• Question: How are some people left handed and other people right handed

    Asked by Einstein123jnr to Áine, Ciarán, Eoin, Lydia, Victoria on 7 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Ciarán O'Brien

      Ciarán O'Brien answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      The main reason is that very early on in life, people tend to “pick a side”. Most children are actually ambidextrous from birth, their brains don’t really prefer doing something with one hand or the other (or even their feet). Early on your brain gets into the habit of favouring one side over the other, and you get set in your ways. You can re-learn how to be ambidextrous, but it’s quite hard to rewire your brain like that. There’s probably some genetic reason as well, but it mostly comes down to the habits your brain starts picking up from birth.

      I was ambidextrous until I started school and had to pick a hand to write with. The teachers kind of wanted me to use my right hand to fit in, but I never did much like doing what I was told without a much better reason than that, so I stubbornly stuck with my left hand to annoy everyone ^_^

    • Photo: Áine Broderick

      Áine Broderick answered on 9 Nov 2014:

      Like Ciarán, I am ambidextrous. I do somethings with my right hand and I do somethings with my left.
      There was a theory that which hand you used related to genetics, however, this was disproven, so at the moment, there is no hard evidence to suggest why people are left handed or handed.
      As Ciarán answered it could be down to habit or also down to parents or teachers influences.

    • Photo: Victoria Simms

      Victoria Simms answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Ah, there is some evidence to suggest that left/right hand choice is influenced by our genes. But there is definitely influence of parents and teachers too, for example, in the 1950s teachers would have tried to make sure that children used their left hand to write changed to use their right hand. Teachers and parents don’t think like this anymore.

Comments

  • Photo: Ciarán

    Ciarán commented on :

    Yes, back in the day anyone who tried to write with their left hand was given a slap. There used to be a silly idea that being left-handed made you evil, the word “sinister” which means evil or unlucky is originally from the latin “sinestra” which means “left handed”. Religion was probably responsible for the misconception.