Correlation between artistic ability and dominant hand?

[Pat_61]

I am sure many of you know that the right side of your brain controls the creativity, artistic and musical skills and photographic memories. You probably also knew that the left side is Mathematic skills and easy work with numbers and words. The brain controls the opposing side of the body(Right controls left, Left controls right).

 

My questions to you are:

 

1. 
    
   
2. Wouldn't you think it would be logical that if you took a random sample of 100 right handed people and 100 left handed people that more of the left handed people would be good artists?
   
3. Would that mean that good artists that are right handed would be/have a high intelligence level than good artists that are left handed?
    
   

 

Here is my supporting thought processing:

 

1. 
    
   
2. I would say yes. This is because wouldn't you assume its easier for a left handed person to draw with there left hand using the right side of their brain. The right side is artistic and controls the left side of the body. Thus through my thought process, would be less work means the general population of left hand people doesn't need as high of a concentration/intellect to access their artistic ability.
   
3. If I am going off my last part, then it takes more concentration/intellect to use both sides of your brain at once. You would have to use both to be using the artistic right side and your motion left side.
    
   

 

I know that's not all I had to say on it, but that's all I can remember right now.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I didn't look online to see if they did any studies on it.

 

Famous Left-Handed Artists

 

Michelangelo

 

Raohael

Leonardo da Vinci

 

EDIT: This is a bad place for this poll, but whatever haha leaving it since I put it here.

[K4ylan]

You should really move this to OT, because Gallery is generally dead.

 

 

but anyways... I don't think that a good right-handed artist will be smarter than a good left-handed artist. There's so many more defining factors that it would be improbable to test that. That, and the fact that how smart or good at art someone is is very subjective.

[Pat_61]

You should really move this to OT, because Gallery is generally dead.

 

 

but anyways... I don't think that a good right-handed artist will be smarter than a good left-handed artist. There's so many more defining factors that it would be improbable to test that. That, and the fact that how smart or good at art someone is is very subjective.

 

Smart - IQ Test

Artistic - Subjective, yes, but there is a general standard between good and bad.

 

I just thought of all this because I have a set of friends that are all artistic, and they are left handed. Then there are people I know that are really smart and really artistic that are right handed. It made me wonder if there might be a study or could be a study on it.

[Sir_Squab]

My mom's a left handed-accountant. Wat.

[Pat_61]

My mom's a left handed-accountant. Wat.

 

A little different because I assume she uses both hands to type or she uses just her right hand for the number pad.

[Sir_Squab]

My mom's a left handed-accountant. Wat.

 

A little different because I assume she uses both hands to type or she uses just her right hand for the number pad.

 

YOU use both hands to type! And what hand uses the number pad means nothing. It seems like a valid theory to consider that artistic vs mathematical abilities affect right vs left brain development which in turn affect which hand is likely to be dominant. But implying that you do math better by using a calculator with your right hand?

 

On the other hand, there are various factors which affect which hand is dominant. A left-handed accountant doesn't disprove anything, she's simply an exception to the rule (if this rule is valid.)

[Sy_Accursed]

This theory has been proved wrong by science before.

Yes the right side of the brain processes creativity and controls the left of the body; but there's been no proof of correlation between motor control and other functions of that hemisphere.

 

The only difference is a right handed artist has more activity across the entire brain as they are using the right to be arty and the left to output this; while left handed have more intense brain activity but only in the right hemisphere as this half of the brain is dealing with both the creative process and the motor impulses necessary for output.

I read something a while back that I found intriguing that right-handed artists would in fact have the potential to be better artists, as they can reach highly levels of creativity stimulation AND motor output simultaneously as each function has access to the full capacity of it's hemisphere. Where as the left-handed artist at their peak would have to ration their capacity (70:30, 50:50 or w/e) between creative and motor.

[dsavi]

I am sure many of you know that the right side of your brain controls the creativity, artistic and musical skills and photographic memories. You probably also knew that the left side is Mathematic skills and easy work with numbers and words.

