| Gordon_Hartig_Translation_Services Translations of historic German handwritten papers, and old printed German. Translations of handwritten French and Dutch papers also. |
| Pastplaces_com A database to find or list memories of houses, people, property, streets, friends, schools, workplaces, or towns. Includes instructions and a way to create an account. |
| Alternative_Futures_Associates AFA provides futures research services to business and industry. Using such methods as vision coaching, scenario development, environmental scanning and forecasting, and futures workshops, they provi |
| Amber_Network_-_Creative_Coaching_and_Leadership_Development Leadership workshops and training programs for businesses and organizations; focussed on multiple leadership skills including foresight. |
| Annimac_Consultants Futurist Anni Macbeth provides seminars, workshops, keynotes, and essays; this site includes current and archived newsletters and articles exploring forecasts, ideas about the future, and life coachin |
| Christensen_Associates_Management_Consultants,_Inc_ Offers seminars and workshops in futures research, project management, product development, and manager development. Located in Playa del Rey, California. |
| Creating_At_Will Describes services offered by Laurie Sheppard in life coaching, individual change management and strategic planning, and career development; includes client testimonials, workshop descriptions, and bo |
| David_Pearce_Snyder Contains current papers, interviews, letters, lecture descriptions, publications, and reprints; each focussed on a different change trend. |
| The_Domani_Group Research, training, and design services in issues management, forecasting, and scenario-based planning; conducts focus groups and Delphi analyses of organizational stakeholders regarding critical iss |
| Future_Management_Group Research and training to enhance entrepreneurial foresight, including data on change and emerging markets and management of both opportunities and uncertainties which result; presentations, research, |
| Future_Speak Coordinates requests between organizations and futures speakers and facilitators for lectures, briefings, workshops, and conferences; lists sample forecasts. |
| The_Futures-Lab Forecasting and foresight for businesses, emphasizing creativity and the unexpected for purposes of branding, reinvention, and strategic positioning; on-line resources include program descriptions, ar |
| Futurist_com Offers keynote speeches, seminars, scenario building and preferred future workshops; site contains many articles on future trends, ideas on business, space, and science fiction. |
| Gene_Stephens,_Futurist_ Includes background, clients, "creative futures" (a brief overview on futures thinking), and "food for thought" (examples of emerging change). |
| Global_Future_Forum A fee-based service linking futurists, decision-makers, and business leaders in order to inject foresight into decision-making and expand available foresight tools; organizes conferences, research rep |
| Global_Options Offers resources related to futures studies, peace studies, systems studies, conflict resolution, and spirituality; essays, course descriptions, course modules and workshops, and an introduction to fu |
| Infinite_Futures__Foresight_Training_and_Facilitation Includes futures research-based presentations, essays, course syllabi, research tools, and group process exercises to enhance foresight in communities, organizations, and individuals. |
| Jim_Pinto Consultant with expertise in industrial automation offers technology foresight, business strategies, angel investing, and merger and acquisition services; site features extensive essay collection and |
| Joseph_Coates_Consulting_Futurist,_Inc_ Offers services including consulting, articles, workshops and speeches about the study of the future; extensive online resources list. |
| Karl_Albrecht_International Lectures and workshops to improve thinking, leadership, and awareness of emerging change; includes lecture and workshop descriptions, books, videos, and downloads of powerpoint slides. |
| Leading_Futurists_LLC Services include research on emerging issues of change, scenario building, keynote speeches, workshops, and strategy formulation; site includes "Insight" essays on futures thinking. Principals: Jenni |
| Marcel_Bullinga Offers presentations and workshops focussed on emerging Internet trends and their impacts on organizations; site contains article reprints and description of "Future Check" workshops. |
| Planet-TECH_Associates Designs community and policy innovations for social, economic, and environmental progress; creates interactive websites for community learning and decision-making; and builds on-line futures learning |
| Prospectiva Offers training in foresight, emerging issues analysis, scenario building and planning, and in futures-focussed curriculum resource development for teachers, including an on-line interactive module fo |
| Prospektiker Basque futures consulting firm specializing in economic development and local and urban planning using trends-based impact assessment and strategy formation. |
| Roger_Dennis_-_Technology_Strategy_and_Research Technological forecasting, research, and strategy services focussed on the computer and telecommunications sectors; contact information and link to example work on client's site. |
