113. The Puzzle of Left-Handedness

For much of human history, being left-handed has had a certain taboo associated with it. The word for left in Italian, for example, is “sinistra”, which shares roots with the word “sinister”, meaning “evil” in English. Such terminology reflects a long-held view in many societies that left-hand dominance is inferior to right-hand dominance. When you dig beneath the surface on this topic, however, there is much more to dissect than you initially might consider. Why are people still left-handed, when the majority of the population has evolved to be right-hand dominant? Is handedness an isolated biological feature, or is it associated with a complex of other traits in such individuals? Are left-handed people, in some ways, fundamentally different than right-handed people? David Wolman, author of "A Left-Hand Turn Around the World" joins the podcast.

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