Left handed... but not always in my right mind.

Jesus was left-handed. It is stated in the Bible the Jesus sitteth at the right hand of God. That is because God is also left-handed. Now some right-handers may say, (imagine snooty, right-hander voice here) “Well. If God was left-handed, and so was His Son, then why does Jesus sit at God’s RIGHT hand?” This is, of course, backwards, right-hander logic. But we must excuse them for lesser intellect.

The OBVIOUS reason why Jesus sits on God’s right hand is so they don’t bump elbows when they eat. Duh.

If you are left-handed, you know that living in a world designed for right-handed people can be quite difficult. Things like opening doors, writing in spiral notebooks, and using a computer mouse leaves you feeling awkward and frustrated.

Left-Handers’ Day is designed just for you in celebration of your uniqueness. There’s even a Left-Handers’ Club where you can join forces with thousands of other left-handed people. Famous left-handers include Leonardo da Vinci, Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, and Barack Obama. Happy Left-Handers’ Day!

Being left handed is an advantage in many sports. You might just come out ahead in athletics if you’re a lefty. Since most players are right handed, many are unused to dealing with those who are left handed. Take baseball for instance. Southpaws have the advantage of already facing first base when they’re at bat, can more easily keep an eye on first base when pitching and can cover a large amount of the field when playing in the outfield by having their glove in their right hand. Other sports that offer an advantage to lefties are fencing, boxing and tennis. Lefties have a greater chance of being a genius– or having a high IQ.Researchers aren’t sure why, but those who are left handed seem to make up a disproportionately large part of those who are highly intelligent. For example, twenty percent of all Mensa members are left-handed. When you consider that less than 10 percent of the total population is left handed, this makes for a lot of smart lefties. Some think this genius stems from being forced to use both sides of the brain more often, allowing these individuals to more easily process a large amount of information. Left handed men may make more money. All that genius has to lead to something, right? According to studies, left handed males who have gone to college earn 13 percent more than their right handed counterparts. The causes of this difference are unknown, but the gap is statistically significant enough that its not a simple anomaly. Oddly enough, however, the results are quite different for women, with lefties earning 5% less than women who are right handed. Left handed people adjust more easily to seeing underwater. Bizarre as it may sound, one of the benefits of being left handed is being able to adjust more easily to see the world around you when you’re underwater. While you may not need this ability very often, it could come in handy if you live by the sea or enjoy swimming. While it’s not quite clear why this is so, scientists think it has something to do with a different part of the brain being dominant in left handed individuals. Lefties are better able to multitask. One of the advantages of being left-handed is that it forces your brain to think more quickly. What this means for everyday life is that those who are lefties may find it easier to multi-task and deal with a large, sometimes unorganized stream of information. Researchers found that conversations between the left and right sides of the brain happen more quickly in left handed people. The more dominant the left handedness is, the better these abilities are. Some left-handed individuals have better memories. While it isn’t true for all who are left handed, data from recent studies suggests that those who come from families of lefties tend to have better memories, though only of the episodic kind. The odd thing about this study, however, was that individuals didn’t necessarily need to be left-handed themselves to have a better memory– just come from a family of lefties. These studies show that traits related to handedness may be passed down separately, though some lefties would prefer to think that their left-handed benefits just rubbed off on their right-handed counterparts. Generally, lefties are better at playing video games. Some of the traits that make lefties better thinkers and multitaskers also make them better at playing video games. Research conducted by Dr. Nick Cherbuin shows that lefties are better at handing large amounts of stimuli, making them naturally better at killing zombies, playing virtual tennis or fighting off alien hordes in the virtual world. Left handed stroke victims recover faster than right handed stroke victims. While the reasons behind this aren’t entirely clear, some believe it’s due to left handed people having to strengthen both sides of the brain when navigating a right handed world. Because many lefties are better able to use their non-dominant hand, it is easier for them to recover from a stroke that damages one part of their brain. Of course, recovery for those suffering from a stroke is never easy, no matter which is their dominant hand. Left-handed people are likely to be more visual than language-based, making them ideal for artistic pursuits. Research has shown that university students are more likely to major in visually-based, as opposed to language-based, subjects when they’re left handed. While another study — not comprehensive at only 103 students — showed that within the sample, 47% of art students were left- or mixed-handed. If you want to be an artist this is an amazing benefit, putting you in the likes of greats like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Rembrandt. Southpaw drivers are more successful at learning to drive than right handed people. If driving came easy to you, it might have a good deal to do with your left-handedness. A driving school poll found that 57% of left handers passed their driving test first time compared with only 47% of right handers. This is pretty amazing, considering that most cars are designed with right handed individuals in mind.

