左撇子“与众不同”？科学真相扑朔迷离

2025/6/19 2:12:44

在大众认知里，左撇子曾被污名化，如今却被赋予聪慧、创新、有...

在大众认知里，左撇子曾被污名化，如今却被赋予聪慧、创新、有艺术天赋等光环。但这些美好印象真有科学依据吗？左撇子是否真更有创造力、更聪明？科学家围绕左撇子展开诸多研究，探究其与精神疾病、免疫系统、犯罪行为等关联，结果却众说纷纭。近年研究还发现，关键或许不在哪只手是优势手，而是主导程度，不同用手倾向的人在思维、共情、决策等方面表现各异。看来，我们对左撇子的刻板印象或许过于片面，这门关于左撇子的科学仍在不断发展，答案依旧充满未知。

The left-handed brand has come a long way in the last few decades.在过去的几十年里，左撇子这个“标签”的境遇已经大为改观。The majority of people no longer assume that southpaws are tools of Satan, alight with hellfire.大多数人不再认为左撇子是燃烧着地狱之火、为撒旦效力的工具了。Today"s lefties are surrounded by a far more benevolent glow.如今的左撇子被一层友善得多的光环所笼罩。We associate left-handedness with intelligence, out-of-the-box thinking, and artistic talent.我们将左撇子与聪慧、创新思维和艺术天赋联系在一起。But are these flattering generalizations backed up by science?但这些听起来不错的概括有科学依据吗？Does being left-handed really make you more creative?左撇子真的会让人更有创造力吗？The answer to that is a definitive … maybe.对此的答案是明确的……大概吧。Scientists have been chipping away at the peculiarities of left-handedness, which occurs in about 10 percent of the population, for a long time.长久以来，科学家们一直在逐步深入研究左撇子的特性——这一群体约占总人口的 10%。They"ve looked into the purported links between left-handedness and things like mental illness, faulty immune systems, and criminal behavior.他们探究了左撇子与精神疾病、免疫系统缺陷以及犯罪行为之间那些所谓的关联。They"ve studied whether lefties are better at problem-solving, and if they"re more likely to die young.他们研究过左撇子是否更擅长解决问题，以及他们是否更容易英年早逝。From all these studies on left-handedness, we can conclude one thing, and one thing alone: science is complicated.从所有这些关于左撇子的研究中，我们可以得出一个，且仅有一个结论：科学是复杂的。A handful of studies has found a link between left-handedness and creativity, conferred (some think) by the fact that left-handed folks constantly have to adjust to a right-handed world.一些研究发现左撇子与创造力之间存在联系，（有人认为）这得益于左撇子们不得不持续适应这个右手主导的世界。Other studies found no link at all.而其他研究则完全没有发现这种联系。Some researchers conclude that lefties are no smarter than righties, while others say that left-handedness comes with a clear intellectual advantage.一些研究者认为左撇子并不比右撇子更聪明，而另一些人则表示，惯用左手带来了明显的智力优势。Is there really a left-handed personality?真的存在所谓的“左撇子性格”吗？Are lefties more prone to schizophrenia and learning disabilities?左撇子更容易患上精神分裂症和学习障碍吗？That depends on whom you ask.这取决于你问的是谁。Are lefties different?左撇子与众不同吗？might not even be the right question.这个问题本身也许就不太对。Over the last few years, a number of studies has concluded that it"s not which hand is dominant that matters—it"s the degree of dominance.近几年来，多项研究表明，重要的并非哪只手是优势手，而是其主导的程度。According to researchers, very few people are truly entirely left- or right-handed; it"s more of a spectrum.据研究人员称，很少有人完全只用左手或右手，大多数人的用手习惯其实有不同的偏向程度。We use our left hands for some things and our right hands for other tasks.我们在做某些事时用左手，而在做另一些事时用右手。These experiments have found that people toward the middle of the spectrum are more flexible thinkers.这些实验发现，左右手使用倾向不特别明显的人，思维更加灵活。They seem to be more empathetic and better able to view things from other people"s perspectives.他们似乎更具同理心，也更能够从他人的视角看待事物。When considering the risks and benefits of any given decision, inconsistent-handed people (as researchers call them) are more likely to focus on the risks, whereas people at the outer edges of the handedness spectrum pay more attention to potential benefits.在权衡任何特定决策的风险与收益时，用手习惯不固定的人（研究人员如此称呼他们）更倾向于关注风险，而那些处于用手习惯谱系两端的人则更注重潜在的益处。They may even sleep differently.他们甚至可能在睡眠方式上也有所不同。It seems we"ve been aiming our stereotypes a little too far to the left.看来我们以往对左撇子的刻板印象有点过于“偏左”了。But who knows?不过，谁知道呢？This is ever-changing, constantly evolving science.这是一门日新月异、不断发展的科学。If you"re a lefty who enjoys feeling superior, we"re not going to tell you to tone it down.如果你是个乐于享受优越感的左撇子，我们可不会劝你低调点。For all we know, you could be right.谁知道呢，说不定你们左撇子才是对的（右的）。内容来源：每日英语听力｜双语精读等