Apparently my forefathers could kick some ass
The Economist has a story about why anyone (such as myself) is still left-handed. From an evolutionary perspective this is a puzzle, since “on average, left-handers are smaller and lighter than right-handers. That should put them at an evolutionary disadvantage.” However, left-handers ostensibly have a distinct advantage in fighting: “most right-handed people have little experience ...
The Economist has a story about why anyone (such as myself) is still left-handed. From an evolutionary perspective this is a puzzle, since "on average, left-handers are smaller and lighter than right-handers. That should put them at an evolutionary disadvantage." However, left-handers ostensibly have a distinct advantage in fighting: "most right-handed people have little experience of fighting left-handers, but not vice versa." These stylized facts led Charlotte Faurie and Michel Raymond, of the University of Montpellier II (it's in France), to propose the following conjecture: "the advantage of being left-handed should be greater in a more violent context, which should result in a higher frequency of left-handers." The Economist summarizes their findings:
The Economist has a story about why anyone (such as myself) is still left-handed. From an evolutionary perspective this is a puzzle, since “on average, left-handers are smaller and lighter than right-handers. That should put them at an evolutionary disadvantage.” However, left-handers ostensibly have a distinct advantage in fighting: “most right-handed people have little experience of fighting left-handers, but not vice versa.” These stylized facts led Charlotte Faurie and Michel Raymond, of the University of Montpellier II (it’s in France), to propose the following conjecture: “the advantage of being left-handed should be greater in a more violent context, which should result in a higher frequency of left-handers.” The Economist summarizes their findings:
Fighting in modern societies often involves the use of technology, notably firearms, that is unlikely to give any advantage to left-handers. So Dr Faurie and Dr Raymond decided to confine their investigation to the proportion of left-handers and the level of violence (by number of homicides) in traditional societies. By trawling the literature, checking with police departments, and even going out into the field and asking people, the two researchers found that the proportion of left-handers in a traditional society is, indeed, correlated with its homicide rate. One of the highest proportions of left-handers, for example, was found among the Yanomamo of South America. Raiding and warfare are central to Yanomamo culture. The murder rate is 4 per 1,000 inhabitants per year (compared with, for example, 0.068 in New York). And, according to Dr Faurie and Dr Raymond, 22.6% of Yanomamo are left-handed. In contrast, Dioula-speaking people of Burkina Faso in West Africa are virtual pacifists. There are only 0.013 murders per 1,000 inhabitants among them and only 3.4% of the population is left-handed. While there is no suggestion that left-handed people are more violent than the right-handed, it looks as though they are more successfully violent.
Here’s a link to the academic paper.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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