“You’ve explored all the “Lefthanded” pages currently recommended for you.”

There are claims that whichever hand the fetus holds closest to its mouth in the womb will determine which will be the dominant hand in a person’s life.

Researchers have also linked the LRRTM1 gene to be linked to being left handed.

These sturdy, lightweight scissors with brightly coloured plastic moulded grips and stainless steel blades are an ideal junior scissor. These safety scissors have rounded ends, but proper sharpened blades for cutting paper and thin material, so adult supervision is needed at all times.

How scissors are left-handed
The blades on left-handed scissors are set so that, whichever way up you hold them, the left blade is always on top. This means that the cutting action of the left hand pushes the blades together to give a smooth cut the whole length of the blades and also that a left-hander has a clear view of the cutting line. When a left-hander uses right-handed scissors, they have to push the thumb and index finger together in an unnatural way to make the scissors cut, causing marks on the hand and eventually callouses. Also, they have to look over the top blade, which obscures the cutting line.

With properly designed left-handed scissors these problems do not arise, as your natural cutting action matches that of the scissors. Just hold the scissors straight and naturally and do not try to twist the blades. After a short time, you will be completely comfortable with your new scissors and wonder how you put up with mis-using right-handed scissors for so long! All our scissors are fully left-handed with blades reversed and left hand moulded grips.

A word of warning! As we have explained, it is not possible to make “ambidextrous scissors”, although many manufacturers claim their scissors are “universal” or “suitable for left and right hand use”. This only refers to the handles, which have not been moulded to fit the right hand knuckle, but they have no advantage for left-handers whatsoever as the blades are still set right-handed!

Ambidexterity is the state of being equally adept in the use of both left and right appendages (such as the hands). It is one of the most famous varieties of cross-dominance. People that are naturally ambidextrous are rare, with only one out of one hundred people being naturally ambidextrous.^[1] The degree of versatility with each hand is generally the qualitative factor in determining a person’s ambidexterity.

In modern times, it is more common to find people considered ambidextrous who were originally left handed and who learned to be ambidextrous either deliberately or during childhood institutions such as schools where right-handed habits are often emphasized or required. Also, since many everyday devices (such as can openers and scissors) are asymmetrical and designed for right-handed people, many left-handers learn to use them right-handedly due to the rarity or lack of left-handed models. Thus, left-handed people are much more likely to develop motor skills in their non-dominant hand than right-handers (who are not subjected to left-favoring devices). Right-handers may become ambidextrous due to an injury of their right hand or arm. Ambidexterity is often encouraged in activities requiring a great deal of skill in both hands, such as knitting, typing on a computer, juggling, swimming, percussion, keyboard music, baseball, lacrosse, surgery, boxing, martial arts and basketball.

Earnhardt Jr. is a leftie who has found great success in an industry entirely geared to the convenience of right-handed people and the fact that he has accomplished what he has with only two clockwise racetracks in the country is nothing short of amazing.

There are only three other NASCAR drivers who are lefties: Terry Labonte, Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano. Being left-handed poses considerable challenges as a racecar driver, making it more difficult to drive when the track is counter-clockwise.

Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal protein 1 (LRRTM1), is protein that in humans is encoded by the LRRTM1 gene.^[1][2]

LRRTM1 is the first gene linked to increased odds of being left-handed.^[3] Possessing one particular variant of the LRRTM1 gene slightly raises the risk of psychotic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia^[3]

As the name implies, its protein product is a transmembrane protein, which contains many leucine rich repeats, that is present in neurons. It is expressed during the development of specific forebrain structures and shows a variable pattern of maternal downregulation (genomic imprinting).^[2]