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ORIGINAL: UtopianRanger

I wouldn't give up being a lefty for nothing.  ; }

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ORIGINAL: cuddleheart50

All of us lefties are special people. [:D]

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According to Kenneth Zucker, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Center for Addiction and Mental Health, homosexuals are more likely to be lefties than heterosexuals. Zucker analyzed data collected in 20 different studies over the past 50 years and discovered a correlation between left-handedness and homosexuality. The findings, reported in the Psychological Bulletin, indicate that lesbians have a 91 percent greater chance of being left-handed or ambidextrous than straight women, while gay men are 34 percent more likely than straight men to not be right-handed. While Zucker says the research provides empirical evidence that links homosexuality to left-handedness, he also adds that "we don't have a definitive answer as to why the relationship exists."

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While being left-handed may not increase any health risks, it may indeed affect brain function. Some researchers remain convinced that left-handed people are indeed wired differently. One study looking at more than 900 patients with Alzheimer's disease compared left-handers with right-handers who had the same degree of dementia, says study author Rachelle S. Doody, PhD, the Effie Marie Cain professor of neurology in Baylor College of Medicine's Alzheimer's Disease Research Program in Houston.

Her study closely screened for "true lefties" -- those who were born left-handed but had been taught to "write right." After matching them with people who had the same degree of dementia, the same education, and the same age, the researchers analyzed the disease progress in each group. While the disease "looked very similar," Doody tells WebMD, "we got the impression that it might have started at a younger age on average in people who were left-handed -- but progressed more slowly over time. So it may speak to some kind of vulnerability."

Left-handed people tend to distribute functions more widely throughout their brain, says Doody. "Strongly right-handed people, if a large part of their left language [part of the brain] is removed or damaged, really lose their language ability. Left-handed people (whose language function is located in the right [half of the brain]) will have some residual language function."

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Left-handed people are no more likely to have immune disorders, dyslexia (or any other learning disability), driving accidents, homosexuality, breast cancer -- or creativity, for that matter, Satz tells WebMD. "Being a leftie is not a marker for creativity. That's sort of nonsense. Creative geniuses have been left-handed and right-handed. Lefties in the population have basically the same level of [thinking] skills as right-handed people. They also live as long. Being left-handed has nothing to do with it."

Some 20 years ago, Satz was virtually alone in challenging the theory that too much fetal testosterone caused left-handedness and a number of other developmental problems. Since then, he and others have led numerous large studies disproving aspects of the theory, he says.

Many studies linking left-handedness with an assortment of characteristics are very often the result of "cultural bias," Satz says. Also, "too many studies are flawed, or small, or don't take into account people who have shifted to right-handedness." Very often, he says, a link with left-handedness is a "chance finding" in an ambitious researcher's database -- a finding that may be meaningless.

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The only other thing I take into account is who I sit next to at dinner. I don't trap myself with my left hand against a booth wall because I'll do nothing but ram my elbow all night long at dinner.

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ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross

Oh as an extra story that I got reminded by:  In 4th grade my sisters teacher tried to force her to become a righty and said all sorts of nasty things about lefties being evil.  My mothers fury came down on that teacher VERY HARD when she found out.

Interestingly enough as well, both of our parents are right handed and brown eyed and both my sister and I are green eyed lefties.  My sister married a brown eyed righty and has one blue eyed lefty son and one brown eyed righty son (who are both perfect).

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ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

I think people who are left-handed are sinister.

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http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20001101-000005.html

Read the article for the rebuttals there Marc2b.