Social Do you have difficulty determing your left hand from your right?

[ralphc1]

I came across this article today.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230112-why-some-people-cant-tell-left-from-right
It can seem like an almost childish mistake, but a surprising number of adults confuse left from right and scientists are only just starting to understand why.

I've worked with people that when given directions using left and right always seem to get it wrong. I always thought they just weren't listening but, according to this article, 1 in 6 people can have difficulty identifying their right and left hands.

"Nobody has difficulty in saying [something is] front and back, or top and bottom," says Ineke van der Ham, professor of neuropsychology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. But telling left from right is different, she says. "It's because of the symmetry, and because when you turn around, it's the other way around, and that makes it so confusing."

Are you part of the group that can have trouble with left and right directions?

 

[freakroor]

i know left and right. stupid people annoy me.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

I came across this article today.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230112-why-some-people-cant-tell-left-from-right
It can seem like an almost childish mistake, but a surprising number of adults confuse left from right and scientists are only just starting to understand why.

I've worked with people that when given directions using left and right always seem to get it wrong. I always thought they just weren't listening but, according to this article, 1 in 6 people can have difficulty identifying their right and left hands.



Are you part of the group that can have trouble with left and right directions?

I'm not narrow minded and politically pigeonholed that I only see left and right

 

[jrleclerc88]

I actually just had an eye exam today and had to look left/right on demand and i handled it just fine... i didnt realize this was something to brag about but ill take it.


Also if confused make L shape with both hands, the L is your left hand!

 

[Richmma80]

I use my left hand then finish off with my right for that speed

 

[gondo]

I'm not narrow minded and politically pigeonholed that I only see left and right

 

[Alphaboy]

That is weird.

If I was ever confused, I'd reach to grav something... whichever hand that's dominant would let me know which one it is, in my case I know I'm right-handed.

 

[I Am Legion]

When I coached youth football, I had a lot of "scholarship kids". These were kids shipped from poor towns that did not have to pay the league fee and were given equipment. I would have 6-7 per season. These kids were never taught what right and left was. I would draw an L on their left cleat and an R on their right. No shame, just know where to go and what hole to hit ot block. As teenagers some kids just were not smart at processing info under pressure, and could not memorize holes, or assignments no matter what we did. Nothing to do with athletic ability. Not everyone is smart.

 

[Boomb]

Yes, actually.

 

[bandicoot]

That picture is wrong.

 

[ralphc1]

That picture is wrong.

What was your first clue?

 

[ralphc1]

i know left and right. stupid people annoy me.

I always assumed that people who didn't know were less intelligent but the example given in the article was a surgeon. I now know why when I had my knees replaced, they had me write on the leg that the knee was going to be replaced on. There have been cases of operations done on the wrong side which may have been due to right/left confusion.

 

[AristotleAmadopolis]

I'm not narrow minded and politically pigeonholed that I only see left and right

you're thinking in two dimensions man. it's not forward it's upward!


ah fuck,
@gondo beat me to it.

 

[ralphc1]

I actually just had an eye exam today and had to look left/right on demand and i handled it just fine... i didnt realize this was something to brag about but ill take it.


Also if confused make L shape with both hands, the L is your left hand!

Having to use that cheat suggests that you might be in that 1/6 that can get them confused. There are also people who write L backwards. It's called mirror writing and it might be related to the left/right confusion.

 

[AristotleAmadopolis]

What was your first clue?

he has the "R" note on his left side but that is his right hand! and the "L" note is on his right side but it is the left hand!

 

[Ponchik]

Nope. Didn't struggle even as a kid. Others kept pointing out my left-handedness all the time. I got the hint eventually.

 

[Henry Swanson]

I always assumed that people who didn't know were less intelligent but the example given in the article was a surgeon. I now know why when I had my knees replaced, they had me write on the leg that the knee was going to be replaced on. There have been cases of operations done on the wrong side which may have been due to right/left confusion.

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

1 in 6 people have trouble identifying their left and right hands? thats some made up bullshit if ive ever heard it, lol

 

[mb23100]

I have a cousin like that. I've seen him mix it up many times.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Can't recall ever having an issue.