The Left-Hander Syndrome

[Buddy]

Hey Bud, you may have seen this thread, but if not there's a bunch of related material on circumcision posted there:
Bogus Evidence That Male Circumcision Prevents HIV Spread

One of the things mentioned in one of the articles that stayed with me is how some think circumcision isn't so bad because infants fall asleep afterward. But it's not that they fall asleep, it's that they pass out from the overwhelming pain. Jeeze what a welcome to the world.

I hadn't seen that particular thread, so thanks! I have even read that some doctors have "assured" attending nurses and parents that the infant doesn't feel anything! Talk about deep denial of evidence right in front of one's eyes!

 

[Laura]

What I find interesting is that women seem to need to go within to bring forth the creativity, but men need to stay focused on the real world to manifest creativity. There is something very deep there.

 

[sgspencer]

I come from a family where my mother and siblings were 4 altogether, along with spouses only 1 was left-handed, thats 1 out of 8 all the rest were right-handed...normal statistics...then...

Of the grandchildren, which I am the oldest, are 7 complete lefties out of 9 children, so only 2 right-handers. We break the mold...could never figure that one out... now that the grandchildren are starting to come we are all very curious if they will continue the left-handed abnormality or go back to the statistical normal of right-handedness, but they are still too young...we will see.

I would love to say that this abnormality meant something cool in our lives...but none of us are much alike and no one has the same outlook on life...mostly a function of parents and environment.

So I always took the left-handed and right-handed differences with a grain of salt. I guess there is some influence but in a right-handed world it is hard to tell what it is.

 

[iloveyoghurt]

Hi all,

I am left-handed and have noticed the difference all my life. For one, although not an introvert as such, I communicate somehow, differently to right-handers... always noticed it. Much of my effort/energy/awareness goes toward 'sensing' rather than talking, is the best way I can describe it. As an adult now, with developed self-awareness from the years, I can see that I get overwhelmed with linear chatter, and it seems to be because I am 'picking up' on other stuff - whether it's in the environment (a cafe or something), or facial expressions of my companion, or subtle emotional tones, I get kinda dizzy keeping up with all that's going on for me because my brain is so spatial.

It is a great relief when I meet other left-handers as I can pick-up the similarity of 'vibe' straight away. My stepfather is left-handed, and immediately I could see what was going on with him, and observe his alternative mode, as well as the internal frustration he seemed to experience when communicating to right-handers - noting that, it wasn't his intention to express this frustration consciously.

One way that I've put it to test is, when I play billiards, or Uno (card game), (both I reckon are right-brain activities and thus, more my domain), I play easily, and generally win over a right-handed person. When I play with a lefty though, it's more challenging - as well as the style is just different. I am apparently a "natural" at golf too (the one or two times I've had a hit), another (probably) right-brained activity.

I have researched as much as possible the left-handed syndrome, and haven't found anything much*. I was positively wrapped to find a good few pages touching on the subject in the Wave Series! (book 3 I think?). I have always wondered about the historical and archaic significance of lefties - were we all right-brained when once we didn't use language as we know it today? There seems to me to be some link between the right-brain and communication that is more of a psychic nature.

It's also my hypothesis that, lefties die early because of the strain on the brain, being in a right-handed world. If I "tune-in", I can really feel this strain. It's kind of like a constricting feeling, where thoughts and concepts in communication are forced to be bounded, narrowed and constrained. whereas, my brain seems to prefer to use a more abstract, unbounded, and expansive method. Hence my relief when talking with my lefty friends. It is also highly attuned to shapes and picture symbols as well - even though language is technically symbols. Maybe I should try taking up hieroglyphics or a language from Asia :)

*(anyone interested in researching this would probably be left-handed and dead early, or just doesn't have the command of language necessary to see the process through!)

 

[vinny]

What I find interesting is that women seem to need to go within to bring forth the creativity, but men need to stay focused on the real world to manifest creativity. There is something very deep there.

that seems to be so with me. I seem far better able to tap into the 'creative flow', when I am concentrating on a real-world problem, focussing on an external system / situation etc, with a particular goal in mind that the situation demands, and putting together a solution, or building / coding / writing something that directly addresses it. BUT I do this, using something maybe a little similar to the thought processes below while I think round the possibilities and the strategy (I'm left-handed too) - it doesn't work verbally, more 'spacially/visually':

Hi all,

I am left-handed and have noticed the difference all my life. For one, although not an introvert as such, I communicate somehow, differently to right-handers... always noticed it. Much of my effort/energy/awareness goes toward 'sensing' rather than talking, is the best way I can describe it. As an adult now, with developed self-awareness from the years, I can see that I get overwhelmed with linear chatter, and it seems to be because I am 'picking up' on other stuff - whether it's in the environment (a cafe or something), or facial expressions of my companion, or subtle emotional tones, I get kinda dizzy keeping up with all that's going on for me because my brain is so spatial.

