You’ve seen it in movies. A surgeon switches the scalpel to their left hand to reach a tricky artery, or a baseball player steps to the other side of the plate to mess with a pitcher’s head. It looks like a superpower. Most of us are stuck in a world designed for righties, fumbling with scissors or smudging ink across a page if we happen to be part of the 10% who favor the left. But then there are the rare few.
What is it called when you can use both hands? Ambidexterity.
It sounds simple. Just use both hands, right? Not exactly. True ambidexterity is actually incredibly rare—affecting only about 1% of the global population. Most people who think they are ambidextrous are actually "cross-dominant" or "mixed-handed." There is a massive difference between being able to sign your name with both hands and simply using a fork with your left while you write with your right.
The Brain Science of the "Both-Handed"
Being ambidextrous isn’t just about having talented fingers. It’s about how your brain is wired. In a typical right-handed person, the left hemisphere of the brain is dominant for motor tasks. For the ambidextrous, the division of labor is much more symmetrical.
Scientists have looked at this for decades. Dr. Ruth Propper, a psychology professor who specializes in handedness, has noted that the way the two halves of the brain communicate—via the corpus callosum—is often different in people who don’t have a strong hand preference. This sounds like an advantage. You’d think having a "balanced" brain would make you a genius.
It's actually more complicated.
Some studies have suggested that because the brain lacks a clear "leader" hemisphere for certain tasks, ambidextrous individuals might actually face slight delays in processing certain types of information. It’s like having two drivers in a car both trying to grab the steering wheel. Sometimes they work in perfect harmony; other times, they hesitate. It’s a trade-off. You get versatility, but you might lose a tiny bit of specialized speed.
Ambidextrous vs. Mixed-Handed: Which Are You?
Honestly, most people who claim to be ambidextrous are actually displaying mixed-handedness, also known as cross-dominance.
Think about your daily routine. Do you throw a ball with your right hand but eat with your left? Do you use a computer mouse with your right hand because that’s how the desk was set up, even though you’re a "leftie"? That’s cross-dominance. It’s often a learned behavior. Because our world is built for right-handed people, many left-handers naturally develop cross-dominant traits just to survive.
True ambidexterity means you can perform any task with either hand with equal precision. That is the gold standard. Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the most famous example in history. He could famously write with one hand while drawing with the other—simultaneously. Most of us can barely walk and chew gum.
Then there is ambilevous. This is the one nobody wants. It’s the "double-left-handed" condition where both hands are equally clumsy. If you’ve ever felt like you have ten thumbs, you might just be ambilevous.
Why Do We Care About Handedness Anyway?
Evolution is weird. If being ambidextrous was such a massive advantage, wouldn't we all be doing it by now?
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Biologists think the reason 90% of humans are right-handed is tied to the development of language. Since the left hemisphere of the brain usually handles language, and it also controls the right side of the body, the two functions likely evolved together. Specialization is efficient. By letting one side of the brain take the lead on fine motor skills, the brain saves energy.
However, in certain fields, being "both-handed" is a massive flex.
- Sports: In tennis, a player like Rafael Nadal (who is naturally right-handed but plays left-handed) creates nightmare angles for opponents. In basketball, being able to layup with either hand is the difference between a benchwarmer and a D1 starter.
- Surgery: Surgeons who can use both hands effectively can operate longer with less fatigue and access difficult angles without moving the patient.
- Music: Piano players and percussionists are the closest many of us get to functional ambidexterity. You have to train the non-dominant hand to keep up, or the music falls apart.
The Dark Side of Forcing It
In the early 20th century, it was common for teachers to force left-handed children to write with their right hands. This was a disaster.
The practice, often rooted in the belief that left-handedness was "sinister" (the Latin word sinister literally means "left"), caused significant psychological stress. Kids developed stutters, dyslexia, and various learning disabilities because their brains were being forced to rewire themselves against their natural biological inclination.
You can't really "force" true ambidexterity if your brain isn't built for it. You can train "functional" use, sure. You can learn to brush your teeth with your off-hand. But the deep-seated neural pathways that dictate dominance are mostly set before you're even born.
Famous "Both-Handies" and the Myths Around Them
People love to claim famous figures were ambidextrous. Ben Franklin? Likely. Nikola Tesla? Most accounts say yes.
But there’s also a lot of junk science out there. You might have heard that ambidextrous people are more likely to have lower IQs or are more prone to ADHD. While some studies, like those published in Pediatrics, have shown a correlation between mixed-handedness and ADHD symptoms in children, it's not a rule. It’s a statistical nudge.
And let’s talk about the "Right Brain vs. Left Brain" myth. You’ve heard it: "Right-brained people are creative, left-brained are logical." It’s basically astrology for people who like lab coats. The brain is far more integrated than that. Ambidextrous people aren't necessarily "more creative" just because they use both sides; they just have a different way of managing motor signals.
Can You Learn to Be Ambidextrous?
If you weren't born with the 1% luck, can you get there?
Sorta. You can develop learned ambidexterity. This is a common goal for artists or athletes. It’s all about neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new connections. If you start performing small tasks with your non-dominant hand, your brain slowly starts to allocate more "real estate" to those movements.
It starts with the small stuff.
- Brushing your teeth.
- Stirring coffee.
- Using your phone.
- Eventually, trying to write the alphabet.
It’s frustrating. It feels like your hand is a piece of lead. But over months, the "clumsiness" fades. You won't change your DNA, but you will increase your functional capability.
The Practical Reality
At the end of the day, what is it called when you can use both hands? Ambidexterity is the term, but "adaptability" is the reality.
In a world that is increasingly digital, our handedness is actually mattering less. Keyboards are ambidextrous. Touchscreens don't care which thumb you use. We are moving toward a "post-handed" era in many ways, though the physical world still has a long way to go to catch up to the needs of the lefties and the truly ambidextrous.
If you find yourself switching hands naturally, embrace it. It’s a rare biological quirk that gives you a unique perspective on how you interact with the physical world. Just don't expect it to make you the next Da Vinci overnight.
How to Test and Develop Your Own Dominance
If you're curious about where you fall on the spectrum, there are actual ways to measure it beyond just "I feel like I'm a rightie."
- The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory: This is the gold standard used by researchers. It asks you which hand you prefer for ten different activities (writing, drawing, throwing, using scissors, toothbrush, knife without fork, spoon, broom, striking a match, and opening a box). It gives you a score from -100 (pure left) to +100 (pure right). Most people are surprised to find they aren't as "pure" as they thought.
- The Mirror Writing Test: Try writing a sentence normally with your dominant hand. Then, try writing it in "mirror image" (from right to left) with your non-dominant hand. Interestingly, some people find mirror writing with their non-dominant hand easier than writing normally with it.
- Focus on the "Off-Side": To improve your own hand-eye coordination, spend 15 minutes a day doing "low-stakes" tasks with your non-dominant hand. Don't try to chop vegetables (safety first), but try using your computer mouse or washing dishes.
- Mind the Fatigue: If you are training your non-dominant hand, watch out for "mental fatigue." Using your non-preferred side requires significantly more cognitive load. If you start getting a headache or feeling unusually tired, your brain is telling you it's working overtime.
Developing this skill isn't just a party trick. It can actually be a protective measure. Studies on stroke recovery often show that people who had some level of pre-existing mixed-handedness or who practiced using their non-dominant hand had a slightly easier time with "functional retraining" after a brain injury. It’s essentially building a backup system for your motor skills.
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Whether you call it ambidexterity, cross-dominance, or just being handy, having two functional tools at the end of your arms is better than one. It takes patience, but the neural rewards are worth the initial clumsiness.