simply, I have a mind with unusual and unpredictable predispositions.
The content is well-written, and there are some great phrasings that I'll be sure to quote when my friends and family refer to me as weird or backwards. Quite simply, I have a mind with unusual and unpredictable predispositions.
July 29, 2009
The most current research on handedness, plus some info and theories on left-handedness throughout history. Also some depressing stats on how many kids around the world are still switched to right-handedness as kids. Yikes.
January 3, 2012
Very Interesting
June 7, 2010
Interesting cultural and scientific insights.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews