The 7 "superpowers" of left-handed people
If you belong to the 10% of the world population that uses their left hand to write, consider yourself part of a small circle of gifted people.
Fortunately, over the years, science has contributed to debunking one of the most "sinister" prejudices of the past that is still rather recent.
In fact, many of our own grandparents have told us stories about the strenuous efforts made at schools in the past to force left-handed students to abandon the use of the "hand of the devil' and learn to write with their right hand.
Instead, today, various studies have highlighted the superpowers associated with people who are left-handed. Here are some of their exceptional skills!
- 1. Better hearing. Left-handed people are able to perceive sound variations more easily than right-handed people. In fact, speech is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for interpreting sudden changes in sounds; instead the right hemisphere - more developed in the left-handed - elaborates sounds that change slowly.
- 2. Great intelligence. A study by the University of Athens subjected left-handed and right-handed people to the Trail Making Test (TMT) that measures cognitive abilities. The result? Left-handed people demonstrated faster and more accurate spatial skills, greater mental flexibility, and a more powerful memory.
- 3. "Presidential" qualities. According to some experts, left-handed people have a greater aptitude for speaking, a very important quality for a politician. In fact, among US presidents, left-handed people abound - regardless of political alignments: Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
- 4. Great wrestlers. The left hook is a powerful tool in wrestling competitions, and in general left-handed people move and wrestle in a more unpredictable way, as their brains are wired differently.
- 5. More resistant to strokes. Left-handed people recover better following a stroke, since, according to scholars, they are intrinsically forced to strengthen both hemispheres of the brain. Furthermore, after a stroke, they are better at using their other hand as well, compensating for damage to the impaired part of their brain.
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- 6. Greater creativity. In this case, rather than science, the actual facts tend to favor this particular thesis. In fact, there are many left-handed artists, musicians, and writers; just to name a few, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Renoir. Experts say that because they are forced to use different parts of their brains, they are people who are more easily able to think outside the box.
- 7. Higher salaries. According to Education and Career News, left-handed college graduates earn 26% more than their colleagues. And, considering that 4 out of 5 of the original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed, in some cases, it is an understandable disparity.
Despite having this extra edge, left-handers are still disadvantaged, especially since most of the tools and products in circulation are designed to be used by the right-handed. This is why this important minority is celebrated on International Left Handers Day on August 13, when the difficulties that characterize being left-handed are highlighted and discussed.
