A few weeks ago we discussed brain lateralization Today, I noticed this link to Yahoo answers on the Yahoo homepage addressing whether lefties are in fact more creative. I once had an art history professor tell me that some of the greatest artists ever known were left handed, and that there had to be some sort of correlation. I am reminded, however, of one of the greatest tenets of experimental psychology: correlation is not equivalent to causation.
See the articles for yourself:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20060630162104AAR78pk&fr=hp
and:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20060821111105AA5J1Sj&fr=hp
enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Gavin, can you re-post? I couldn't get the links to work.
Not sure if this was related, but yesterday (8/13) was apparently National Lefty Day. My partner who is left-handed is constantly complaining to me about how our kitchen gadgets and knives are made for right-handers. I've never noticed before I married him, but it's definitely another bias in our society.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20060630162104AAR78pk&fr=hp
here is the next link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20060821111105AA5J1Sj&fr=hp
hope it works this time
I don't know... most of the really creative people I know are right-handed. But there are so many components to creativity that it's hard to measure who is more creative anyway. I don't really see any way you could test whether this is true or not. When most people think of creative people they think of artists, but if you think of creativity in problem solving... should a lot of mathetmatical whizzes be left handed?
Although all of my artistic friends (except my sister) are left handed, I think that simply gives them a running start against righties. A right-handed person would probably have to work harder or differently than a left-handed person in order to achieve the same result.
A study I think would be interesting would be one comparing the art of right-handed artists versus the art of left-handed artists. Perhaps their different strengths appear through their interpretations of the world or through their choice of medium....
i am not so sure about lefties being more creative, as a lefty myself, i find myself no more creative than any right handed person. maybe it is becuase of the fact that everyone in my family is right handed.
That's really interesting. My best friend is extremely artistic, yet he is right handed. Still, I could see how the general trend would favor creativity in left handed people. I, personally, am right handed and have no creativity, so I guess I support these claims.
Nicolette,
That is interesting what you said about your lack of creativitiy possibly being due to the fact that your whole family is right handed. I wonder if creativity could relate to the whole nature vs. nurture debate. If so, creativity might be more likely to show up in left handed people (nature), but if there is a strong enough difference in the environment such as being surrounded by right handed people (nurture), the development of creativity in left handed people could be hindered.
Post a Comment