Chimpanzees Shed New Light on Hand Preference

An anonymous reader writes "'Language skills are associated with the left side of the brain, and many scientists have said early humans developed a preference for their right hands when they acquired speech,' but Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center has a new study that links hand preference to the motor skills area of the brain rather than the language part of the brain. 'That means lefties have probably been around much longer than believed -- at least 5 million years, when scientists say humans and apes branched on the primate family tree. And evolution has purposely kept them.'"

Comments

... evolution has purposely kept them ...

[andorsch]

why? evolution is not a process of "optimisation" it is a selection process. Those who are "good enough" survive.

Obviously there is no disadvantage for being left handed, why should there be a selection against it?

Re:... evolution has purposely kept them ...

[Bwian_of_Nazareth]

There is a advantage of being left-handed - it is the element of surprise when you meet your foe. This obviously works only when the percentage of left-handed individuals is low enough - around 10 - 20 %, IIRC.

I am left-handed and I can say I do take advantage of it. I play volleyball and it always takes some adjusting until the opponent starts to block my left hand instead of my right. Playing squash, opponent often let me play mostly forhand because they don't realise my weak side is the other one.
And quite obviously, this is even true for two left-handed opponents playing against each other. With majority of my opponents being right-handed, I myself am taken bu surprise when I meet left-handed opponent.

Obvously, this advantage is lesser in repeated encounters and lesser when there are more left-handed people around.

Re:... evolution has purposely kept them ...

[YouHaveSnail]

And evolution has purposely kept them.

I have a big problem with the word "purposely." Evolution does not do anything "purposely," or with intention. Natural selection is a process that applies to all things that reproduce, whether it's an ape or a computer virus, just as gravity applies to all things that have mass.

It's a preference, and is condemned in the Bible

[Nine Tenths of The W]

To suggest that left handedness is genetic is a socialist lie. It is condemned in the Bible, like being crippled and eating shellfish. Everyone knows that left handedness is a choice, a sinful lifestyle promoted by Satanic liberals. Even the scientific term, sinister, reveals it's Luciferian origin. Concerned parents must act now to stop children being taught to be left handed in schools, and to stop the media being overrun by positive depictions of left handedness. Would you want your child to be fondled by a left handed pedophile coming home from a sickening Sinster Pride march?

Order a copy of "What Liberals Don't Want You to Know about the Left Handed Agenda", by Salvation Publications, for only $99.99. Comes with guaranteed promise of Heaven and a free shotgun.