6 lefty facts you may not know, on International Lefthander’s Day

By Maria Kyriacou

6 lefty facts you may not know, on International Lefthander’s Day
International Lefthander's Day - for those who struggle to navigate daily life in a right hand world.

Scientists still don’t have a definitive answer to left hand dominance, although some say it’s a result of increased testosterone in utero. Others say it could be as simple as the hand a baby prefers to have in their mouth.

Either way, lefties are here to stay and thankfully some of the negative ideas that have been levelled at them in the past, have eased off.

So, here are 6 facts you probably didn’t know about lefties:

  1. Lefties are more likely to be geniuses – a study conducted at St. Lawrence University found that more left-handed people had IQs over 140 than their right-handed counterparts. Famous genius lefties include Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.
  1. The children of older mothers, especially those who give birth after 40 years of age, are 128 percent more likely to be left-handed.
  1. Lefties have been around forever – well at least since the caveman days. Archeologists have identified cave paintings they believe were created with the left hand.
  1. Lefties will most likely beat you at video games as some researchers think lefties handle stimuli better.
  1. Lefties often get a bad rap. Many pictures of Satan depict him as left-handed, Eskimos believe lefties are potential sorcerers and in days gone by the trait was often associated with criminality or neurosis.
  1. It runs in families; one example is the British Royal family where left-handers include The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Prince William are or were all lefties. There was even speculation last year that Prince William had said he preferred Prince George to be a “southpaw”, so he could be a brain box!

Do you have a lefty in your life and does the genius part ring true?

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