Lefties, Southpaws, Sinistral –  these are just some terms that describes a person who dominantly uses their left hand.  Funny how when someone learns that you’re a lefty they get a surprised look on their face, like they just saw an endangered species, or an alien.  You can’t blame them though, it’s not often you come across a leftie since they only make up 10-15 percent of the population.  So yes, we are a special breed.  And yes, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a leftie.

It’s hard to live in a world where almost everything is made for right handed people. Nearly every product is designed to be comfortably used by right-handed people, which makes it quite frustrating and often times dangerous to use such devices.  Imagine using a power tool made for righties; I’d probably lose a limb or seriously injure myself.

Disadvantages

School desks favor righties, it was hard writing on them in school, my arm hanging awkwardly hanging over the edge of the desk instead of resting on the armrest.  There were times I was suspected of cheating or copying from my seatmate because of my awkward positioning.

At risk for mental problems such as schizophrenia, dyslexia, ADHD, and certain mood disorders, we Lefties have a higher tendency to become alcoholics.  Researchers believe that it’s due to how the brain is wired.  Most people, either left- or right-handed, rely on the brain’s left hemisphere for tasks like language functioning, but about 30 percent of Southpaws are either partial to the right hemisphere or have no dominant hemisphere at all.  So it’s like everything is getting crammed into one hemisphere, resulting in a mental imbalance.

Advantages

It’s not always bad being a Leftie, there are some advantages.

We have a tendency to be more artistic or creative because of divergent thinking, a method of idea generation that explores many possible solutions.  Proof of this is the Left-Handers’ Club survey of 2,000 lefties, righties and ambidextrous people and determined that lefties tend to see advantages and be drawn to careers in the arts, music, sports and information technology fields.

We adapt easily.  Most lefties are ambidextrous or have learned to use their right hands in using right-handed tools.  This makes things much easier for us and people giving us that, “Wow you can do that?” look just makes everything better.

And finally, we have our own day.  August 13 of every year has been celebrated as Left Handers’  Day since 1992.  It was launched to celebrate sinistrality and increase public awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of being left-handed.

If you don’t personally know anyone who is a Leftie, you probably know some famous Lefties, even if you didn’t know they were a Southpaw.

Did you know that President Barack Obama, ex-pres Bill Clinton and even Abraham Lincoln were all lefties?  Also, there are a lot of actors, actresses, singers, songwriters, TV personalities that are Southpaws such as Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Keanu Reeves, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and many others.

As I’ve said earlier, lefties are artistic and creative, so it’s not really surprising to see so many in the entertainment industry.  But there are also a number of lefties in various fields, even in technology.

3 Famous Lefties in Tech

Bill Gates

Co-founder, former CEO and current chairman of software company Microsoft, as well as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CEO of Cascade Investment, and Chairman of Corbis, Gates holds the bragging rights for being named the richest person in the world in 2007 and 2013, and has consistently been in the top three spots of Forbes’ wealthiest list.

Amar Bose

An Indian-American academic and entrepreneur who, at the core, is an electrical and sound engineer, that founded Bose Corporation – a privately held corporation that specializes in audio equipment.  He was also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for over 45 years.

Stephen Cook

A renowned American-Canadian computer scientist and mathematician who has made major contributions to the fields of complexity theory and proof complexity. He is currently a University Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Computer Science and Department of Mathematics.