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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What do Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu share in common?

(hotips).I'll give you a hint: This is something that is shared also by George Bush, and Ehud Olmert. It is also shared by Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton... Have you guessed? The above politicians are all left handed.They are not the only left-handed politicians. A few others are Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Fidel Castro, Colin Powell and even Prince William of England.

Why are so many politicians left handed? It is believed that about 10-15% of world's population has a dominant left hand, but it seems the percent of leading left-handed politicians is much higher. In 2008, both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain were left handed. The same occurred in 1992: All 3 candidates - George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot are left handed.

One possible explanation may be found when looking at the differences between left and right handed people's brains. In their Encyclopedia of Genetics, Eric C.R. Reeve and Isobel Black claim (p. 574) that some of the left-handed people are actually not genetically left-handed, but are actually what they call "learned left-handers". By some chance in their proverbial development they have learned to use their left hand as the dominant hand. These people develop verbal (and possible other) functions in both hemispheres of their brain. This may lead to a very fine rhetorical talent. As we know, good speaking abilities are one of the most important expertise needed by a politician today.

We would expect such good verbal skills to manifest themselves also in writing. Indeed, some of the best writers were also left-handed....The left handed verbal skill may manifest itself more in speech, where the speed of using the verbal skills is more apparent than in writing.