Puzzler Answer, 5/12/97: Historical Roots of Anti-Leftism

RAY: Here's the puzzler. I was reading something the other day where I discovered that Leonardo Da Vinci was left handed, but he wrote backwards -- that is he wrote from the right hand side of the page to the left. So you need a mirror to read his writing. So I said, "huh! That's kind of interesting. I wonder why he did that?" Then I remembered when we were kids -- well, when you were a kid they were still writing with stones...

TOM:No, we had hammers.

RAY: But when I was a kid, every kid that was a lefty was forced to write right-handed almost without exception. And back then there was a very good reason for it. A practical reason which for the most part does not exist today. And the question is very simply, "what was that reason?"

TOM: Hmmm...yeah. Well back when we were children we wrote with fountain pens, which had ink. Actually we wrote with the ink wells -- we had ink wells on our desks and if you dipped the pen in the ink well and you write from left to right you do not smudge the ink as you go along because you are leaving the written words behind you. But if you are a lefty and you do that -- as you drag your hand across the paper you are messing and smudging everything. So they hit the kids with big sticks...

RAY: That's not why though.

TOM: That's not why they hit the kids?

RAY: No. I mentioned this to my daughter who is a lefty and she said "well, it still happens."

TOM: Even with ball point -- yes that's true.

RAY: "When I write," she said, "left to right, left handed, I still smudge the paper -- even with pencils." So there you go.

TOM: Well you are just going to have to start beating it out of her.

RAY: I think so. I'll start tomorrow.

TOM: Start tomorrow.

RAY: Hey who's our winner?

TOM: The winner! David B. Adolfus from Burlington, Vermont. Hey that's where my wife was born!

RAY: Really?

TOM: I don't remember.

RAY: Now, you are lying.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]