I often wonder whether the fact that I am left handed has had some impact upon the sense that I tend to be a bit iconoclastic. I have been used to the idea that I am in the 10% minority for a long time…that isn’t very important to me… I’ve gotten used to, and at times found that examining the etymologies of words related (if only tangentially) to handedness fascinating. Dexter (dexterous) versus Sinister (self evident…). There is also the plethora of words, ideas, and customs related to the word ‘right’…that is, a simple justification for the good, for what is correct, for what is…right!
In any case, this link to the Wall Street Journal contains some information related to some deeper studies into the fact that begun right or left hand intrinsically influences how we see, and deal with reality.
This is yet another one of those ideas worth thinking about if only because most of us take it for granted…
How Right and Left Shape Right and Wrong
http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/05/06/how-right-and-left-shape-right-and-wrong
“The wise man’s heart is at his right hand,” says Ecclesiastes, “but the fool’s heart is at his left.” Islamic law says that Muslims should use their right hands alone for eating and drinking, because Satan uses his left.
We may think that the preference for “right” over “left” is purely cultural, but, in fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that it is shaped by our bodily experience. Experiments find that right-handed people—and something like 90% of the population is right-handed—unconsciously prefer people and objects placed to their right; meanwhile, left-handers prefer people and things to their left.
