Friday, December 21, 2018

Can a baby be trained to be right or left-handed?

One can train a baby or train oneself to perform an activity with opposite (non dominant) hand. You can train the baby to write with a specific hand, do normal chores like brushing, shaving, open door with a specific hand, etc.
Like the way, I trained myself to eat, shake-hand, serving food, religious rituals, etc with my right hand.
But, you cannot curb the natural instincts. In most cases, a left-handed (right-handed) baby/person would use its left (right) hand for a reflex or natural or untrained activity - like pick a pebble from ground, pick a fruit, cover nose while sneezing, etc. Or an action that needs strength like using spanner for unscrewing/screwing, etc.
p.s: This answer is from my experience as a left-handed. Not endorsed by any scientific theory.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

If you're right-handed, what are some of the things that you do with your left hand, and if you're left-handed, what are some of the things you do with your right hand?

I am left-handed, left-eyed, left-footed. I prefer left by nature and by choice if there’s an option.

Below are few things I use right hand for, by habit/adaptation/lack of choice (mostly the last one):

  • While eating with hand (Indian). Will use spoon with right hand in public and left-hand at home. Sometimes, at home, I snack with left-hand if I am alone.
  • Using computer mouse at work
  • Turning on/off ignition key in car daily
  • Steering as my left-hand is mostly on gear shift (Right-side driving in India)
  • Scissors, nail cutters, knives
  • Hindu religious activities when obligated - rituals like pujas, lighting lamps, putting tilak/bindi, ringing bells in temples, taking prasad/harati (arti)
  • Serving food at family events (avoid as much as I can)
  • Using ATM
  • Dialing on my office VOIP phone
  • Buttoning/unbuttoning my shirts/jackets/trousers -yeah, you can do easily with single right hand, but not with single left hand. Try yourself!
  • Locking/Unlocking paddle locks
  • Open refrigerator door
  • Biometric reader (fingerprint scanner) at my office turnstiles entry that reads only my right index finger.
  • Clicking (pressing shutter button) on my SLR camera needs my right fingers (by design), though I use my left-eye for view-finder - my nose bumps and smears the LCD screen