Does Being a Lefty Affect Health, Creativity — and Sexuality?
This newer concept of developmental instability has spawned new studies, writes Lalumière. Other research has shown that left-handed people have fewer offspring, higher numbers of spontaneous abortion, lower birthweight, higher numbers of serious accidents, higher rates of serious disorders — and a generally shorter lifespan. Left-handed people have been shown to have more disorders involving the nervous system, autism, stuttering, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. They also tend to have some minor physical anomalies — like low-set ears and mismatched fingers, Lalumière points out in his study. Says Satz, “Lefties throughout the decades, throughout the millennia, have always been given a bad rap. Being left-handed has always been in the spotlight as a harbinger of something terrible.” Left-handed people are no more likely to have immune disorders, dyslexia (or any other learning disability), driving accidents, homosexuality, breast cancer — or creativi
