The most difficult group of people in the world: once regarded as outliers, but also pushed to the altar

I believe everyone has one or two left-handed people around them. Do you envy their "extraordinary talents" or sympathize with their inconveniences in life?

01

Once regarded as an alien, and once pushed to the altar

Today, we often think that left-handed people are smarter, more creative, and have more potential to become masters of art than other people. A lot of praise that is difficult to distinguish between true and false is hurled at left-handed people. But in fact, left-handed people have not always been praised. They once felt the deep malice of the world.

If you look closely, you can see that there are many left hands in the Los Manos rock paintings. Image source: Wikipedia

In medieval Europe, left-handed people were considered different and even "evil". For example, the devil in the Bible was always described as left-handed. There is a superstition in Scotland that unfortunate people must have been baptized by left-handed priests. In fact, in many languages, "left" is associated with negative meanings.

In addition to being discriminated against, many left-handed people are also forced to change their dominant hand. The most famous example is King George VI of the United Kingdom. Even if he was born in the royal family, he could not escape being forced to write with his right hand, not to mention the pressure that ordinary left-handed people face.

George VI was left-handed but was forced to write with his right hand. Image courtesy Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division

In fact, this practice of forcing left-handed people to change their dominant hand still happens from time to time. It is only as left-handedness becomes more and more synonymous with intelligence that this situation has decreased.

The change in the view of left-handed people may be related to left-handed celebrities. You must have heard that scientist Einstein, painter Leonardo da Vinci, and military strategist Napoleon were all left-handed. These talented celebrities were all left-handed, and with the media's hype , the reputation of left-handed people being smart has become more and more famous.

02

Actually, there is not that much difference between left and right

Are left-handed people really smarter?

Those who support the view that left-handed people are smarter believe that, although left-handed people only account for about 10% of the world's population, there are many left-handed celebrities. Isn't this enough to prove that left-handed people are indeed intelligent?

Some people also believe that left-handed people have a more developed right brain, and the right brain is generally believed to be more closely related to art, imagination, etc., so even if we cannot say that left-handed people are smarter, at least we can think that they are more talented in art.

However, this may not be the case.

Let's start with the example of left-handed celebrities. Actually, if you think about it carefully, there are obviously more right-handed celebrities, but the label of left-handed celebrities is more eye-catching . Moreover, some examples of left-handed celebrities may not be true, such as Einstein. There is no clear record that he is left-handed, but in many photos, Einstein uses his right hand.

Einstein used his right hand more often. Image source: Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division

As for the artistic talent of left-handed people, there is actually no rigorous statistical data to support it.

In studies on whether left-handed people are smarter, different results are often produced depending on the research subjects. However, as research data accumulates, it is generally believed that there is no obvious difference in intelligence between left-handed and right-handed people.

As for using the division of labor between the left and right hemispheres of the brain to prove which areas left-handed people are more outstanding in, it is obviously not rigorous enough. Because the function of the brain is based on a complete structure, the left and right brains are not separated, but are interconnected and work together. So generally speaking, left-handed people do not have more advantages than right-handed people.

03

Smarter is fake, but harder is real

No smarter, but obviously more inconvenient.

For example, when entering and exiting the subway, you always swipe your card on the right side, when using scissors and a mouse, and when eating, you always "fight" with your seatmate.

The most annoying thing is that since I started learning to write, I have had to face all kinds of inconveniences when writing with my left hand. If I insist on using my left hand, many words will be written awkwardly according to the stroke order, and my hands will always be stained with ink. If I force myself to use my right hand, it will take at least three to five years to get used to it. It's too difficult.

Not to mention that some industries are very unfriendly to left-handed people. For example, although there is no prohibition on left-handed people from performing surgery, many operations, especially many detailed requirements in examinations (there are clear requirements for left-handed and right-handed operations, such as tying knots with the right hand), are more difficult for left-handed people.

So difficult

One of the important reasons why left-handed people have to face more difficulties in daily life is that the vast majority of people are right-handed, so many rules, machines, and tools are designed for convenient right-handed use (such as mouse), and the minority of left-handed people are invisibly ignored.

Fortunately, in recent years, the situation of left-handed people has received more and more attention. For example, the mouse can be set to left-handed mode, and stores specifically for left-handed people have appeared in some places.

Most mice can now be adjusted to suit left-handed users.

Image source: Author

Tools designed for left-handed people

Image credit:leftyslefthanded

Let us send blessings to the left-handed friends around us.

END

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