Evolution of arc welding Design in welding MicroTack - Kemppi

26
JOYSTORY
Scitsanmyg
niarb
The world’s greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci,
was left-handed. The same is true of the creator
of the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein.
And Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt, and
Michelangelo were not just great men but also
left-handed, as was Pablo Picasso.
The musicians David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and
Paul McCartney are all left-handers. Bill Gates
is another southpaw. The next President of the
USA may be a left-hander too, though it’s too
early to tell at the time of writing this article.
Have a look at the list of prominent left-handed
people on Wikipedia, and you’re sure to be
amazed. The list is surprisingly long and notable
for its range of people, when you consider that
just over 10 per cent of the population are lefthanded.
Left-handedness is more common in men than
in women. It’s even more common among
chimpanzees, about half of whom are lefthanded.
Could this be yet another indication
that men’s place on the evolutionary ladder
is somewhere between chimpanzees and
women?
Scientifi c research has shown that left-handed
people are more likely to end up on top in
society – or sink right to the bottom. Their
talents are often said to be extremist. At any rate,
they seem to have a better ability to see things
from a diff erent angle, which is a requirement
for creativity.
This idea of left-handers being particularly
creative people is just common sense. After all,
they have to fi nd creative solutions in order to
deal with all sorts of everyday situations: scissors
are generally made for the wrong hand, the
toilet roll holder is on the wrong wall, the coff ee
cup handle is on the wrong side… Life is full of
challenges that we have to deal with, one way
or another.
Kemppi ProNews 1 • 2008
© Jann Lipka / Gorilla
This leads to the question of whether the idea of
left-handedness could be used to develop one’s
perception. It could be a direct benefi t in terms
of growth in productivity, particularly in tasks
requiring creativity, such as planning, design,
and marketing.
If right-handed people attempted to write with
their left hand or tried to look at the world from
another viewpoint than usual, wouldn’t that
enhance their brain activity and open new
neural pathways, thereby enabling creative
solutions to problems?
It seems that way to me. Recently I’ve been
reading about ‘neurobics’, which is a kind of
aerobics for your mind. It aims to get you out
of your usual routines, to do things in a diff erent
way from the usual and use objects ‘the wrong
way round’. Writing with the wrong hand and
mirror-writing, for example, are stimulating
activities that are sure to get anyone’s brain
thinking outside the box.
Leonardo da Vinci, mentioned at the beginning
of this article, is well known for his mirror-writing,
as anyone who has read Dan Brown’s bestselling
The Da Vinci Code will know. Mirrorwriting
means writing ‘backwards’ by hand,
so that your writing is legible with the aid of a
mirror. It’s a real challenge, and it will get your
brain working. Give it a try!
Neurobic exercises and holidays also go very well
together. All you need to do is go on a motoring
holiday to England or some other place where
the traffi c resembles mirror-writing.
But I don’t recommend welding with the ‘wrong’
hand – creativity does have its limits! By the way,
do you know of any left-handed welders? █
-jupo