"]Mental abilities are not absolutely separated into the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain.[162] Some mental functions such as speech and language (cf. Broca's area, Wernicke's area) tend to activate one hemisphere of the brain more than the other, in some kinds of tasks. If one hemisphere is damaged at a very early age, however, these functions can often be recovered in part or even in full by the other hemisphere (see Neuroplasticity). Other abilities such as motor control, memory, and general reasoning are served equally by the two hemispheres.[163]

[Pat_61]

My mom's a left handed-accountant. Wat.

 

A little different because I assume she uses both hands to type or she uses just her right hand for the number pad.

 

YOU use both hands to type! And what hand uses the number pad means nothing. It seems like a valid theory to consider that artistic vs mathematical abilities affect right vs left brain development which in turn affect which hand is likely to be dominant. But implying that you do math better by using a calculator with your right hand?

 

On the other hand, there are various factors which affect which hand is dominant. A left-handed accountant doesn't disprove anything, she's simply an exception to the rule (if this rule is valid.)

 

Yes I do. It would mean something... the number pad is used by the right hand which is controlled by the right side of the brain which does math/numbers better. I am implying that it is easier mentally.

 

 

This theory has been proved wrong by science before.

Yes the right side of the brain processes creativity and controls the left of the body; but there's been no proof of correlation between motor control and other functions of that hemisphere.

 

The only difference is a right handed artist has more activity across the entire brain as they are using the right to be arty and the left to output this; while left handed have more intense brain activity but only in the right hemisphere as this half of the brain is dealing with both the creative process and the motor impulses necessary for output.

I read something a while back that I found intriguing that right-handed artists would in fact have the potential to be better artists, as they can reach highly levels of creativity stimulation AND motor output simultaneously as each function has access to the full capacity of it's hemisphere. Where as the left-handed artist at their peak would have to ration their capacity (70:30, 50:50 or w/e) between creative and motor.

 

Could you link me to the article if you find it?

 

Anyway, the fact that right handed artists have more activity is kind of what I was pointing at. Wouldn't you assume the less you have to "think" the easier it would be to do a task? Instead of multi-tasking.

 

I am sure many of you know that the right side of your brain controls the creativity, artistic and musical skills and photographic memories. You probably also knew that the left side is Mathematic skills and easy work with numbers and words.

"]Mental abilities are not absolutely separated into the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain.[162] Some mental functions such as speech and language (cf. Broca's area, Wernicke's area) tend to activate one hemisphere of the brain more than the other, in some kinds of tasks. If one hemisphere is damaged at a very early age, however, these functions can often be recovered in part or even in full by the other hemisphere (see Neuroplasticity). Other abilities such as motor control, memory, and general reasoning are served equally by the two hemispheres.[163]

 

This doesn't answer anything dsavi? XD

By reading this I am splitting it like this:

Mental abilities are not absolutely separated into the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain.

This sorta debunks my theory but not completely, because there is separation, but there is some mixing.

Some mental functions such as speech and language (cf. Broca's area, Wernicke's area) tend to activate one hemisphere of the brain more than the other, in some kinds of tasks.

Irrelevant? Was just in the quote I assume.

If one hemisphere is damaged at a very early age, however, these functions can often be recovered in part or even in full by the other hemisphere (see Neuroplasticity). Other abilities such as motor control, memory, and general reasoning are served equally by the two hemispheres.

It says served equally, but I am pretty sure that it refers to if you have early brain damage.

 

Thanks for the comments, I really hope someone can find an article on this haha...

[Sy_Accursed]

There is a difference between brain activity and actively thinking.

Not thinking merely means you are doing it subconsciously; it does not mean there is any less brain activity.

[Hawks]

I didn't read any of the actual posts after the OP so I apologize.

 

* Wouldn't you think it would be logical that if you took a random sample of 100 right handed people and 100 left handed people that more of the left handed people would be good artists?

No as more people are right handed hence more probability that you can take a sample of any 100 and be more likely they're good artists unless it is statistically proven that lefties are better artists in general than righties.