| Social_Technologies Offers services in technology foresight, forecasting, scenario planning, vision, creativity, and leadership; includes examples of typical "Global Lifestyle" briefs. |
| Van_der_Werff_Global Concentrates on global trends that affect business and the future of the workplace. Offers critical trends listed by sector, a strategic planning model, articles, and an annotated bibliography. |
| The_Vision_Center_for_Futures_Creation A Swedish consulting and training company specializing in studies of the future; includes a futurist "learning style inventory," articles, an on-line newsletter (free registration required), and book |
| Weiner,_Edrich,_Brown,_Inc_ Firm founded in 1977 identifies and evaluates emerging issues of change for strategic management. Services include research, workshops, and speaking; the "From Our Files" section offers synopses of pa |
| Z_+_Partners Specializes in emerging futures and forecasting as bootstraps to ideation, design innovation, and branding; articles, interviews, book reviews and blog available on-line. |
| Vivaphilosophy Portal to Western and Eastern philosophy. Covers news, references, branches, and philosophers. |
| Alexander,_Bevin US military historian, strategist, and author. With excerpts, articles, commentary and a Q&A section dealing with military history and foreign affairs. |
| Alf_J__Mapp,_Jr_ Showcases the works of this historian and scholar. |
| Arazi,_Doron Israeli historian, journalist and author. Recent articles, primarily in German, available. |
| Bacon,_Jacqueline An independent author of books on African-American history, media criticism, African-American and women's rhetoric, and other topics. Biography, bibliography, and reviews available. |
| Carley,_Michael_Jabara Contains information on this historian's publications, courses, editorial, and publishing activities. |
| Catholic_Encyclopedia__John_Emerich_Edward_Dalberg_Acton,_Baron_Acton Biography of the historian best-known for his view of the corruption power causes. |
| Fernand_Braudel_Center_for_the_Study_of_Economies,_Historical_Systems,_and_Civilizations Binghamton University center which continues Braudel's study of large-scale social change over long periods of historical time. Papers, description of scholarly activities and events, and organization |
| Gilbert,_Sir_Martin Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. Includes biography, bibliography and lecture schedule. |
The Sinister Hand
Reporter:Geoff Burchfield
Producer:Andrew Holland
On Air: Thursday 30 April at 8pm.
Mick's young daughter has just begun to draw and it has Mick worried. She seems to naturally favour her left-hand. So Mick's decided to subtly persuade her to use her right-hand. Afterall we live in a right-handed world - everything from scissors and can openers to computers and power tools are all designed to work best for the 90% of us who are right-handed.
What's more, over the years science has claimed that the left-handed are prone to all manner of ills. Alcoholism, autism, bed-wetting and brain damage, immune disorders, even a shorter live span are just some of the problems linked to left-handedness.
You can understand why left-handers might have a few hang-ups when you look at how harshly they've been treated throughout history. Things got so bad in the 1600's that they were burnt at the stake. Even our languages still cast a stigma on the left side. In English the word left comes from 'lyft' meaning worthless. Italians use 'sinistra' or sinister.
But despite the bias against them, left-handed people seem determined to stay that way. They're even proud of their difference, claiming greater creativity and intelligence. If left-handedness really was a disadvantage evolutionary forces would have weeded it out long ago.
Where then does left-handedness come from? Theories abound. It could be that due to a dose of hormones within the womb, or just the inevitable consequence of the right-handed world we have created.
Now it's emerging that something strange may have happened to humans. It's possible that up until two million years ago we didn't care which hand we used. Then suddenly our brains changed, we developed language and we all became right-handed. Left-handedness didn't appeared on the scene until much more recently, and only in the last five thousand years have there been as many around as there are today. Could left-handers be a new improved version of our species just as they've been telling us all along?
Further Information:
Professor Michael Corballis
Department of Psychology
University of Auckland
Dr William Hopkins
Yerkes Primate Research Center
Emory University
Atlanta Georgia USA
Email: whopkins@berry.edu
Professor Chris McManus
Professor of Psychology & Medical Education
Department of Psychology
University College of London
Bedford Way
London WC1 E68T
Email: i.mcmanus@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Michael Nicholls
Department of Psychology
University of Melbourne
Parkville VIC 3052
Email: nicholls@psych.unimelb.edu.au
Dr James Steele
Department of Archaeology
University of Southampton
Highfield, Southampton
England
Email: tjms@soton.ac.uk
On the Web:
The Sinister Hand Web Feature
The tv script of the story
Creation of the Sinister: Biological Contributions to Left-handedness by Monica Watkins
What Causes Left-handedness?
link back to Quantum home page
© 1998 Australian Broadcasting
Corporation
