2007-01-16 18:37:31 · 12 answers · asked by alison g 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Yes, lefties can expect to live shorter lives. They guy who said there was no basis for this is an idiot. As a left hander, I have to adjust to a right handed world every day of my life. This causes me to be more stressed, waste time making adjustments, and get frustrated. On the plus side, we are more creative, and make better lovers. We are actually 1 in 9, not 10%. In WWII, the German army actually made weapons specifically for the lefties.
2007-01-16 22:08:08 · answer #1 · answered by Winston S 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Another urban myth
Life expectancy of left-handers and right-handers are the same (see links below).
There was a controversial study done in 1980 by Halpern & Coren that suggested left-handed people had an average life expectancy of 9 years less than right-handed people. However, data was based on second-hand information: surveys from the next-of-kin of recently deceased persons asking about right/left handedness and age of death. They found left-handed average age of death was 66; right-handed average age was 75.
Unfortunately, this study keeps getting quoted even though more recent data has shown their hypothesis is not supported. Second hand survey data is not a sound methodology.
In addition, if a study reports a higher mortality rate (or any other "problem") in left-handers, then it's very important to look at the research design and how the data was analyzed. Simply checking the sample sizes will give a good indication of whether it was a "real" significant difference. If the sample sizes are large, and most studies have sample sizes of 1,000 or more, then there will be a "statistically" significant difference between groups (i.e.: Left versus Right) even if the amount of variance explained by the two groups is very small, which means there is no clinical significance. A statistical significant difference does not mean it has clinical or meaningful significance. Many statistical tests will give a significant difference only because of large sample sizes. Therefore, the measure of explained variance needs to be computed because it is unaffected by sample size.
More recent studies have disputed the notion that left-handed people die earlier. For example, see the study by Aggleton, Bland, Kentridge, & Neave in the British Medical Journal at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com for more information. In addition, for a discussion of the Halpern & Coren study, see the link: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/308/6925/408
2007-01-16 23:51:37 · answer #2 · answered by Basement Bob 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
On average right-handed people live about 10 years longer than left handed people. Left-handed people make up about 10% of the population and of that, about 10% of them have there internal organs reversed which can cause some problems.
Thats just stuff I learnt in different classes over the years.
2007-01-16 18:42:15 · answer #3 · answered by brat 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
yes. left handed people are tend to more accident prone than the right handed. about 10% more chances of being in an accident. because there are lot of object, machines that are invented that favor the right hand more than the left......im a lefty too.
2007-01-16 18:42:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'll tell you when I outlive you.
OMG!!
Brat_084 said 10% of lefties have their internal organs reversed.
I did not know that!!
I am a lefty and believe it or not - my internal organs are reversed.
(Situs Inversus)
YES!!
I am a living, breathing example of all of her studies.
2007-01-17 00:28:11 · answer #5 · answered by Sixth_Sense 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
being left handed or right handed is no factor in longevity. its not like smoking where it actually can have deleterious effects. what if u have blonde hair do u live shorter than a person with black (majority) hair? nahhhh these factors have no relations to the longjevity of a person.
2007-01-16 18:43:12 · answer #6 · answered by xsammon 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
obviously, it's a superstition. you cannot tell what comes next. even if you're a right or a left, you cannot escape death if it's already you're time. it's just your manner of living that will tell if you'll going to live long or not. "LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT".
2007-01-17 01:26:40 · answer #7 · answered by marcelino angelo (BUSY) 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no it is not true. me and most of my family is left-handed and my great grandma is still alive and she is 90 years old!!!
2007-01-18 15:04:17 · answer #8 · answered by Nicholas B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, its not true (because i'm a left handed person, joke!)
It's not true, it's only a superstition..
2007-01-16 21:58:09 · answer #9 · answered by chelli 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If that's true, then where does that leave ambidexterous people?
2007-01-16 18:45:27 · answer #10 · answered by AngryAmerican82 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