Do left-handers die young?
Dear Cecil:What is the connection between handedness and death? I have heard that statistically lefties are more accident-prone and die earlier. I’m a lefty, and I’m getting scared. Does it work like smoking–if I quit now will my stats improve? Thank goodness the insurance companies don’t ask, but I’ll bet my life-insurance agent watched carefully as I signed my policy. — Dan Kaplan, Evanston, Illinois Cecil replies: I feel your pain, brother–I’m left-handed too. So were all the major candidates in the last two presidential elections, assuming your idea of major is Bush, Clinton, Dole, and Perot (though I suppose Dole’s war injury makes him a special case). Five of the last ten U.S. presidents have been left-handed, although lefties account for only 10 percent of the population. Obviously we have a gift for leadership. The only problem is a lot of us don’t live long enough to use it. At any rate that’s the thesis of psychologist Stanley Coren, the man largely responsible for changing
