Beethoven, Newton, Napoleon, Obama….. What do these four great men have in common? It is quite surprising that all four of these successful individuals are or were left-handed, which brings up the question of the excessively high intelligence of these people. Despite the old-fashioned stereotype of treating left-handed people as being wrong or even cursed by the divine being, people nowadays seem to have the misconception that they are more gifted in academic fields, which is statistically not true.

It is undeniable that many more celebrities, including politicians, musicians, and sports stars, are left handed in today’s world when compared with the past. However, to simply associate lefties with cleverness is utterly a mistaken belief. Research studies conducted by University College London (UCL) actually convey that lefties are no different from right-handed people in terms of Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Many scientists have conducted experiments to examine the aptitude of lefties by comparing the test scores and the results have turned out to differ by less than five points, which is not noteworthy.

However, left-handers may have an advantage when it comes to talent in certain areas. Left-handers’ brains are structured differently from those of right-handers in ways that can allow them to process language, spatial relations, and emotions in more diverse and potentially creative ways. Also, a slightly larger number of lefties are especially gifted in math and music, which indicates that mathematicians often being musical may not be a coincidence.

The benefits of left-handers extend up to the realm of competitive sports. In sports that utilize hands, such as tennis and baseball, being in the position of minority can be a tactical advantage since most right-handers do not have that much experience playing against left-handed players.

Whatever the advantages, handedness seems to be genetic. With ten percent of people preferring their left hand, there could be some selective advantage in some areas of lives. However, to simply maintain lefties as smarter than righties seem to be unsubstantiated.