About one in ten people are left-handed, that is, about 760 million people. Nobody knows for sure why this is, although scientists believe it might be genetic. In the Middle Ages, people thought that left-handed people were witches. Of course, we know that’s not true. But left-handed people, who are also known as ‘lefties’, are still said to have some unique characteristics.
LEFT-HANDERS INTERNATIONAL
An organization called Left-handers International established Left-hander’s Day as an annual holiday in 1976 to celebrate the uniqueness of left-handed people. The holiday is also to promote awareness of the inconveniences of being left-handed in a world where most people are right-handed, and most things are created for them.
MORE CREATIVE?
The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. It is used for activities associated with logic, like science and mathematics. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. It is used for activities associated with creativity and arts. This has made some people think that left-handed people are more likely to be creative than right-handed people. Many other people say that this is a myth.
EXPLOITATION!
One thing that is true is that it is not so easy for lefties to live in a right-handed world. Some can have difficulty using things like scissors, knives and other utensils created for right-handed people! There are utensils that are created for left-handers, but they are a lot more expensive than their right-handed equivalent, which doesn’t seem very fair!
LEFTIES UNITE
One of the objectives of International Left-Hander’s Day is to encourage the positive aspects of being left-handed. The website suggests various things left-handed people can do to celebrate the holiday, such as connect with other lefties through social media. They can also create a ‘Left-Handed Zone’ in their home, where right-handed family members and friends must do everything using their left hand – to help them understand the difficulties that lefties encounter every day. Now, that sounds like a fun experiment!