Thursday, April 28, 2011

I Must Ask . . . Right or Left? {part 2}

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way. –Franklin P. Adams

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll and commented on last week's post about hand preference. It has been really fun for me and I hope you'll all continue to play along. Here are the results from last week's poll:

The question about hand preference led to lots of really interesting comments, which got me to thinking about other preferences for left and right. I know that my left ear is my dominant ear; I hold the phone to that ear and if someone wants to talk to me while I've got my headphones on, I uncover the left ear to hear them. I'm not sure about which eye is dominant. I always put in and take out my left contact lens first and I most definitely use my left eye for reading. But if I were to look into a telescope or through the viewfinder of a camera, I'd use my right eye. Cross-dominant?

I'm not sure about my feet either. When I ride a scooter, I put my right foot on the scooter and push with my left, which makes me goofy-footed {right foot dominant}, I think. But if I get tired of pushing with my left foot, then I can just as easily push with my right. I went snowboarding once; the person who was helping me had a really hard time trying to figure out which way to put me on the board because the push test {someone stands behind you and gives you a sharp push to see which foot you put out in front of you to steady yourself} didn't give conclusive results. Another way to check for foot preference is to stand on both feet in front of a stair case and which ever foot you put on the first step is your dominant foot. Really, I could go with either foot. Same for kicking a ball. Does that mean my feet are ambidextrous?

So the question I must ask today is: Which is dominant? Right or left ear? Right or left eye? Right or left foot? There is only one poll for all three questions {located in the sidebar to the right}, so make sure to check one for each category. You don't need to leave a comment to participate in the poll, but I'd love it if you do {and vice-versa}. I'm excited to see your responses. And I'll have one more right and left question next week.

6 comments:

Shay said...

I really had to think about that one. Im left ear dominant because Im almost completely deaf in my right (Ha -you didnt know that did you?) and my left eye is my strongest one. And I always step off with my left foot and yet Im right handed. Weird!

Impera Magna said...

A toughie...

I'm near sighted in my left eye and far sighted in my right... so I can still thread a needle w/o glasses, much to my younger sisters surprise.

I typically hold the phone to my left ear but that's because I'm right handed and can do other things while listening to the phone... like cook or surf the net... *grin*

I have MS, which affects the left side of my body... so my right foot tends to go first to help with the balance issues. However, I have a bum knee (right) from HS basketball many many moons ago... so sometimes I lead with my left...

I tend to put on my right sock before my left sock... which is suppose to mean that I'm left-brained... which isn't surprising...

Also, when I fold my hands, fingers crossed, my left thumb is on top... also supposed to mean I'm left-brained. It feels unnatural to have my right thumb on top.

*lol*

Paulette said...

I'll take the poll in a minute, but I've really got to think about some of this. I never really thought about what ear dominance I might have, but I do put the phone up to my right most often. Is that just because I'm right-handed, though? At work, I cradle it on the left, but is that because I have to write with the right hand? Interesting...

SueWis said...

You can use the thumb test for your eyes. Put your thumb up at arms length in front of you and cover something up in your vision (using both eyes). Leave it there and take turns shutting each eye. Whichever eye is still covering the object is dominant.

Annelise said...

weve noticed that our little o-bubs will switch a crayon or toothbrush to his right hand, but he always always throws and bats lefty. interesting stuff!!! fun posts! :)

Jill said...

This one was tricky.
Left ear for me, 98% of the time, I put my phone to my left, mostly so I can do things with my right hand, but I think, too, it's out of habit.
Left eye, too. It's my good eye. My right it REDICULOUSLY near sighted. We're talking a 6 inch distance only without my glasses. If I look in a telescope or microscope (or paper towel tube) I always look with my right. It's easier to close my right eye. Plus, that way it's easier to focus on something.
I said left foot. I hope I didn't throw the survey, though. See, I'm nearly certain that I catch myself with my left (it's hard to be subjective when you know that's what you're testing). I also push a scooter with my left, but like you, can do either. But I kick a ball with my right. So maybe I shouldn't have said left??
Then it gets weird. I go up the stairs starting with my right foot. That way I'll end at the top (on the tile) with my left foot. But going down I start with my left foot, so I'll end at the bottom (on carpet) with my right foot. I have been doing that for as long as I can remember. I don't know. But I do know that it's always like that.
You always knew your (near-twin) sister was crazy, didn't you?