Oh yes, those lefty screws. You don't encounter them often, but when you do, they throw you for a little loop. When I read the title of your essay, I thought you were going to talk about left-handedness, not left-handed screws. So many tools in a shop are designed for right-handed people (consider tin snips, most scissors, and calipers).
After an accident in my teen years where I fractured my right elbow, the fracture went undetected for a month after my doctor put my arm in a splint with a tight bandage to hold it more or less motionless. It didn't work. The slight but painful movement caused new bone to grow on the joint, immobilizing my elbow permanently. After detecting the mistake, they had to surgically open the elbow, remove the undesired bone growth (basically break the elbow again and saw away), and let it heal it properly in a cast, followed by physical therapy for months to regain movement (the mouthful pronation/supination movements). Long story short, for a whole year and essentially forever, I had to become a lefty.
As you explained clearly, my brain, used to turn things left to open and right to close or tighten, had to relearn this lefty loosely, righty tightie all over again but flipped. The lefties out there may know what I'm talking about.
If you are right-handed, grab a screwdriver with your left hand and quickly start working on a screw. There will be a moment of pause where you consciously have to work against your intuition and think about how you should turn that screw to loosen or tighten it. Even today, after so many years, I still have to override my intuition when using a screwdriver. I am a lousy mechanic, and IKEA furniture assembly drives me a bit crazy. It takes a little while of conscious retraining to get all the screws going smoothly in the right direction. Worse, I've become ambidextrous over the years and use my left and right hands interchangeably. Handy when screws are in odd positions but crazy when there are many of them, and I switch from left to right hand often. I guess it is a form of brain exercise.
Thank you, John, for writing these essays that make me think and write.
Oh yes, those lefty screws. You don't encounter them often, but when you do, they throw you for a little loop. When I read the title of your essay, I thought you were going to talk about left-handedness, not left-handed screws. So many tools in a shop are designed for right-handed people (consider tin snips, most scissors, and calipers).
After an accident in my teen years where I fractured my right elbow, the fracture went undetected for a month after my doctor put my arm in a splint with a tight bandage to hold it more or less motionless. It didn't work. The slight but painful movement caused new bone to grow on the joint, immobilizing my elbow permanently. After detecting the mistake, they had to surgically open the elbow, remove the undesired bone growth (basically break the elbow again and saw away), and let it heal it properly in a cast, followed by physical therapy for months to regain movement (the mouthful pronation/supination movements). Long story short, for a whole year and essentially forever, I had to become a lefty.
As you explained clearly, my brain, used to turn things left to open and right to close or tighten, had to relearn this lefty loosely, righty tightie all over again but flipped. The lefties out there may know what I'm talking about.
If you are right-handed, grab a screwdriver with your left hand and quickly start working on a screw. There will be a moment of pause where you consciously have to work against your intuition and think about how you should turn that screw to loosen or tighten it. Even today, after so many years, I still have to override my intuition when using a screwdriver. I am a lousy mechanic, and IKEA furniture assembly drives me a bit crazy. It takes a little while of conscious retraining to get all the screws going smoothly in the right direction. Worse, I've become ambidextrous over the years and use my left and right hands interchangeably. Handy when screws are in odd positions but crazy when there are many of them, and I switch from left to right hand often. I guess it is a form of brain exercise.
Thank you, John, for writing these essays that make me think and write.
Thanks, Carlos. That certainly is a turn in a different direction. Glad to know you've adapted so well.
Mnium: I really liked it. It was cool talking about magic and how it’s basically instinct to do righty-tighty lefty-loosy. And good job papa!