Leonardo da Vinci, Prince William, and Julia Roberts have something in
common. What is it? They are all left-handed! Today about 15 percent of the
population is left-handed. But why are people left-handed? The answer may
be in the way the brain works.
Our brain is like a message center. Each second, the brain receives more than
a million messages from our body and knows what to do with them. People think
that the weight of the brain tells how intelligent you are, but this isn’t true. Albert
Einstein’s brain weighed 1,375 grams, but less intelligent people may have heavier
brains. What is important is the quality of the brain. The brain has two halves—
the right brain and the left brain. Each half is about the same size. The right half
controls the left side of the body, and the left half controls the right side of the
body. One half is usually stronger than the other. One half of the brain becomes
stronger when you are a child and usually stays the stronger half for the rest of
your life.
The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, so when the left
brain is stronger, the right hand will be strong and the person may be right-handed.
The left half controls speaking, so a person with a strong left brain may become a
good speaker, professor, lawyer, or salesperson. A person with a strong left brain
may have a strong idea of time and will probably be punctual. The person may
be strong in math and logic and may like to have or do things in order. He or she
may remember people’s names and like to plan things ahead of time. He or she may
be practical and safe. If something happens to the left side of the brain, the person
may have problems speaking and may not know what day it is. The right side of his
or her body will become weak.
When the right side of the brain is stronger, the person will have a strong left
hand and may be left-handed. The person may prefer art, music, and literature.
The person may become an artist, a writer, an inventor, a film director, or a
photographer. The person may recognize faces but not remember names. The
person may not love numbers or business. The person may like to use his or her
feelings and not look at logic and what is practical. If there is an accident to the
right side of the brain, the person may not know where he or she is and may not be
able to do simple hand movements.
This does not mean that all artists are left-handed and all accountants are righthanded.
There are many exceptions. Some right-handers have a strong right brain,
and some left-handers have a strong left brain. The best thing would be to use both
right and left sides of the brain. There are people who learn to do two things at the
same time. They can answer practical questions on the telephone (which uses the
left brain) and at the same time play the piano (which uses the right brain), but this
is not easy to do!