Is left-handedness the key to the universe?
Well, Chris McManus thinks so. In his new book Left Hand, Right Hand, he argues that asymmetry is the key to understanding virtually every mystery of the universe -- from sub-atomic behavior (the lefthanded spin of neutrinos) to psychology (why most cultures regard "right" as more normal and correct than "left") to human physiology: Ever wonder what it means that almost everyone's heart is on the left side of our bodies? (Unless you're one of the rare people McManus locates who have a heart on their right side; or unless you're a Time Lord and you have two.)
Most mindblowingly, McManus argues that our preference for right-handedness is a direct result of interstellar lifeforms brought to Earth by crashing meteors about a jillion years ago. I am not making this up. There's an excellent piece about the book in last weekend's Ideas section of the Boston Globe, written by my gal Emily Nussbaum, who also writes the Summary Judgment column for Slate:
According to McManus, all life forms possess some variation on handedness, from the molecular level on up. Neutrinos are lefties, DNA twists to the right, and conch shells spin both ways. Mechanical objects from spiral staircases to corkscrews are notable for their asymmetrical swirls, while the human brain's right and left hemispheres famously work together in a peculiarly lopsided vaudeville act. McManus further suggests that the asymmetry of molecules may trigger asymmetry all the way up the evolutionary ladder. Indeed, the seemingly symmetrical human body is in fact a Rube Goldberg machine of asymmetry, with tiny clockwise swirling cilia triggering the development of our typically left-sided heart, and the heart likewise knocking the rest of the internal organs into their efficient, unbalanced tangle of tubes and sacks. The left testicle, for instance, droops lower not because (as the ancient Greeks suspected) it is heavier, but because the snarl of inner tubes dictated by the heart simply makes that position more efficient.
Ouch.
Posted by Clive Thompson at October 09, 2002 12:51 PM
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THE EVIDENCE IS FURTHERMORE
It is very interesting to read all the interpretations of left-handedness and the associated stigmas that comes with it!
I use history and history is the best evidence available to all who can understand it. If we turn to this for guidance, we can see that the RIGHT handed majority has contributed to heresy, wars, rape, pillage, atomic destruction of innocent civilians Nagasaki and Hiroshima, world trade center attacks, clerical molestation, corruption, deception, corporate fraud, government war mongering, torture, mass shootings, world wars throughout history.
Should I continue? Well then try crucifixion, murder, pedophilia, assassination,,,,,drug dealing, human experimentation, burning individuals and Saints at the stake, conspiracies, devil worship,psychological experiments, brutality of both man and beast (animals), homosexual, child abduction, child abuse,child stealing, collection of moneys from charitable organizations and various sources, only to be used for war effort and destruction the end result, usury of the poor, soldiers defending their country, only to be used as guinea pigs by there own kind, THE HOLOCAUST, the list can go on from here to eternity.
ARE ALL LEFT HANDED PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE
FOR SUCH ATROCITIES??
If you have intelligence and a conscience then the answer is NO! Left-handed people have become the witness to all these worldly ills and psychological abused tactics. Right handedness is always in fear of evidence but cant understand it!
So it resorts to its old usual self of finding a scapegoat to utilize and divert itself from attention, even if to use tactics to eclipse both the sun and the moon!! Shadows always follow its origin, and there aint no cover up to hide the historical chapters that fill our libraries detailing past history.
Should WE continue with the list of evidence? The internets resources would reach a point of overload and eventually GROUND ZERO! I hope that we will not have to be RIGHT when this occurs. Nuclear Holocaust involves everyone my friends! All the other worldly ills in fact still continue today, given the chance, and the right rule but cant hide the facts.
I hope I'm LEFT to enter the evidence.
left or right, it just does not matter- but the difference is right has proved great tribulation.
ammendments;
the Millennial dawn of right handedness the star wars
program is evolving under the guise of science. The equinoxes is
the parable to mans fate.
RIGHT handed man once again shows it grand design of excellence.
Threats of war threats of nuclear fission is more real than ever and the destruction it will cause
shall evolve. The dove and the olive leaf will be desecrated. The evidence is thus mounting and the human suffering of war will fuel the right handed dominion of destruction.
ammendments; to follow:-