Left-handed people die earlier than right-handed people!
Well, that's not exactly true. But according to the Berkeley Wellness Letter, statistics show that something unusual is going on.
A population study done by the University of British Columbia a few years ago found that 13% of all 20-year-olds were left-handed. By age 50, only 5% of that same group was left-handed. And by age 80, there were no lefties at all. Researchers had all kinds of theories for these "early deaths" Things like hormonal malfunctions, immune system disorders, and the "fact" that left-handed people are more clumsy than right-handed people. Supposedly, lefties aren't as good at judging speed and distance, putting them in danger of speeding cars and other accidents.
But it turns out the reason senior southpaws are rare isn't because they're dying. It's because they simply stop being left-handed! According to a study financed by the Swiss National Research Fund, the decline in left-handedness among older people is real. But it's only because, over a lifetime, people just switch hands. Why? Social pressure. People just assume you're right-handed.
And everything is designed for righties, from phone placement and mouses on computers, to the design of automobiles, appliances and jar lids. After years of practice, lefties just get really good at using their right hand, and call themselves ambidextrous.
So, it's not that lefties have a shorter life span, it's just their left-handedness that does.
But just so you know, Picasso, Charlie Chaplain and Ben Franklin all lefties lived into their eighties.
A population study done by the University of British Columbia a few years ago found that 13% of all 20-year-olds were left-handed. By age 50, only 5% of that same group was left-handed. And by age 80, there were no lefties at all. Researchers had all kinds of theories for these "early deaths" Things like hormonal malfunctions, immune system disorders, and the "fact" that left-handed people are more clumsy than right-handed people. Supposedly, lefties aren't as good at judging speed and distance, putting them in danger of speeding cars and other accidents.
But it turns out the reason senior southpaws are rare isn't because they're dying. It's because they simply stop being left-handed! According to a study financed by the Swiss National Research Fund, the decline in left-handedness among older people is real. But it's only because, over a lifetime, people just switch hands. Why? Social pressure. People just assume you're right-handed.
And everything is designed for righties, from phone placement and mouses on computers, to the design of automobiles, appliances and jar lids. After years of practice, lefties just get really good at using their right hand, and call themselves ambidextrous.
So, it's not that lefties have a shorter life span, it's just their left-handedness that does.
But just so you know, Picasso, Charlie Chaplain and Ben Franklin all lefties lived into their eighties.
