I drive on the right side (as in not only 'non-left', but also 'correct'), just like the rest of the Continent, so the shifter is my right hand. Even though I am left-handed (as in that is the hand I prefer to write with, I also have a right hand I sometimes use) I can't imagine shifting, or even driving, the other way around. But I know it is possible, I know a lot of people who have driven in Ireland and/or the UK and are still alive and well, so if I had to I'd get used to it.
I'm not an orthodox lefty, as I hold my fork in my left and knife in my right (as any good manners book will praise), my right hand it better for typing one-handed, and I can drink from a glass or bottle with either hand, but it is safer for me and people around me if I hold a spoon, toothbrush, or tennis racket in my left. My dominant eye is right, and I hold the computer mouse in my right, though recently I have tried to switch since the latter has effected the way I sit and given me back problems. I have no preference as which hand I use to open doors or carry heavy stuff. I don't know which leg is dominant as I prefer biking over football/soccer, since it takes me to nicer places than kicking a ball around a field.
Along the lines of what Kodak mentioned, what you do behind the wheel probably isn't enough to effect your strength's symmetry, other things you do during the day have a larger influence. That's is why I try to make myself do many things with either hand - it's not easy at first, but after a while I get the hang of it.
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Originally Posted by Kodak
This is a really interesting question though, because it begs the questions: Would we develop R/L handed if objects were not built this way? Why aren't steering columns in the middle?
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How many things are really built for righties? In the US I've seen scissors for lefties, which I totally don't understand - I couldn't make them work I'm so used to 'normal, righthand' scissors. Yes, chairs with a 'desk' only on one side are a pain, but the lefty chairs aren't much better.
The one thing that righties have an advantage in is writing: When a lefty writes (with a pen, for example) her/his hand slides over what was just written, smearing the ink which hasn't dried yet. Lefties should write from right to left, like Hebrew or Arabic. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the population with the largest ratio of lefties is Isreal (I read a while back that it's ~20%, while China has the lowest 2-5%)?
OK, back to driving. I read somewhere here that historically, a knight would hold his lance in his right hand, so when riding towards each other in a duel one would want his opponent to be on his right side. This gave birth to the practice of horses, then carriages, and later trains and automobiles (not to mention ships and airplanes) keeping to the left in bidirectional traffic, with the driver sitting on the side closer to the middle of the road for better visibiliy. This relic can still be seen in Britain (and some of its colonies) which is where most of this was happening first. But one of its colonies decided to drive on the right because is was naughty and wanted to thumb its nose at Britain, while most of Britains neighbors weren't especially fond of it (the feeling was mutual) and saw no reason to prefer is left-handed and backwards ways. The shifter stick was placed in the center of the vehicle so as not to hinder getting in/out. So, it is right-handedness that caused the shifter to be on the left side of the driver. The reason that most of today's world drives with the stick on the right has more to do with Britain's foreign policy...
I have a keychain which reads:
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Since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then left-handed peaople are in their right minds.
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