# Is being left-handed a "choice"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 17, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315 "2001-04-17T20:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/1 "2001-04-17T20:44:19Z")
Stupid lefties. It obviously goes against nature to be left handed. Everything is made for right handed people, like it should be. I mean just the name “right handed,” says it all. It’s the “right” hand to use. Lefties always complain about how they can’t find a desk, or a pair of scissors, and how the gear shift is on the wrong side, etc. See, everything is made for right handed people, so obviously left handed people are going against the way things should be. Why are they doing this? Just to be difficult? The only advantage I see in being left handed is that old saying about “if you can breathe and throw a baseball left handed you can be a pitcher . . .” Being left handed is just so unnatural, it’s so backwards. I’m not left handed and I can’t understand how anyone else is, and why they would want to be that way. It’s just so weird. Maybe this is more pit-worthy, but I thought I’d start it out here. Because there is a debate, is being left handed a choice, and if it is, why do they insist on being so difficult? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/2 "2001-04-17T21:27:35Z")
I’ve been Ayn Randed, nearly branded Communist 'cause I’m left handed, that’s the hand you use…well, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/3 "2001-04-17T22:38:18Z")
Great post, Dignan. The worst part about how these left-handedness advocates have infiltrated our society is that there are solid, scientific methods for curing left-handers. But due to those liberals in the American Psychiatric Association (I’m sure it’s a front for those Godless Communists) left-handedness has been allowed to fester in our public school system. It’s tragic, the endless teasing and difficulties these children later encounter. If, instead, the cure had been applied at around first or second grade, it could have saved them untold amounts of frustration and angst. ---
**Author:** ![SouprChckn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@SouprChckn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouprChckn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/4 "2001-04-17T22:46:05Z")
Let me be the one to say that being left handed is indeed a choice. My parents told me that when I was a young kid, I was left handed. For one reason or another, they decided to change me and forced me to use my right hand more. Now I’m right handed and proud of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/5 "2001-04-17T23:02:05Z")
Being left handed is not a choice and it is! ---
**Author:** ![aviddiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aviddiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aviddiva)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/6 "2001-04-17T23:19:07Z")
Great post. A story: At a televised “town hall” forum, my mother was arguing with a fundamentalist who was ranting about homosexuality (totally different topic; I apologise) being a choice _and therefore worthy of being legislated against_, and, of course, capable of being “cured” and she (my mother) played what she thought was a trump card by saying “At one time, it was thought that left-handed people needed to be “cured,” and they were forced to be right-handed.” Unfazed, the fundie rejoindered with “And they managed.” ! ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/7 "2001-04-17T23:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > The worst part about how these left-handedness advocates have infiltrated our society Yeah, and we’ve got these baseball coaches all the way from little league to college that teach impressionable kids how to bat from both sides of the plate! They’ve gotten in to our American passtime, where will it end? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/8 "2001-04-18T00:34:41Z")
**Scene: A public park. A large crowd is gathered around a podium. Standing on the podium is a man holding his left hand in the air in a clenched-fist salute. A huge banner behind him reads “LEFT-HANDED LIBERATION FRONT”.** **Speaker:** We’re not gonna take it any more! We demand our rights! _Gauche Power!_ **Crowd:** Right on!..Yeah!..Tell 'em!..Gauche Power! **Speaker:** Down with the dextralist hegemony! We demand sensitivity training in our schools… Anti-discrimination laws… And tough legislation against hate crimes… _On the edge of the crowd a young man listens, pumping his left fist in the air. Nearby, an older man stands somewhat apart, watching the crowd. The older man sighs deeply and shakes his head. The younger man notices him._ **Younger man:** What’s got you down, Pops? **Older man:** All these wasted lives… It’s really a shame. **Younger man:** _(angrily)_ What kind of dextralist crap is that? I ought to turn you in! That’s a hate crime! **Older man:** I don’t hate anybody… In fact, I love you–and so does Jesus! But, the sinister lifestyle is death! **Young man:** Don’t give me that Bible crap! The Gauche Pride movement is going to liberate us from that kind of hate speech! **Older man:** Sinistralism can’t “liberate” you from anything! Only Jesus can do that! You don’t have to be left-handed, you know–Jesus can help you. **Young man:** I told you not to give me that Bible crap! One more word of that garbage, and I’ll have you arrested! We have laws in this state against hate speech, you know! **Older man:** If you won’t listen to the Bible, how about science? Did you know that scientific studies have shown that people who choose the left-handed lifestyle die on average _10 years earlier_ than right-handed people? **Young man:** _(uncertainly)_ That can’t be right… You’re just making that up… **Older man:** It’s true! Left-handed people are more accident-prone… More likely to have serious diseases… Their growth is stunted! **Young man:** That’s horrible! **Older man:** And–yes, I’m going to mention the Bible again!