In article <127fiona.1 at chiron.wits.ac.za>, 127fiona at chiron.wits.ac.za (Ms
Fiona Claire Baker) wrote:
> Are there any physiological advantages to left handedness?
I can't give you a reference, but I've heard that left-handed major league
hitters hit for higher batting averages than right handers, with a
statistically significant difference. This cannot be explained by
left-handers having a shorter run to first base, since the lefthanded
hitters who also throw left have higher averages than those who throw
right.
There has been speculation that men have a greater degree of cerebral
specialization than women, leading to better spatial skills (which would
help in hunting and fighting) possibly at the cost of language skills
(because language is more sharply limited to one hemisphere). We don't
know about the language dominance of those lefthanded hitters, but if some
of them are BLTL, left-eye dominant and have left hemisphere language (in
other words, language on the opposite side from spatial/motor
specialization), that might tend to explain the difference.
--
Jerry
"To live outside the law you must be honest"-Bob Dylan
