Are Left-handed People More Creative Than Right-handed Ones?

One side of the body always prevails the other side of the human body. For example the right eye always ses better than the left eye or right ear always hears better than the left one or vice versa. Approximately 40% of the people hear better from the left ear, 30% see better from the left eye, 20% of the people predominantly walk on the left foot and 10% of people predominantly use their left hand.

Dr. Roger W. Sperry, from the California Institute of Technology, won the Nobel Prize in 1981 by revealing that the two hemispheres of the brain are not exactly duplicates but that the two perform different tasks. Normally, thoughts alternate between the two hemispheres of the brain and complement each other. The left brain is normally more analytical and logical and verbal abilities are found here. Right brain is more artistic and holistic. The left brain is the dominant one and it always makes the final decision. Commands travel between the right and the left side of the brain with the help of corpus callosum. According to the latest discoveries, the corpus callosum of left-handed people is larger than that of right-handed people. 

Neurologists distinguish left-handed and right-handed people according to their preference to use which eye, ear, hand and foot. The proportion of those who are completely right-handed, in other words people aiming with a rifle with their right eye, put the phone to their right ear to speak, throwing the ball with their right hand, and kicking the boxes with their right foot, is lower than the proportion of those who consider themselves right-handed. The proportion of complete right-handed people in the world is approximately 88%. The rate of those who consider themselves right-handed is 92%. 

Left-handed and right-handed people are different even in the diseases to which they are susceptible. Left-handed people are more prone to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Right-handed people, on the other hand, have a lower incidence of these diseases, but they are more prone to heart attacks and vascular diseases.

Throughout history, the rate of left-handed artists is higher. Great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt are examples. While 8 to 10% of the average population is left-handed, the proportion of left-handed people in the distribution in art schools was around 30-40%. Beside this, high percentage of homosexual people are left-handed. Moreover, homosexual and left-handed people are prone to use their both hands. One of the biggest geniuses of the history that is Leonardo da Vinci, allegedly was a homosexual and it is known that he could use both hands and write backwards. This indicates that his brain was a mixed dominant one.

According to psychologist Chris McManus of London UCL University, left-handed people are more skilled in some respects but they can be disadvantaged in others. McManus says the following on the subject:” If you are left-handed, your brain is organized differently from the normal ones and this gives you abilities that others don't have. “

Throughout history, there have been people who associate left-handedness with disorders such as dyslexia and autism, as well as those who say that people who do creative jobs such as architecture and music are more likely to be left-handed. Every person is born with some abilities encoded into their genes and these abilities take shape in their brain. Albeit how to use these abilities and blend their thoughts and experiences to build their future is under each person's own control. As Charles Darwin said: “I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work; and I still think there is an eminently important difference.”