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✋ 4 Questions about Lefties in Honor of International Left-Hander's Day
August 13th is International Left-Hander's Day. So here at Trivia Today, we're celebrating the holiday the only way we know how. Try your luck and see how you do on these lefty trivia questions...
✋ According to Psychology Professor Robin Nusslock, Lefties Are Excluded From a Lot of What?
Studies are generally designed to assess how most people think and behave. So that means it would be only natural that, if a group of people had brains that tended to be wired differently from the majority of people, they would be excluded from studies. Well, according to Robin Nusslock, a psychology professor at Northwestern University, it's exactly this logic that's been getting lefties kicked out of studies for years. The Wall Street Journal referenced her when reporting that "One reason that not more is known about lefties is that many studies of how the brain works prohibit left-handers from participating because their brain wiring is known to be different." So next time someone's telling you about a study regarding human behavior, keep in mind there's a good chance it's really just a study about how righties behave. As for the lefties, who knows what they're thinking?
✋ The Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland has Left-Handed Whats as a Defense Measure?
We all know the world is built for righties. Everything ranging from cars to scissors to even spiral staircases. Yup, the spiral staircase was designed to give the person defending his castle a tactical advantage against anyone storming said castle. If you were backing up the staircase or going down one (the two positions most likely to be assumed by someone defending their castle), then you could put out your left arm to balance yourself and attack with your right.
It's brilliant! Well, if you're right-handed. But the Kerr family in Scotland came from a long line of lefties, and so when it came time to set up the spiral staircases in their castle, they decided convention be damned and flipped them around.
✋ What Hopping Animals May Be Predominantly Lefties?
Different species have different breakdowns of what percentage of them are righties or lefties, some skewing towards more balanced representation than us humans. But at least one species may be our mirror opposite: The kangaroo. According to an article in The Telegraph, a study of 38 Eastern gray kangaroos found "a natural preference for their left hands when performing particular actions - grooming the nose, picking a leaf, or bending a tree branch, for example." And you know that means they're lefties, because if you're going to use your dominant hand for one thing, it's definitely gotta be picking your nose.
✋ Of the Last Four US Presidents, Who Is the Only One That Was Right-Handed?
Over the years, a disproportionate number of lefties have resided in the West Wing. In fact, of the last five presidents, the only righty in the bunch was George W. Bush. Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr. and Barack Obama were all lefties, and Reagan was born lefty, but was taught from an early age to use his right hand as many lefties are. We guess it's not a huge surprise though that lefties have done so well for themselves in elections, history is full of genius lefties. From Leonardo Da Vinci to Napoleon to Jimi Hendrix to Bill Gates, some of history's biggest success stories are southpaws.
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August 13th is International Left-Hander's Day. So here at Trivia Today, we're celebrating the holiday the only way we know how. Try your luck and see how you do on these lefty trivia questions...
✋ According to Psychology Professor Robin Nusslock, Lefties Are Excluded From a Lot of What?
Studies are generally designed to assess how most people think and behave. So that means it would be only natural that, if a group of people had brains that tended to be wired differently from the majority of people, they would be excluded from studies. Well, according to Robin Nusslock, a psychology professor at Northwestern University, it's exactly this logic that's been getting lefties kicked out of studies for years. The Wall Street Journal referenced her when reporting that "One reason that not more is known about lefties is that many studies of how the brain works prohibit left-handers from participating because their brain wiring is known to be different." So next time someone's telling you about a study regarding human behavior, keep in mind there's a good chance it's really just a study about how righties behave. As for the lefties, who knows what they're thinking?
✋ The Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland has Left-Handed Whats as a Defense Measure?
We all know the world is built for righties. Everything ranging from cars to scissors to even spiral staircases. Yup, the spiral staircase was designed to give the person defending his castle a tactical advantage against anyone storming said castle. If you were backing up the staircase or going down one (the two positions most likely to be assumed by someone defending their castle), then you could put out your left arm to balance yourself and attack with your right.
It's brilliant! Well, if you're right-handed. But the Kerr family in Scotland came from a long line of lefties, and so when it came time to set up the spiral staircases in their castle, they decided convention be damned and flipped them around.
✋ What Hopping Animals May Be Predominantly Lefties?
Different species have different breakdowns of what percentage of them are righties or lefties, some skewing towards more balanced representation than us humans. But at least one species may be our mirror opposite: The kangaroo. According to an article in The Telegraph, a study of 38 Eastern gray kangaroos found "a natural preference for their left hands when performing particular actions - grooming the nose, picking a leaf, or bending a tree branch, for example." And you know that means they're lefties, because if you're going to use your dominant hand for one thing, it's definitely gotta be picking your nose.
✋ Of the Last Four US Presidents, Who Is the Only One That Was Right-Handed?
Over the years, a disproportionate number of lefties have resided in the West Wing. In fact, of the last five presidents, the only righty in the bunch was George W. Bush. Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr. and Barack Obama were all lefties, and Reagan was born lefty, but was taught from an early age to use his right hand as many lefties are. We guess it's not a huge surprise though that lefties have done so well for themselves in elections, history is full of genius lefties. From Leonardo Da Vinci to Napoleon to Jimi Hendrix to Bill Gates, some of history's biggest success stories are southpaws.
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