Left-handed people, unite! We are the best.

by Nick Doerr { Dec 11th 2006 at 12:00PM }

You know it's true, oh right-handed fools of majority rule! You try to make us conform with your right-handed scissors, can openers, refridgerator doors, keyboards, coffee mugs, pencils, pens, paper, the written language of English (seriously! Lefties have to deal with all that smudging as we write), pillows, and Nintendo DS's (it's a joke... some games let you change controls, but seriously... come on), but now the joke's on you! We may die quite a few years sooner than you, historically, but at least we're better while we last.

This article over at Howstuffworks talks about the quick-thinking lefties possess that righties may lack and it's ringing pretty true to my personal experiences. I am better at driving and talking on the phone at the same time than my right-handed buddies (even with a stick shift! Go figure). My jet piloting skills are top notch, last I checked (question: can the righties sense sarcasm as well as lefties?). Most of the legendary guitarists? Left-handed. Legendary geniuses? Lefty. I think the mythical David Hasselhoff is left-handed... but he did go to my elementary school, so perhaps I'm confused.

Basically, left-handed people may be more prone to bi-hemisperhal processing abilities; that is, we can compute multiple stimuli faster than right-handed people, who tend to process in one hemisphere and then report to the other. The article does a much better job explaining, so check it out. It's an incredibly fascinating read, regardless of your handed-ness. What's this got to do with gaming? Simple: left-handed people will frag righties more often. Oh, you can't see my wry grin. But I'm grinning. And it's wry.

Tags: left-handed, Playstation 3, Playstation3, PS3, right-handed, video games, VideoGames

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

neonDog @ Dec 11th 2006 5:43PM

ok this seriously is quite off-topic...no?

Microdot @ Dec 11th 2006 1:43PM

havent thought about this in a long time. i actually started out life left handed. i was left handed up until around the 3rd grade when i shattered my ulna and radius on my left arm. had all sorts of wonderful surgery, pins, plates, rods, etc. but i quickly learned how to write and use my right hand primarily. now, almost 30 years later... its almost impossible for me to write left handed.

but... i get the best of both worlds. hahahaha

Andy @ Dec 11th 2006 2:06PM

What... does... this... have... to... do... with... ps3.......?

vox @ Dec 11th 2006 3:01PM

"2. What... does... this... have... to... do... with... ps3.......?"

Ever hear the saying, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all?

Welll, that is what this post is about. No nice things to say about PS3? It's ok, just post some crap about left handed people.

Grindstone @ Dec 11th 2006 3:15PM

Andy, it was either this or more negative news about the PS3. I'd be happy with this if I were you.

Unfortunately, left handed people are more likely to die from a heart attack than right handers. Overuse of the muscle area associated with the left side of your chest. You're still awesome though.

Microdot @ Dec 11th 2006 4:35PM

"What... does... this... have... to... do... with... ps3.......?"

not a brain cell active in your head, is there?

lets see... maybe its meant for you to think. like for example... left handed controllers... analog sticks and buttons that dont cater to left handed people... etc... as eluded to in paragraph 1.

think. then type.

Scott Krueger @ Dec 11th 2006 5:06PM

My Left-handed buddy is an idiot.
Couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time.
So there goes that Theory.

Andy @ Dec 11th 2006 6:51PM

There are plenty of nice things to say about ps3. Unfortunately, none of it is news.

The same goes with bad things about the ps3, most of the bad stories I hear about the ps3, I hear somewhere else.

It's just that there really isn't any new news about the ps3 right now.

Tyler @ Dec 11th 2006 6:32PM

Quiet righty's dont try to take away our moment of glory. Don't you know? everything you read on the intarwebs is true, so it finally proves my point, Left>Right

Dahk @ Dec 11th 2006 7:12PM

Lol I'm a righty, but I think this articles awesome.

Of course, I don't believe in it, because I'd be more satisfied believing that Right-handed people who right-hand everything... should dominate the world!

And so in fact, i'd like to take doerrman on that challenge of frags!! Let your wry smiles run dry nickeyman.

DOHHHHP. I don't have a ps3 =(. Okay lefties who own a ps3. You win this time.

wasa @ Dec 11th 2006 8:12PM

guess they forgot about the adhd people who tend to process and multitask (once learned) better and faster than those without adhd

or the ambidextrous

from what doctors could tell when i was being tested for adhd, i use both hemi about 90% of the time

some other intresting facts that may only be related to myself
can recall sounds images touch and taste by simple focused thinking
dream in color and can also read in my dreams which is said to be impossible
oh and the sucky part, i can feel things like textures and pain in my dreams

definately an intresting study

cheers

Sin Adam @ Dec 11th 2006 8:25PM

Righties! Unite!! Let's frag 'em Lefties!

Female Gamer @ Dec 12th 2006 4:09AM

I beg to differ concerning the statement ' left-handed people will frag righties more often'. I just finished a frag match with my left handed friend in Half-Life. I won. I'm right handed.

eh? @ Dec 12th 2006 6:14AM

Hey Wasa! You're not alone, I do the same sorts of things in my dreams too! Woot! Feeling textures in my dreams I actually think is pretty cool, though lucky for me I don't recall having felt pain any any dreams (knock on wood). What really sucks for me is how vividly I experience emotion in my dreams and, um, the fact that I have smell and taste in some dreams.....(like if I'm eating a plate of spaghetti in my dream I can taste and smell it, or if I walk by a garbage dump in my dream....yeah)

poseidon @ Dec 12th 2006 1:42PM

lefties rule!

wasa @ Dec 12th 2006 1:43PM

#14 ya never really thought about it, but i don't think i've ever eaten anything in a dream before
never noticed smells in my dreams though
emotions where only when i was younger and were simply fear from the barage of nightmares every night from about 4-12

cheers