Handedness Bias
I just read a blog post on NeuroLogica Blog that could have been a LW post, so I figured that I would bring it on over. It basically details how knowing about our biases can help us correct for them, a la the lens that sees its flaws, and then brings to light a new study (unfortunately behind a paywall… I wanted to see the methodology) that shows that the simple act of wearing a glove on your dominant hand can influence how you perceive the world.
When I learned that Dexter and Sinister were Latin words for Right and Left, respectively, I was told that it came from shield formations, and how the person on your left was a leech for using your shield protection, and the one on your right was your protector. Now that explanation sounds a bit hollow.
I’m left-handed, and I very explicity associated goodness with the left side as a kid. I thought I was being contrarian.
Same.
Here is a PDF download of the paper. (Found on the author’s website.)
Thank you. I didn’t think of that.
As a left-handed person, I can definitely confirm I’ve encountered handedness bias plenty of times in my life.
Just like with other “defaults” in things like race and sexual orientation, right-handed people typically don’t think of themselves as having a certain handedness until it’s explicitly pointed out.
Try being a paperclip collector for a day...
Not going to fall for that one!
Is there handedness for paperclips?
No. A paperclip’s spiral direction can be inverted by rotating it to the other side.
I had been under the impression that the associations went the other way—that the Latin Dexter came from the Indo-European as did the Latin Sinestra. From those, we derived the association of the right hand with dexterity (so a person with 2 right hands is ambidextrous whereas a person with 2 left feet is clumsy) and the sneaky connotations of “sinister” (as you watch the person’s right hand to ensure he will not attack you; a sinister person might stab with the left hand by surprise).
PM me for a copy of the article.
I believe you mean Latin words.
I was told it had to do with the left side being considered unlucky when performing auguries.
Corrected. Thanks.