alt Hacker NewsSo why are us southpaws a rarity? The article and the linked research paper both point to bipedalism and bigger brains as the cause, and the paper vaguely seems to hint at selective pressures leading to the right hand getting favoured by the majority of the population, but why?
The question from the headline is excellent, if only it was actually answered.
Replies
scythe • yesterday at 4:38 PM
Here's my five minute lunchtime hypothesis: it's because the heart is on the left. As human behavior demanded increasing precision from the hands, being a little farther from the heartbeat was a slight advantage.
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nephihaha • yesterday at 5:53 PM
I remember reading that there is evidence that Neanderthals tended to be left handed. Someone else might be able to confirm/debunk this.
I would think right-handedness is largely reinforced through learning gross motor skills as an infant. If you always use your right, your brain optimises for that.
I wonder whether something simple like being allowed to select and use an object with either hand rather than having it offered to your right hand retains ambidextrous by the time handedness became fixed in the brain around age 4-6.