Why social factors mean just one in 10 people are left-handed

[Jazzy]

Scientists have long been baffled about why just one in ten people are left-handed.



But the answer may be all to do with social behaviour, researchers have claimed.



The low number of people who are left-handed has come about because of high-levels of human cooperation, Northwestern University researchers claimed.



In a highly competitive society, there would be a much closer match of right and left-handed people, Sci Guru reported.



In basketball, in stark contrast to wider society, over half of top players are left-handed.



Which hand we used is partly determined by genetics – and partly by social factors.



Historically because there was a need to share tools, more people were left-handed.



Professor Daniel Abrams and his student Mark Panaggio found that if societies were perfectly competitive, everyone would use the same hand.



‘The more social the animal - where cooperation is highly valued - the more the general population will trend toward one side,’ Professor Daniel Abrams said, Sci Guru reported.



‘The most important factor for an efficient society is a high degree of cooperation. In humans, this has resulted in a right-handed majority.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ded-make-better-basketball.html#ixzz1tFx3sEH0



Question: Are you left-handed?

 

[Raven]

I'm both. Ambidextrious I think it is called.

 

[DrLeftover]

for more lefthanded facts, stuff, nonsense, urban legends, and whatever else you may like....





http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/