[...]

One way that I've put it to test is, when I play billiards, or Uno (card game), (both I reckon are right-brain activities and thus, more my domain), I play easily, and generally win over a right-handed person. When I play with a lefty though, it's more challenging - as well as the style is just different. I am apparently a "natural" at golf too (the one or two times I've had a hit), another (probably) right-brained activity.

I have researched as much as possible the left-handed syndrome, and haven't found anything much*. I was positively wrapped to find a good few pages touching on the subject in the Wave Series! (book 3 I think?). I have always wondered about the historical and archaic significance of lefties - were we all right-brained when once we didn't use language as we know it today? There seems to me to be some link between the right-brain and communication that is more of a psychic nature.

It's also my hypothesis that, lefties die early because of the strain on the brain, being in a right-handed world. If I "tune-in", I can really feel this strain. It's kind of like a constricting feeling, where thoughts and concepts in communication are forced to be bounded, narrowed and constrained. whereas, my brain seems to prefer to use a more abstract, unbounded, and expansive method. Hence my relief when talking with my lefty friends. It is also highly attuned to shapes and picture symbols as well - even though language is technically symbols. Maybe I should try taking up hieroglyphics or a language from Asia :)

My slightly different take would be that being left-handed has certain advantages (that aren't necessarily automatic), in that an extra 'inventiveness' is needed from an early age, to deal with things in a right-hand dominated environment, and that this becomes part of one's 'basic training' in dealing with the challenges of life. I've also discovered that my predator's mind is incredibly 'inventive', so it doesn't always work to your advantage!

 

[iloveyoghurt]

Yes, I agree with this Nomad,

While I can see that there are "advantages", seeing as we (lefties) would have to use both sides, and thereby exercise 1) the right hemisphere and 2) building a more fluid and solid network between the hemispheres. What I think though is that it comes at a price, putting strain on the brain,because it takes up a lot more energy to compute the right-handed world by decoding, as well as the other way, translating our natural tendency to match the right-hand world. This is an explanation that I've come up with for the fact that lefties have shorter lives, as well as have more illnesses, such as cancer (stress?).

I have no comment to make on your predator's mind being incredibly 'inventive'!! ;D


While I'm here I may as well add my thoughts on the creative inner/outer parallel topic here. My thoughts to date are that, via experiencing our period (or whatever you call it in USA), we females learn very early that we must submit (our egos) to nature - when you got it bad, you just have to go through it and (hopefully) resurrect out the other side! My idea is that, as a kind-of process of initiation, our ego is forced into submission and into an inner journey, whereby after, the soul emerges re-birthed with a 'purer' creative vision. Nature finds us. On the other hand, men, need to pursue, hunt/challenge/duel with nature, that they might through this experience, go through the same initiation and have their ego submitted by nature via their 'outer' journey, and thus, hopefully reach the 'creative' force within their soul (that is, when the ego is tamed and leashed).

Hard to find words to describe what I mean, these ideas living so long in my head -probably the right side mainly!

 

[sgspencer]

I am left-handed and have noticed the difference all my life. For one, although not an introvert as such, I communicate somehow, differently to right-handers... always noticed it. Much of my effort/energy/awareness goes toward 'sensing' rather than talking, is the best way I can describe it. As an adult now, with developed self-awareness from the years, I can see that I get overwhelmed with linear chatter, and it seems to be because I am 'picking up' on other stuff - whether it's in the environment (a cafe or something), or facial expressions of my companion, or subtle emotional tones, I get kinda dizzy keeping up with all that's going on for me because my brain is so spatial.

I have always noticed in communications with others that I have a sensing component to my interaction...although I never attributed this to being a lefty, always thought everyone had that component.

I am also not a big talker and never have been as talking always seemed like so much work for so little return. I thought when I was a kid that I could just shoot my thoughts at people and converse that way. Pretty sure people just looked at me weird...lol.