 

* Would that mean that good artists that are right handed would be/have a high intelligence level than good artists that are left handed?

Imo, yes, as right side is left brained. I know a lot of smart right handed people, who are generally smart, and art is sort of secondary (although they're still good at it). In my experience, lefties (I know at least two very well) are more free thinking and generally more creative than righties; they're still smart but intelligence and use of it is secondary to the creativity.

 

I am right handed to slightly ambidextrous (I use a left handed hockey stick, bat, golf club, etc.). I am pretty intelligent (32 on ACT) and am very structured/ARCF/type A personality. However I kind of go against the grain in my area by being an agnostic in a primarily Christian area, but lean towards the 'right' side in my area in political beliefs (I consider myself a libertarian, and my area is mainly conservative republican).

[Pat_61]

I didn't read any of the actual posts after the OP so I apologize.

 

* Wouldn't you think it would be logical that if you took a random sample of 100 right handed people and 100 left handed people that more of the left handed people would be good artists?

No as more people are right handed hence more probability that you can take a sample of any 100 and be more likely they're good artists unless it is statistically proven that lefties are better artists in general than righties.

 

* Would that mean that good artists that are right handed would be/have a high intelligence level than good artists that are left handed?

Imo, yes, as right side is left brained. I know a lot of smart right handed people, who are generally smart, and art is sort of secondary (although they're still good at it). In my experience, lefties (I know at least two very well) are more free thinking and generally more creative than righties; they're still smart but intelligence and use of it is secondary to the creativity.

 

I am right handed to slightly ambidextrous (I use a left handed hockey stick, bat, golf club, etc.). I am pretty intelligent (32 on ACT) and am very structured/ARCF/type A personality. However I kind of go against the grain in my area by being an agnostic in a primarily Christian area, but lean towards the 'right' side in my area in political beliefs (I consider myself a libertarian, and my area is mainly conservative republican).

 

The amount of people doesn't matter that's why you take a sample size. Would you have rather me said a percentage instead of a flat number?

[tripsis]

I'm left handed, an artist, and did damn well in my math/physics classes. Go figure :lol:

[Kimberly]

I'm left handed, an artist, and did damn well in my math/physics classes. Go figure :lol:

 

I'll do you one better: I'm left handed and I have very little creativity and barely any artistic ability...and I'm a C/low B level math student.

 

THERE IS NO HOPE FOR MY LIFE.

 

On a more serious note I simply think there isn't enough collaborating evidence to support this.

[Cacmypants]

You're going to need a MUCH larger sample-space for this poll to yield any real results.

[The Observer]

The problem is, there is a large difference between the number of left handed people and right handed people. Creativity isn't based around dominant hand, it's based on certain areas within the brain that tend to be more active. In other words, if you are a good artist, the part of your brain that employs creativity would be more active and would be able to run quicker/smoother. I don't see how that would be affected by dominant hand. I suppose good artists get noticed because they're left-handed since left-handedness is so rare in comparison to right-handedness. Take a singer who happened to be black. They sing well compared to the other people who are in the same competition. Would their ethnicity affect their singing ability? Not really. That's what I think about it anyway. They're both completely separate things.

 

The second problem is, how do you find artistic ability? Art can be separated into many different streams and mediums. Some people may be bad at drawing, but good at graphic design. Would they be bad at artistic ability? I suppose you can define artistic ability as the patience to be able to manipulate your canvas to your liking. Interest would have a large part in that. Say, you like drawing, you would do better at drawing than someone who is bored because you would take more time doing it. Some people can also create good works of art, but they can't branch from that and are stuck with that same mechanical medium. For example, drawing a house by doing the same procedure over again, not varying it or trying something new. Would that be artistic ability or just the ability to remember procedure? Only when this is clarified can artistic ability be fully understood.

 

As with any scientific study, it's best to use a larger sample size like someone else above suggested. That's why when drugs are tested, they are often used using hundreds or thousands of people over a large period of time.