Are geologists mostly lefties?
Geologists are often distinguished by an affinity for beer, fleeces and road cuts - but are there more distinctive marks of the earth science tribe?
- Fellow all-geo blogger Simon Wellings had noticed something weird about some of the geologists he went to school with: 4 in 10 of them were left-handed.
Request for information about left-handed geologists | MetageologistI'm a cack-handed sinister southpaw and the chances are surprisingly high that you are too. At University, about 40% of my peers studying Earth Sciences were left-handed. Faculty professors confirmed that this was normal, based on their experience of teaching geologists over the decades. This is of course an unusually high proportion.- This compares to only about 1 in 10 of the wider population being left handed, according to the Internet.
- Handedness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaHandedness (also referred to as chirality or laterality) is a human attribute defined by unequal distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hands. An individual who is more dexterous with the right hand is called right-handed and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed.
- The question Simon had was: was his anecdotal observation meaningful. If it is, interesting research might ensue. I decided to help out with the data collection by asking Twitter.
- A few fellow lefties chimed in:
I use my left hand for everything EXCEPT snapping. For some reason, my right fingers produces louder snaps. @Allochthonous
@metageologist FWIW, I'm a lefty. Out of the class I taught last term, 0 of 11 were lefties.
RT @Allochthonous I'm a mostly left handed geologist. If you're a geo-type, RT with your preferred hand!” - Left handed!
@Allochthonous lefty! And I do remember thinking there are more lefties than usual in my undergrad geol classes.- RT @Allochthonous I'm a mostly left handed geologist. If you're a geo-type, RT with your preferred hand!” - Left handed!
- But a horde of right-handed geo-types were also weighing in.
@Allochthonous Not sure that I count, being a mere geo-fancier, but I'm right-handed.
MT @Allochthonous: Quick twitter poll! If you're a geo-type, RT with your preferred hand! > right hand, but now ex-geo. maybe this is why?
@Allochthonous @metageologist @eruptionsblog I'm a righty, but shoot left-eyed and bat left (actually a switch hitter)