–that’s why God warns us against left-handedness! _“A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.” [(Ecclesiastes 10:2)](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=ECC+10:2&language=english&version=KJV&showfn=off)_ God will separate the sheep from the goats–the righteous from the unrighteous: _“He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left…Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!”_ _(See [Matthew 25:31-46!](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=MATT+25:31-46&language=english&version=KJV&showfn=on))_ **Young man:** I–I don’t want to die ten years younger! And I sure don’t want to be cast into everlasting fire! **Older man:** God doesn’t want you to be, either! God loves you! God _died_ for you! And He can save you from your left-handedness! All you have to do is pray to Him and accept His sacrifice! **Young man:** Jesus, please forgive me! Help me to become right-handed!.. I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour! _Please_ save me! It _happened!_ Jesus is real…I _know_ I’m saved! I feel like a _new_ person! Thank God, you showed me the truth! * * * Reader…it’s now time to make _ **YOUR** _ choice. If you choose Jesus Christ, all of your sins will be forgiven and you will receive God’s **FREE** gift of eternal lift. [sub](Void where prohibited. Employees or immediate family members of employees of Jack Chick Productions are ineligible. Odds of winning eternal salvation are one in billions and billions.)[/sub] If you do nothing, you’ll remain a condemned child of Satan…and one heartbeat from hell. **Choose Christ right now.** THE BIBLE SAYS THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN! “And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish.” – Numbers 29:2 [sub]Er, wait a minute… That’s not it…[/sub] “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6 [sub]Yes, that’s better. Sorry about that.[/sub] _ **NOBODY ELSE CAN SAVE YOU! TRUST JESUS TODAY!** _ 1. Admit you are a sinner. 2. Accept Jesus as your personal saviour. 3. Go out and pester everyone else about it. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/9 "2001-04-18T00:47:00Z")
Listen up, you right-winghanded conspiratorial oppressors! Damn right it’s a choice and it is OURS TO MAKE! I suppose you think we should collaborate in our own degradation by using the hand that has the fingernails where the touchpads belong. Sure, I can scratch out something vaguely resembling writing by dragging a pen along BEHIND my hand like the tail of a demoralized dog, but WHY SHOULD I? You know that the only reason you are “right-handed” is that you were too weak to resist when they imposed their state-sanctioned HANDSHAKE of the DEXTROIARCHY and said that you looked “all RIGHT”…yes, we know what you really do with that hand and why you were too embarrassed to stand up for the one that was LEFT UNSULLIED!!! You fool…don’t you realize that that’s how they indoctrinated them, too??? Come out of the pocket! Come out from behind your back! You know you have something LEFT and you have the authority (no, not the “right”) to grasp and take hold and enclose within your leftward palm the progressive faith in what remains…what endures…what is LEFT after the self-declared RIGHT that thinks it is always RIGHT and claims that it has the RIGHT to define everything has drawn unto itself all the stooges and mindless self-abnegating followers and noncreative folk and linear thinking automatons and LEFT behind only those of us with minds and souls and opposable thumbs that are useful for something besides hitching a ride. Ahunter3 “There’s a reason the heart is on the left” ---
**Author:** ![south333](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@south333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/south333)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/10 "2001-04-18T01:42:38Z")
What’s wrong with being a “lefty”? After all, we are the more creative bunch :). Besides, just look who is/was a lefty: Bruce Willis, Bill Gates, JFK Jr, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Daniel R. Desjardins, Alan Greenspan, Ross Perot, John Mac Enroe, Tim Allen, Paul Simon, William Perry, Deion Sanders, Sting, david Bowie, Jimmy Connors, Walter Koenig, Jimi Hendrix, Daniel Davis and others. So HAHA 😉 Its good to be a lefty 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/11 "2001-04-18T02:06:42Z")
