Lefties Rule!
Mon, March 2, 2009
It's all right to be left
Could it be that southpaws make better leaders?
By ALTHIA RAJ, NATIONAL BUREAU
OTTAWA -- Whether their politics tilt to the right or to the left, most of Canada's recent prime ministers have been right-handed. Across the border, five of the past seven U.S. presidents -- including Barack Obama -- are lefties.
Southpaws are known to be driven by their emotional sides whereas right-handed folks pride logic in decision-making.
Does this explain why Canadians pride peace, order and good government over armed revolution?
Are we generally boring individuals who make-up what we lack in creativity through rational methodological thinking?
Approximately 10% of the population is left-handed.
"Left-handed folks think differently," said James deKay, the author of The Natural Superiority of Left-Handers.
"They think more holistically, they're less rational. They see the whole picture. They see the forest, not just the trees."
Some say more left-handed folks are geniuses. Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein were all lefties. Michael Ignatieff's staff said he's left-handed too.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is right-handed. So are former prime ministers Paul Martin and Jean Chretien.
Brian Mulroney is -- no surprise here -- a righty.
But Joe Clark -- perhaps, no surprise either -- is left-handed.
Think the pirouette dancing Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a lefty? Think again. Trudeau and the younger Justin are both right-handed.
Nearly all the party leaders are right-handed -- NDP Leader Jack Layton, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, and even Elizabeth May prefer their right hand.
South of the border, George W. Bush is the most recent right-handed president. During the battle of the hanging chads, Al Gore represented the left-handers.
Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman and James Garfield were all left-handed presidents.
Ronald Reagan as well -- but he learned to sign with his right hand. Something Clark does too.
Many blame strict elementary school teachers who tried to force pupils to write with their "right" hand.
Gordon O'Connor, the Conservative government whip and former minister of national defence, recalled his Grade 1 teacher trying to teach him to write with his right hand instead of his left. The 69 year-old remained left-handed thanks to the intervention of his aunt.
Learning to live in a right-hand world isn't always easy, say left-hand advocates.
David Wolman, the author of A Left Hand Turn Around the World and an enthusiastic southpaw, said there continues to be stigma against the left-hand group.
The devil is often pictured left-handed.
But Wolman believes southpaws should take pride in their special status.
"Lefties have a history of overcoming adversity. Everyday of my whole life there are all these micro-adjustments that I have to make -- moving the mouse to the left side of the computer, learning to use right-hand scissors, having to hold the tape measurer and ruler upside down -- that you as a righty, you don't need to make because the world is made for you."
It's not clear why some people are left-handed and others are right-handed. Experts say it's a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
"Two left-handed parents are much more prone to have a left-handed child than two right-handed parents," said Michael Peters, a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Guelph.
Peters said a number of studies which claimed left-handed people died earlier, were more likely to be dyslexic, or were more likely to become architects "have not panned out."
He also discounted the theory that right-handed individuals were left-brain dominant and left-handed individuals were right-brain dominant.
"Most left-handers are left-brain dominant too."
Language, math and science are associated with left brain functions, while imagination and feelings tend to be associated with the right brain.
Stephen Christman, a professor of behavioural psychology at the University of Toledo, told the Washington Post last year that what the state really needs is a mixed-handed political leader.
"Those with a strong right or left hand are more likely to cling to beliefs and discount new information that contradicts those beliefs," he said.
"Mixed-handers are better able to see both sides of the story."
---
DID YOU KNOW?
Five out of the last seven U.S. presidents have been left-handed
George W. Bush is right-handed but George H. W. Bush is left-handed
Jean Chretien is right-handed, but bats with his left.
Pierre Trudeau was and Justin Trudeau is right-handed
Joe Clark is left-handed, but signs with his right hand
It's all right to be left
Could it be that southpaws make better leaders?
By ALTHIA RAJ, NATIONAL BUREAU
OTTAWA -- Whether their politics tilt to the right or to the left, most of Canada's recent prime ministers have been right-handed. Across the border, five of the past seven U.S. presidents -- including Barack Obama -- are lefties.
Southpaws are known to be driven by their emotional sides whereas right-handed folks pride logic in decision-making.
Does this explain why Canadians pride peace, order and good government over armed revolution?
Are we generally boring individuals who make-up what we lack in creativity through rational methodological thinking?
Approximately 10% of the population is left-handed.
"Left-handed folks think differently," said James deKay, the author of The Natural Superiority of Left-Handers.
"They think more holistically, they're less rational. They see the whole picture. They see the forest, not just the trees."
Some say more left-handed folks are geniuses. Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein were all lefties. Michael Ignatieff's staff said he's left-handed too.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is right-handed. So are former prime ministers Paul Martin and Jean Chretien.
Brian Mulroney is -- no surprise here -- a righty.
But Joe Clark -- perhaps, no surprise either -- is left-handed.
Think the pirouette dancing Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a lefty? Think again. Trudeau and the younger Justin are both right-handed.
Nearly all the party leaders are right-handed -- NDP Leader Jack Layton, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, and even Elizabeth May prefer their right hand.
South of the border, George W. Bush is the most recent right-handed president. During the battle of the hanging chads, Al Gore represented the left-handers.
Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman and James Garfield were all left-handed presidents.
Ronald Reagan as well -- but he learned to sign with his right hand. Something Clark does too.
Many blame strict elementary school teachers who tried to force pupils to write with their "right" hand.
Gordon O'Connor, the Conservative government whip and former minister of national defence, recalled his Grade 1 teacher trying to teach him to write with his right hand instead of his left. The 69 year-old remained left-handed thanks to the intervention of his aunt.
Learning to live in a right-hand world isn't always easy, say left-hand advocates.
David Wolman, the author of A Left Hand Turn Around the World and an enthusiastic southpaw, said there continues to be stigma against the left-hand group.
The devil is often pictured left-handed.
But Wolman believes southpaws should take pride in their special status.
"Lefties have a history of overcoming adversity. Everyday of my whole life there are all these micro-adjustments that I have to make -- moving the mouse to the left side of the computer, learning to use right-hand scissors, having to hold the tape measurer and ruler upside down -- that you as a righty, you don't need to make because the world is made for you."
It's not clear why some people are left-handed and others are right-handed. Experts say it's a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
"Two left-handed parents are much more prone to have a left-handed child than two right-handed parents," said Michael Peters, a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Guelph.
Peters said a number of studies which claimed left-handed people died earlier, were more likely to be dyslexic, or were more likely to become architects "have not panned out."
He also discounted the theory that right-handed individuals were left-brain dominant and left-handed individuals were right-brain dominant.
"Most left-handers are left-brain dominant too."
Language, math and science are associated with left brain functions, while imagination and feelings tend to be associated with the right brain.
Stephen Christman, a professor of behavioural psychology at the University of Toledo, told the Washington Post last year that what the state really needs is a mixed-handed political leader.
"Those with a strong right or left hand are more likely to cling to beliefs and discount new information that contradicts those beliefs," he said.
"Mixed-handers are better able to see both sides of the story."
---
DID YOU KNOW?
Five out of the last seven U.S. presidents have been left-handed
George W. Bush is right-handed but George H. W. Bush is left-handed
Jean Chretien is right-handed, but bats with his left.
Pierre Trudeau was and Justin Trudeau is right-handed
Joe Clark is left-handed, but signs with his right hand
Comment