Is Being Left Handed Genetic ?

stratman3142

Drew_fx said:

*yawn*

...yes and being very boring. Forgot to mention that link.

RandallFlagg

My kids are left handed, neither me or the missus are. Can I claim benefits?

TheBlueWolf

RandallFlagg said:

My kids are left handed, neither me or the missus are. Can I claim benefits?

Only if they're ginger.

Drew_TNBD

stratman3142 said:

Drew_fx said:

*yawn*

...yes and being very boring. Forgot to mention that link.

Your name is stratman3142. You've got no fucking room to call anyone boring.

stratman3142

Drew_fx said:

stratman3142 said:

Drew_fx said:

*yawn*

...yes and being very boring. Forgot to mention that link.

Your name is stratman3142. You've got no fucking room to call anyone boring.

I was referring to myself not you. It was meant to be a joke at my expense. Apologies if it appeared to be a dig at you, which was not the case. 

You're right stratman is a crap name, but I've been using it for so long I'm stuck with it now.

Drew_TNBD

BE MORE CONSTRUCTIVE WITH YOUR SELF-CRITICISMMMS

Headphones

I've met quite a few Commanding Officers of RN warships over the years.

It might just be chance, but nearly all of them have been left handed!

ICBM

stratman3142 said:

I'm an engineer by profession and many of the people I work are left handed. I think there's a link between being left handed, maths and engineering - combined with a complete lack of fashion sense.

I always thought it was supposedly more associated with creativity and artistic traits.

I do think there's a genetic link too. There seems to be a fair amount of it in my family - my sister, my mother's sister and my eldest daughter are all strongly left-handed. I am right-handed, although much more ambidextrous than most right-handed people seem to normally be.

It's also possibly difficult to establish a family history properly because it's only a couple of generations since left-handedness was actively suppressed by schoolteachers and other ignorant types.

strtdv

As @octatonic has said, it's believed to be at least partly genetic but not a single gene. It's better thought of as "non-right handed" as there are degrees of it, and I suppose technically you could regard it as a neuronal migration disorder.
It's also somewhat (although very weakly) associated with schizophrenia

ICBM

strtdv said:

As @octatonic has said, it's believed to be at least partly genetic but not a single gene. It's better thought of as "non-right handed" as there are degrees of it, and I suppose technically you could regard it as a neuronal migration disorder.

There are degrees of right-handedness too. I'm pretty sure I've read that most right-handed people are more strongly right-handed than most left-handers are left-handed, but whether that's genetic or just because left-handers are 'encouraged' to do more things right-handed from birth (not always intentionally, but a lot of things are designed right-handedly) and hence become apparently less strongly left-handed, I don't know.

My sister is unusual in being extremely left-handed, to the point she has found it difficult to learn to do a lot of things that many other lefties manage right-handed, whereas I'm the opposite in being only weakly right-handed and finding it easy to learn to do many things left-handed when it's useful to, as well as several things I seem to naturally do that way. So both of us seem more to the left than normal.

I seem to remember Drew saying he's very strongly left-handed too.

octatonic

ICBM said:

strtdv said:

As @octatonic has said, it's believed to be at least partly genetic but not a single gene. It's better thought of as "non-right handed" as there are degrees of it, and I suppose technically you could regard it as a neuronal migration disorder.

There are degrees of right-handedness too. I'm pretty sure I've read that most right-handed people are more strongly right-handed than most left-handers are left-handed, but whether that's genetic or just because left-handers are 'encouraged' to do more things right-handed from birth (not always intentionally, but a lot of things are designed right-handedly) and hence become apparently less strongly left-handed, I don't know.

My sister is unusual in being extremely left-handed, to the point she has found it difficult to learn to do a lot of things that many other lefties manage right-handed, whereas I'm the opposite in being only weakly right-handed and finding it easy to learn to do many things left-handed when it's useful to, as well as several things I seem to naturally do that way. So both of us seem more to the left than normal.

I seem to remember Drew saying he's very strongly left-handed too.

Mine is quite weird.
I write right handed but I was taught how to do that.
I play guitar right handed, but that was a choice based on the availability of right handed guitars.
My natural fighting stance is as a southpaw.
I tend to reach for things with my left, I operate my phone with my left.
If I type one-handed it will tend to be with my left.
The... er.... five finger shuffle is with my left.
For drumming I am roughly equal with both hands, the right is stronger but the left is more accurate and has better technique, but I play essentially right handed with the hi-hat on the left of my snare.
But I use a knife with my right hand, holding what I am cutting with my left hand.
I plane wood with both, but will prefer the right because it is stronger- I don't know if that is conditioning or because it is my natural handedness.

To do any of these things the other way feels pretty unnatural.

I've never worked out if I am actually a lefty who has adapted, or if cross dominance is a natural thing for me.

Drew_TNBD

ICBM said:

strtdv said:

As @octatonic has said, it's believed to be at least partly genetic but not a single gene. It's better thought of as "non-right handed" as there are degrees of it, and I suppose technically you could regard it as a neuronal migration disorder.

There are degrees of right-handedness too. I'm pretty sure I've read that most right-handed people are more strongly right-handed than most left-handers are left-handed, but whether that's genetic or just because left-handers are 'encouraged' to do more things right-handed from birth (not always intentionally, but a lot of things are designed right-handedly) and hence become apparently less strongly left-handed, I don't know.

My sister is unusual in being extremely left-handed, to the point she has found it difficult to learn to do a lot of things that many other lefties manage right-handed, whereas I'm the opposite in being only weakly right-handed and finding it easy to learn to do many things left-handed when it's useful to, as well as several things I seem to naturally do that way. So both of us seem more to the left than normal.

I seem to remember Drew saying he's very strongly left-handed too.

It'd be easy to pull a Sambostar now and start bringing in historical occurances of bigotry and racism towards left handed people, but I'll just listen to this instead:

ICBM

I hadn't actually realised until I went to one of those 'living museum' type places with my daughter and the teacher (jokingly) told her that she would not be allowed to use her left hand, that children being physically punished for being left-handed carried on until well within living memory - after WWII in some places and possibly as late as the 1960s.

I also didn't realise how angry it would make me feel...

Drew_TNBD

Oh yeah, but it's just a joke to most people. Then they think I'm awful when I laugh at lynchings.

TheBlueWolf

I got plenty of stick for writing left handed, partly I think because there was a stigma attached back in the 70's when I was a kid.

I learnt to play guitar right handed due mainly to the lack of lefties at the time, and because it makes more sense to do all the fiddly fretting stuff with my left hand.

I've never got on with 'left handed' gadgets, mainly I think because it confuses my brain and I'm so used to using the same as everyone else.

I knock one out with my right, because I'm plain awkward

Sambostar

Left handed Les Pauls are just so wrong looking though, probably because they are such a perfectly aesthetically designed instrument, well not perfect, but still it's hard tp get my head around looking at them.  They're like some optical illusions that does your brain in, I don't think they should make them. 

Then again, I part my combover on the left and it looks OK in the mirror, but in real life it must look the opposite way around.  So long as the world isn't over run by left handed tin openers and leftie Les Pauls are banned I'II be happy.






Arrrrrgh.  It's doing my eyes and my brain in.  Does it seriously appear aesthetically normal to left handed people? 

Moreover, is this how left handed people see the rest of the normal world.  I couldn't even imagine.

My brain hurts.