Being left-handed in a right-handed world

(Edited and updated since first appearing elsewhere, 12.6.10)

My inability to spell has been the most enduring embarrassment of my life. Only since the advent of word processing and sophisticated spell-checkers have I gained enough confidence to write on a regular basis. Before then, like many people with literacy problems, I became adept at avoidance and finding alternatives.

However my trials with spelling are just one part of a broader challenge, I often have numeracy problems too - just as I tend to transpose letters, I also do the same with figures. Years ago I failed the old 'eleven plus' examination, then spent many more years failing other exams, before finally going to university aged twenty-three and gained a somewhat dubious First. Back in the days when undergraduate essays were handwritten, or occasionally typed, and you received them back covered in red ink, mine frequently contained frustrating corrections, and comments about how could someone of obvious intelligence be so negligent! (See my post, That 'alternative' CV! )

These days I guess I would be diagnosed as mildly dyslexic, but my own explanation is a little different. First the spelling errors tend to get a lot worse when I become stressed or excited (or self-conscious you might say) but conversely often disappear when I'm relaxed - indeed I often don't believe the spell checker when I get things right! Secondly, for me bad spelling is all tied-up with getting things back-to-front in general, with being left-handed in a right-handed world.

About 10 to 13% of people are left-handed in an environment designed and dominated by right-handed people. Whatever the causes of this dominance, it is probably a modern phenomenon (some have speculated that amongst our hunter-gatherer ancestors there may have been a 50-50 split) and the consequence for me as someone who is very left-handed (instinctively a 'southpaw', always kicking a ball with my left foot) has been a tendency to become easily disorientated. I often automatically move counter clockwise, 'read' body language and facial expressions as the opposite of what the sender intended and find myself in all sorts of trouble. I write elsewhere about mental health, and won't bore you with the details here, but I have a diagnosis (for what's worth) of Bipolar, and it is a strange fact that if you have such a diagnosis you are 3 times more likely than the general population to be left-handed. But such asymmetry is all about us in many, many forms, the UK's foremost expert on the subject is ChrisMcManus who wrote the fascinating book, Right Hand, Left Hand in 2002.

Just for the record this short post alone has required 17 spelling corrections and that does not include the other thing I'm blind to, too - using entirely the wrong word, but spelt correctly!

The above led to a few comments when posted, mainly along the lines; ‘I’m a bad speller too’, and ‘these days it doesn’t matter’. I responded; ‘Reading the comments on spelling from December, it struck me that although I'm a 'bad' speller and would love to say 'life's too short' etc, etc - actually I do care. Something about still wanting the approval of those who gave me such a hard time as a child I guess?!’

My interest in handedness continues to grow, but naming it by which hand you use to write with becomes positively misleading the more you observe and study the phenomenon. Not only have many people had their writing hand chosen for them, but it makes much more sense to think of asymmetry, and of it being about the orientation of the whole body. Recognising it can be both simple and complicated. If you are a Leftie you’ll find yourself unconsciously noticing and gravitating towards other Lefties – you move the same way. (Nature and nurture makes for handedness, like everything else.) Consciously, it’s not enough to notice one ‘symptom’ you need a cluster, a number of indicators taken together. Take your pick; instinctively reaching with the left arm, whilst using the right arm and shoulder as a support or shield; leading with the left eye and left leg; turning counter clockwise when movement is unrestricted; pointing with the left foot when instinctively showing liking of another…     

The role or function of handedness in natural groups will be the subject of a future post on my blog, Hunter-gatherer - the past in us.

Further Reading:

Are the left-handed more intelligent?

Left-handers more affected by fear
Handedness and sexual orientation