WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE LEFT-HANDED?

While you probably know more than one person who’s left-handed, only one tenth of the world’s population is.

So, it’s common, but not that common. In fact, it’s not common at all.

According to a TED-Ed video by Daniel M. Abrams, you can tell if a baby is going to be left- or right-handed simply by the way they lay in the womb.

This means left-handed people are simply born that way, even if you’re an identical twin. The one twin can be born left-handed and the other right-handed.

But that still leaves us with the question: why are some people born left-handed and the rest of us are born right-handed?

According to Abrams, it has to do with genetics even though it still comes down to the roll of the dice.

If your dad was left-handed but your mom was right-handed, you have a 17% chance of being born left-handed. If both your parents are right-handed, you have a 10% chance of being left-handed.

Even though scientists can’t figure it out, the number of left-handed people has certainly increased over time. This doesn’t mean that more people have been born left-handed and that their rapid rise will mean world domination one day, it simply means that, up until a few decades ago, left-handed people were forced to write with their right hands instead.

So, the short answer to our question: we still don’t really know why some people are born left-handed.

Watch the TED-Ed video below for more info and interesting facts.

Image credit: CNN