Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 16/01/2024 12:57:24
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Hi All,
Are right handed people right footed and vice versa ? what determines 'hand preference' ? Why are we not naturally ambidextrous ? would that not be naturally advantageous to be so ?
whajafink ?
Sheepy
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I think so. When I jump, or when I use to be able to jump, I primarily use my right leg and I am right handed. When I learned to ski it was easier to turn to the left because my right leg was leading the turn.
I think the reason we have a handedness is because doing very precise things with our hands is difficult and it would be a waste of effort and time to develop these skills with both hands. Why most people are right handed is a mystery to me though.
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Hi neilep, when you asked about right footedness surely you meant right hoofness??
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I think so. When I jump, or when I use to be able to jump, I primarily use my right leg and I am right handed. When I learned to ski it was easier to turn to the left because my right leg was leading the turn.
I think the reason we have a handedness is because doing very precise things with our hands is difficult and it would be a waste of effort and time to develop these skills with both hands. Why most people are right handed is a mystery to me though.
Thank ewe Origin.
My right and foot preference echo's yours. Though, I DO eat left handed !.
I just think from an evolutionary perspective would it not be more suitable if we were all ambidextrous ?
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Hi neilep, when you asked about right footedness surely you meant right hoofness??
LOL...yes yes of course. I am right hooved , front and back. chuckle ;)
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Taking this further, does this apply to the rest of the animal kingdom ? what about insects ? spiders ? fish ? etc
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In my twenties I did karate for a few years, with little to show for all my input. I did however quickly discover that I could kick with far greater strength and accuracy using my left hoof than I could with my right one. And I am right handed.
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IIRC from my coaching days, right-foot kickers actually have a stronger left leg, but a "defter" right leg. Essentially you stand on and drive the body with the left leg, whilst the right leg swings freely, transferring the momentum generated by the left, plus a bit of its own, to the ball. This is different from a shot-putt where a right-hander gets all the drive from the right leg.
As for handedness, it's apparent that the incidence of lefthandedness has increased from 5 - 10% to about 25% since primary schools stopped insisting on rightness. These numbers are peculiar - most variants occur in nature either rarely or 50% of the time. My theory is that so much of the human brain is required for language and bipedal walking that some folk - say 50% - are simply incapable of ambidexterity so society deems that righthanded tools and behavior shall be the norm. The other 50% are born ambidextrous so, give a free choice, half will go with the flow and half will develop left hand skills.
Various studies have shown correlations between lefthandedness and creativity. A surprising number of mathematicians and composers are lefthanded but the preponderance of "rightist" tools and instruments militates against sinistral instrumentalists. A lefthanded surgeon is an asset to the team.
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I'm right handed but bat left handed. I need left handed golf clubs and so did my father.
Sportswise I am "kak-handed". A tennis racket goes in the right hand, but a cricket or baseball bat is held to the left.
Incidentally I am hard to read in poker games, to more than a few people's mistake.
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Ultimately, hand/hoof preference comes down to a brain asymmetry.
Whether the hand/hoof preference created the brain asymmetry or vice-versa is probably hard to pin down.
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We all know Paul McArtney plays the guitar left handed; his bass and any gits he uses are all presumably left-handed instruments.
He can also play a piano; these are all right-handed, er, right? So is Sir Paul a kak-hander, musically?
Obviously he can play both instruments. Could a behavioral scientist use them to study lefthanded, but rightfooted, or otherwise kak-handed people like me?
I rhink I'd make a good volunteer, I own a Fantom X (oldie but goodie), and a reasonable acoustic, but my axe is strictly garage. I can play left-handed golf and beat the scientist at poker.
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Lefthanded guitars are not a problem to make but there are very few on the market, suggesting that obligate-lefty guitarists are well below the 25% mark.
Not sure that I'd call a piano essentially righthanded: most of us use both hands once we get beyond Grade One! It's true that having the high notes on the right generally favors righties playing the melody, but the bass line and chords are critical for jazz and rock.
The bowed instruments really demand rightism in an orchestra - one lefthanded violinist is a health and safety hazard!
Not sure I've ever seen a lefthanded flute, but all reed instruments use both hands equally all the time.