Right / Left Handed

[nailit]

Is being left/right handed a human trait or are animals (or at least some animals) also left/right handed? (or paw, clawed etc)
And why do we have a dominant hand? Wouldn't evolution be better served by equiping us with two hands that both worked equally well?

[Mamyalynne]

Quite common in animals too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laterality#In_other_animals

[Mamyalynne]

My Grandfather was ambidextrous for many tasks but I can't recall if he played sport.

[Old_Geezer]

I believe I read somewhere that animals can be right or left pawed.
Suspect equal handedness requires more resource and leads to indecision as to which to use. But I'm just guessing.

[JimF]

Aren't all polar bears left-handed?

[fiction-factory]

Some deer are right and left pawed. They are Bambidextrous

[woofgang]

Viking warriors did prize being ambidextrous....and they had a word for it. I am guessing that ambidextrous-ness may not be a genetic trait, therefore it can't be bred for?

[Zacs-Master]

I write right handed.
Play golf and cricket left handed.
Kick a football with my left foot.
My dog shows no preferences.

[woofgang]

ambidexterity??

[Old_Geezer]

Well I would have been first had the router WiFi not screwed up for 4 minutes (for the umpteenth time) :-(

[-Talbot-]

I write left handed.
Don't play golf and cricket with any hand
Kick a football equally as good with my left foot as I do my right foot
My dog doesn't exist.

[nailit]

Thanks all. Just been reading through Mamy's wiki link. Interesting.
//equal handedness requires more resource and leads to indecision as to which to use//
I don't see why been ambidextrous requires more resources OG? Surely it would be an advantage?

[Sqad]

All to do with a part of the brain called Broca's area which in 90% of cases is on the left side (left hemisphere) and is responsible for speech, writing and right or left handedness.
If you are right handed then Broca's area is on the left of the brain, if you are left handed this area is on the right side of the brain.

Trying to make a left handed person to write right handed makes him/her stutter.....because of the above.
Pierre Paul Broca....that's all i know about him.

[nailit]

I just don't get why we, as humans, have a dominant hand (mainly the right hand).
From an evolutionary point of view, surely it would make sense to have equal use of our limbs in case one got injured?

[Mamyalynne]

If using both hemispheres of the brain to concentrate on one task. it may distract you from something important or even dangerous.

Acquiring the ability to switch from one to the other quickly would be a great advantage and one a few people have already.

[nailit]

Thanks Sqad.
Im off to Google Broca now. ;-)

[Sqad]

Nailit...to do what you suggest would require a Broca's area in both left and right cerebral hemispheres....and that we ain't got.

[nailit]

What about ambidextrous people then Sqad. Where is THEIR Broca area?

[Old_Geezer]

Needs more resources because the brain's neurons need to connect both for getting the right hand to do things well without conscious attention, and then the same for the left hand too.

[nailit]

I think I know where you are coming from OG, thanks.

[Sqad]

LOL nailit...I am glad that I never met you in any of my exams...LOL

In ambidexterity one lobe (Broca's area)is dominant and then defines the handedness ( the opposite side) but during early development the child learns to develop the opposite side to make it ambidextrous.
Only 1% of the population is truly ambidextrous.