Facts You Didn't Know About Lefties

Left handed men may make more money.

According to studies, left handed males who have gone to university earn 13% more than their right handed counterparts.

Oddly though the results are quite different for women, with lefties earning 5% less than women who are right handed.

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Half of cats are left-handed

Lefties may be under-represented in humans but our furry friends are more than making up for it. Around 50% of cats are left-handed (or should that be left-pawed), according to research.

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You could die sooner

According to a study lefties live around nine years less than their right-handed counterparts. Unlucky.

President Barrack Obama is left handed. Photo: Getty

Higher risk of insomnia, psychosis and alcoholism

South-paws are more prone to have allergies and migraines, and research suggests that they are also more likely to become alcoholics. It's because the right side of the brain has a lower tolerance to alcohol. Also, Yale University researchers concluded that around 40 % of schizophrenic patients were left-handed, with theories suggesting that brain laterality plays a role.

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Many leaders are lefties

Leaders throughout history are more likely to be left-handed.

US Presidents to be left-handed include current leader Barack Obama and former White House chiefs Bill Clinton, George Bush and Gerald Ford.

Lefties in the British royal family include the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Prince William.

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Left handers are bad (maybe)

As well as references in history to left-handers being in league with the devil there are some pretty nasty people who were lefties - Jack the Ripper, and Osama Bin Laden to name two.

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Quicker typers

On a keyboard, there are around 1447 English words typed solely with the left hand

Whereas only 187 are typed with the right.

Photo: iStock

Left-handed people scare easier

In a horror movie experiment, left-handers who watched an eight-minute clip from The Silence of the Lambs showed more fear than right-handers.

Scientists believe that this may be because the right side of the brain is dominant in lefties and is more involved in fear responses.

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Creative powerhouses

Lefties are better at multi-tasking and make especially good sportsmen - Rafael Nadal and Cesc Fàbregas are ones.

And lefties also tend to be drawn to careers in the arts, music and culture fields.

They are also better at 3D perception and thought processing.

Tests conducted by New York researches found that there were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than right-handed people. Famous left-handed intellectuals include Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Franklin.

Photo: iStock

Unclean

In many Islamic countries, people are forbidden to eat with their left hand, which is considered “unclean” because it is used for cleaning the body after going to the loo.

Apparently “public display” or use of the left hand is also against the law in some Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Photo: iStock