Right, Left, or Both?

Interesting question.

Unfortunately, I dunno. Some people certainly seem to be truly ambidextrous. I do suspect that even people who are naturally ambidextrous wind up picking one or the other for most things. I knew a girl in high school who could write the same with either hand--I found out when she broke her wrist and I saw her writing and said, "Oh, good thing you're left-handed!" She wasn't. *g* You honestly couldn't tell from the handwriting. If you flipped back a few pages in her notebook and looked at stuff she'd written before she hurt her wrist, it looked exactly the same. Then there are people like Leonardo da Vinci and his famous backwards-writing notebooks. There have been people who could demonstrate writing with both hands simultaneously.

Biologically, there do seem to be ways in which the opposite halves of the brain develop differently, quite naturally, which is theoretically where handedness comes from. On the other hand (no pun intended) there are lots of things that require great dexterity with either the less common dominant hand, or from both hands (playing the violin, for example, where you use the left hand for fingering, or the piano, where you must use both). So I would say that it's probably more 'natural' to use one hand rather than the other for certain things, it's also largely a matter of practice.

ETA: Well, I'm glad you liked it so far, so I'll take that as permission to ramble a little longer. *g*

So my original answer was using the word "ambidextrous" in the sense I took you to mean it--an adult who can write (or do whatever task we normally associate with the dominant hand) equally well with the left and the right hand. Clearly there are people who CAN learn to do it with either hand, but I think you're asking whether or not there are people to whom it really makes no difference, right? I'm in neurology, and handedness is actually part of the basic examination--"This is a 9-year-old right-handed boy who presents with..." So I'll elaborate from the neurological point of view.

A normal baby, up until about a year to 18 months of age, displays no preference for one hand over the other. This is in fact something we (peds neuro types) check for, because a preference at that age may be a sign that something is wrong with the other hand or arm. In that sense, we are all born ambidextrous.

However, most normal people NATURALLY begin using one hand in preference to the other for fine motor tasks at some point, and the first one you notice is usually writing/drawing. A one-year-old will scribble with either hand. A three-year-old will almost always use one hand over the other. Somewhere in there, something has happened, and that something is brain development. The brain is not totally symmetrical by the time it finishes developing--certain areas will be more developed than others. (Grossly, they look the same, but functionally, they are not.) But the problem with answering your question is that it's very difficult to separate out how much of that is learned versus innate development. Most people don't practice using both hands to do the same task, so it's hard to say. Children definitely do instinctively make the switch on their own, so at least part of it is innate. But it's also not instinctive to write letters or draw pictures--you have to *learn* to do that--and there is no particular reason why it's hard to do it with either hand, except that we don't practice at it, so the nondominant hand (and corresponding side of the brain) doesn't wind up being very good at it. I would also hesitate to offer an opinion on *how* natural it is to use both hands equally for any given task. As I said earlier, there are plenty of examples of people mastering the same skills with the nondominant side, but whether it's because their brains are intrinsically different or they just always practiced with both is another story. It does seem to be much more natural to some people, and those people might be your 'true ambidextrous', but I still suspect their brains would display differences if you did the right studies.

Does that make sense? From a practical standpoint, babies = truly ambidextrous. Developing children = generally normal tendency for handedness preference, but training/practice = equal facility with both hands, or even greater facility with a nondominant hand. From a developmental standpoint, babies = symmetry and adults = differentiated development, but how much of the development is totally innate and how much is due to practice and reinforcement of neural pathways...well, that might make a good thesis paper one of these days. (There is tons of research on these things already, I'm just trying to answer so this makes sense to a layman with a question.)

Personally, i can use both hands for almost all tasks but i wouldn't say that i'm ambidextrous. I prefer to use my right hand for most tasks involving direct thought and impulse processes such as writing and precision tasks but favour my left when performing tasks such as using a knife for eating, catching and using a mouse

My own thoughts (not really based on firm evidence) are that one half of the brain is responsible for creative proceses and the other for informational processing. For someone who is ambidextrous, one hand is controlled by the informational processing side of the brain and the other by the creative side.

People access various sides of the brain subconciously for example when speaking on the phone. When listening to a caller through the right ear a personal conection with caller is likely and the left ear signifies information processing. However this could be because a peson who is right handed holds the phone with their left hand whilst writing with their right.

If the input stimulus can access desired portions of the brain, why can't the output processes take stimulus from the different portions of the brain?

For your regular Joe Bloggs, the process of output stimulus is manifested through one hand only and it is the ambidextrous person who has the ability to split the output channel to both hands.

I guess in response to your question, i don't believe that people are truely ambidexterous as i think that they would favour a side over the other and that the brain effects indevidual sides so someone may not necassarily be able to write as neat with their right hand as opposed to their left.

Yes, there is certain thing as ambidextrous. Ambidextrous means to "equally skillful with each hand" but some people may favor one hand over the other or they may use both equally.

Right handed