Well, if this is a takeoff on the “is being homosexual a choice?” thread, then the OP’s a real hoot. 😃 If, however, it’s meant as a serious debate topic, then I would put forward as Exhibit A my youngest brother, who quite simply has always been left-handed. Nothing to discuss, no “choice” was made. That’s just the way he was born. Doing a quick Google tour, I don’t see anything that suggests that someone can “choose” to be left-handed, unless you’re talking about “ambidextrous”, which is where you “choose” to learn to use both hands to write, tie your shoes, feed yourself, etc. Everything I’ve seen so far says it’s either genetic, or possibly the result of a stressful birth, or “other”, but I don’t see any suggestions that it’s a matter of choice. [http://www.education.eth.net/enrich/hyew/left\_handed.htm](http://www.education.eth.net/enrich/hyew/left_handed.htm) > [@](#): > > Various scientific studies in this area have been made to pinpoint the reason for some people having a predisposition towards using their left hands. Genetics is believed to have a significant part to play in determining a person’s preference for use of his hands. However genetics is not the only cause of left handedness and scientists believe in the existence of certain non-inherent causes too. [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1684/lefthand.html](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1684/lefthand.html) > [@](#): > > Many scientists believe that handedness is genetic. According to this theory, left-handedness is a recessive gene, and right-handedness is dominant. This would explain why left-handedness occurs more frequently in a family where there is a background of left-handedness. Our maternal grandfather was left-handed, too. > [@](#): > > One theory explaining left-handedness is that too much testosterone in a developing fetus slows the rate of growth in the left brain. (Keep in mind that it is usually the left brain that controls the right hand) This would mean the child has more of a chance to develop a dominance in the right-brain, and therefore be left-handed. > [@](#): > > Damage to the brain, an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain, and a difficult birth are thought to cause left-handedness. This theory has been accepted by many, as the number of lefties who fall under these categories is surprisingly high. Dunno for sure, I’d have to ask my mom, but I think so. And no, he’s not retarded, and he’s not a twin (if you read the whole linked article.) 🙂 So, is the OP intending to draw parallels between left-handedness and homosexuality? Or is it a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/12 "2001-04-18T02:13:47Z")
**AHunter3,** Don’t try to justify your alternative lifestyle choice to me! If you want to continue to live recklessly you’ll suffer the consequences in the future. **south333** _WHOOSH!_ **Duck Duck Goose** said: > [@](#): > > my youngest brother, who quite simply has always been left-handed. Nothing to discuss, no “choice” was made. That’s just the way he was born. Of course, that’s exactly what he (and all the lefties) want you to think. Has a left-handed gene been found? Didn’t think so, that means he made the choice to be left-handed. **IF IT’S NOT RIGHT, IT MUST BE WRONG!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/13 "2001-04-18T02:21:34Z")
Actually there is a left handed gene found. It is thought to have evolved from the ancient egyptian pinch hitters. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/14 "2001-04-18T02:34:11Z")
LMAO! ---
**Author:** ![anyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19b73/32.png) [@anyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/15 "2001-04-18T02:53:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **(snip) I would put forward as Exhibit A my youngest brother, who quite simply has always been left-handed. Nothing to discuss, no “choice” was made. That’s just the way he was born.** CAST HIM OUT OF THY FAMILY FOR HE HATH SINNED! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASPHEMER!!! :mad: With Tender love and Godly joy, anyi ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/16 "2001-04-18T04:18:48Z")
It’s only a choice if you use your left hand to eat broccoli. Al. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/17 "2001-04-18T06:10:18Z")
Well, it’s a choice for me… I’m ambidextrous (bidextrous?) GD&R ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/18 "2001-04-18T06:56:25Z")
Those lefthanders and their sinister plots to recruit our children disgust me. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/19 "2001-04-18T07:25:06Z")
I think the best thing to do is look at this rationally. Jesus Christ sits on the _right_ of God. The Latin word for “left” is used today as the word _sinister_. In many novels, the true villians are either left-handed or seem to have something wrong with their left side. (See The Scarlet Letter) These three points are _not_ coincidences! It is a choice, and it’s the Right-Handed Citizens of America’s job to change their minds back! ---
**Author:** ![scampering\_gremlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@scampering\_gremlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scampering_gremlin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/20 "2001-04-18T07:27:28Z")
There’s a fair amount of controversy in scientific circles over some aspects of left-handedness. Among the points where most researchers agree: \*A significant percentage of left-handed people have different brain organization from right-handed people, specifically with respect to language and motor skills. \*Left-handedness tends to run in families. \*Left-handedness exists in nonhuman primate species. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?SUBMIT=y](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?SUBMIT=y) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315.md?page=2)