Comments on: Why are so many Presidents left-handed?

By: ian k pennack

ian k pennack — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:34:05 +0000

Here is a new theory concerning Left-handedness. It has nothing in common with all previous theories, but explains the research phenomena in a different light. Left-handed males were the evolutionary formulators of the Hominid lineage via speciation. http://WWW.cerebralspeciation.com
This is a Yahoo site, not indexed to google. Ian K Pennack.

By: Don Don Bransford

Don Don Bransford — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:17:54 +0000

I wonder if there isn’t something more sinister going on here. Could it be that these lefties are doplegangers planted by extraterestians as Mauchuranian Candidates? Only joking but wouldn’t it be a great plot for a scifi movie?

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:00:33 +0000

Paul Ekman has spent his life studying emotions too. He is a highly regarded and much cited researcher.

By: Erika Price

Erika Price — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:01:38 +0000

To my knowledge, most of the current psychological research on lying indicates that visual cues are poorer indicators of lying than the content of the lie itself. A liar uses sparser details, describes in a less personal way (less use of "I" and subjective feeling words) and gives shorter answers. Apparently we have a good instinct for detecting the missing details in a lie- but only when we are not distracted by also watching the liar and looking for visual cues (which tend to be meaningless). Two good books that discuss the subject are Telling Lies by Paul Ekman and Quirkology by Richard Wiseman.

By: Mindy Carney

Mindy Carney — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:38:42 +0000

Katha, I’m curious where you got your information. I’ve heard the opposite - that most people, when formulating a lie, tend to look down and toward the left. I’m assuming “most people” would include right-handers, but I haven’t heard it broken down by handedness. What are your sources for this?

By: Katha Sheehan

Katha Sheehan — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Expect more lefties for President so long as TV debate is the predominant way of presenting one’s case.

When a right-handed person is recalling a truth, they gaze leftward. When fabricating or imagining something, they gaze right. Lefties are reversed, but we don’t notice, and we attribute the opposite body language to them.

Therefore, Lefties can lie more convincingly to us on TV!

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:27:49 +0000

I’d bet that Gene is a righty.

By: Gene

Gene — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:08:43 +0000

Maybe the nuns were right and left handedness is a sign of the devil or devious lack of conscience.
That would explain the amount of presidents and lawyers with this trait.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:48:32 +0000

Here’s an excerpt from CBC News on the prevalence of left-handed lawyers:

A psychology professor who studies handedness, Elias says that while it is unusual to see this many lefties becoming president, the key may be found in the initial careers that spawned their political lives.

“Lefthanders specialize in areas like architecture, art, engineering, acting, some fields of medicine and law,” says Elias. “It’s not that we tend to elect left-handed politicians, but we tend to elect lawyers. Clinton, Ford, Truman were all lawyers and Hoover was an engineer. These are all fields where you find left-handers. Reagan was an actor, also a field that attracts left-handers.” . . .

Elias says because the right side of the brain tends to control the left side of the body it means lefties are often better at visual arts, language and spatial co-ordination, which are attributes found more often in the brain’s right lobes.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:43:48 +0000

Brittany: Thanks for the update. If you find any new research either way, I’d like to see it.

I’ve also noticed quite a few left-handed lawyers (I’m a lawyer and I’m left-handed). I’ve also wondered about the apparent correlation. I also wonder whether my perception is skewed, because I do tend notice lefties (more than righties) at depositions and trials. For some reason, they stand out to me, even though I’m not trying to notice them.