POLL: Are you right-handed or left-handed (or ambidextrous)?

[eschrodinger]

@DrDeth

That is a nice thought, but Leftys are more aware of their handedness and are more likely to respond to this poll. And the poll numbers show that this is so.

It’s possible you are right, but your reasoning here is fallacious. You are begging the question – using the point you are trying to prove as evidence that you are right.

The poll numbers not matching up with prevalence in the population could have multiple explanations, including a combination of them.

Theoretically, it could be that there are more nonleft-handers on the dope, or just more of them in this poll because they are more interested in it, or a combination of those. You cannot tell the cause by looking at the numbers alone.

[DrDeth]

@eschrodinger

Theoretically, it could be that there are more nonleft-handers on the dope, or just more of them in this poll because they are more interested in it, or a combination of those. You cannot tell the cause by looking at the numbers alone.

“When you hear hoofbeats, assume horses, not zebras.”

[eschrodinger]

You still can’t prove it’s horses and not zebras by saying you heard hoofbeats.

[Tamerlane]

Fairly strongly left-handed - I cannot even block print with any degree of success with my right. But oddly enough at the dawn of my own personal pc era, which was in my twenties, I trained myself to use a right-handed mouse and have never deviated from that. Similarly with can-openers and the like - there was no Leftorium when I was growing up.

Am I particularly creative? Not particularly. Artistic? God, no - can’t carry a tune a millimeter, play an instrument or draw anything more complicated than a stick man (not even a good stick man at that - I can only aspire to XKCD’s heights). Crafty? I got a D in 8th grade wood shop and it was kind of a generous D at that. Unusually intelligent? Hell no. I’m usually intelligent . Which is to say I think I’m reasonably bright as these things go, but I’ve met a number of genuinely brilliant people in my life and am very, very aware that I’m nowhere close to those folks.

Maybe left-handedness is vaguely correlated with some traits, but if so I’m definitely an outlier. I’m staggeringly average in many respects, very modestly capable in a few and utter shit at a shockingly long and ever-growing list of things.

[thorny_locust]

@Tamerlane

and utter shit at a shockingly long and ever-growing list of things.

So is everybody else on the planet; including the ones who are remarkably good at some things.

Nobody’s good at everything; plus which, there are way more possibilities than any one person could possibly get good at.

[kayaker]

@eschrodinger

You still can’t prove it’s horses and not zebras by saying you heard hoofbeats

And sometimes zebras have lupus.

[BigT]

@DrDeth I would need a good argument for why your self-selection hypothesis is more likely than the more lefties hypothesis. They aren’t nearly as different in probability as encountering a horse vs. a zebra. It’s possible that the SDMB is more like living in some part of Africa where zebras are more common.

I would argue that the 174 voters suggests higher participation than usual, which should reduce the self-selection effect. The higher the percentage of the SDMB who responded, the closer we should get to the actual average.