Even now when I am in conversations with people I become overwhelmed with words very quickly and will usually simply shutdown my input apparatus. I try to be nice to people in this instance because they are usually talking for 3 or 4 minutes before they stop and ask if I understood, when in reality whatever energy I felt that I didn't like shut my input down a while ago...and then I say can you continue from a point 3 minutes ago when I was last paying attention. I don't always know why this happens...sometimes I think it is a protective measure for my own energy...sometimes I just think I have a hard time focusing.

Maybe it's cause I am lefty...who knows. :)

 

[iloveyoghurt]

Hey hey!

That's kinda great for me to hear that...... not everyone has the ability to (self)reflect on these things and notice stuff about their being, so it's not easy to compare notes with others. Yay!

Yes a - sensing component - that's a perfect way to describe it.

When I was young, I too "thought when I was a kid that I could just shoot my thoughts at people and converse that way". I told a counselor once them that I could "read" what people are thinking, that I "knew". He told me that it's impossible to read peoples' minds and that I must be crazy :)

I was young, I didn't have the vocabulary to express/describe what I meant - I didn't try shooting my thoughts at him!!


Thanks for your input, great to hear sgspencer :)

 

[Buddy]

Even now when I am in conversations with people I become overwhelmed with words very quickly and will usually simply shutdown my input apparatus. I try to be nice to people in this instance because they are usually talking for 3 or 4 minutes before they stop and ask if I understood, when in reality whatever energy I felt that I didn't like shut my input down a while ago...and then I say can you continue from a point 3 minutes ago when I was last paying attention. I don't always know why this happens...sometimes I think it is a protective measure for my own energy...sometimes I just think I have a hard time focusing.

I think it's a natural reaction to shut down like that. There are many reasons people cannot or refuse to balance conversation - to keep it interesting for both parties. From my experience, your energy is being drained from you or a part of your awareness shuts down from excruciating boredom. Or both. But not neither. :D

 

[EmeraldHope]

quote from iloveyoghurt

I am left-handed and have noticed the difference all my life. For one, although not an introvert as such, I communicate somehow, differently to right-handers... always noticed it. Much of my effort/energy/awareness goes toward 'sensing' rather than talking, is the best way I can describe it. As an adult now, with developed self-awareness from the years, I can see that I get overwhelmed with linear chatter, and it seems to be because I am 'picking up' on other stuff - whether it's in the environment (a cafe or something), or facial expressions of my companion, or subtle emotional tones, I get kinda dizzy keeping up with all that's going on for me because my brain is so spatial.

I also can identify with this statement. I am not left handed, but I would have been naturally if my grandmother had not kept taking things from my left hand and putting them into my right hand. I broke my right arm in the fourth grade and easily did all of my schoolwork with my left hand. It wasn't quite as neat ,but it wasn't difficult.

It is hard for me to write, especially concerning deep or complicated concepts, because I am inundated with many different angles of perception. I did not realize to what extent that affected me until I started to communicate here on the forum. Everyday speech or corporate email type communications are easy at this point, but I feel like a blundering idiot sometimes trying to write in here, lol.


Edit=Quotes

edited- spelling

 

[Keit]

What I find interesting is that women seem to need to go within to bring forth the creativity, but men need to stay focused on the real world to manifest creativity. There is something very deep there.

There is an article on SOTT that says the following:

A new study of Scottish older adults, reported in the April 2011 issue of Elsevier's Cortex, suggests that grey matter volume in the 'cerebellum' at the back of the brain predicts cognitive ability, and keeping those cerebellar networks active may be the key to keeping cognitive decline at bay. [...]

The most interesting finding from this study is that grey matter volume in the cerebellum predicts general intelligence. However, results differ for men and women, with men showing a stronger relationship between brain volume in the cerebellum and general intelligence.

And I had a thought that perhaps the bolded part that shows stronger connection between cerebellum function and greater cognitive ability may somehow be connected to Laura's above quote about men needing to stay focused on the reality to manifest creativity. The assumption of cerebellum assisting with staying focused on the reality or having proper cognitive functions may be seen in this study on Cerebellar dysfunction and schizophrenia. And schizophrenia is an example of extreme loss of connection with reality.

Postmortem and structural imaging studies suggest that patients with schizophrenia have disrupted cerebellar activity. It has been speculated that these abnormalities mediate disorganized thought processes and psychosis. [...]

Cerebellar dysfunction has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. For example, Andreasen et al. (1) suggested that patients with schizophrenia experience cerebellar dysmetria (or ataxia) of thought and that abnormal cerebellar function results in a mismatch between reality and perceived reality, leading to psychotic thinking.

But I wonder if this would apply to the case of 3 years boy without cerebellum.