[IrishElk] That's Why He's Called That

[irishelk]

Across the entire human population, only about 10% of people are left-handed. Many animal species have also been shown to have "handedness," or favor one side or the other. In those species, there also tends to be either right-handed (right-pawed) dominance, or an even 50%/50% split.

However, I can think of one population that is almost entirely left-handed, and it has nothing to do with sports. Who are they?


Based on something fairly recent, so please refrain from immediate $p0i1age. =)

[gregoryuconn]

PMed possible spoiler, though I doubt it's that because it would be too easy. Assuming it's not....

Do they all have something in common other than left-handedness? Nationality? Ethnicity? City/town of residence? Occupation? Disability? Illness? And to be sure, are they human?

[irishelk]

gregoryuconn

Do they all have something in common other than left-handedness? Yes. Nationality? Ethnicity? City/town of residence? Many of them live near each other, but I believe some do not. Occupation? Disability? Illness? No to rest.
And to be sure, are they human? No...small ish.

[Earnest]

To be sure: human population? Animal population? Ape population? Other populations (object/plant...)? (e.g. statues of a person that was left-handed) Is it a subset of human population? A subset of the 10% of left-handed people? ...I mean...for someone to be defined left-handed I guess the someone (animal, human, object...) need at least one hand right? So can we safely assume that people belonging to such population has one hand? Two hands? And if so they mostly use the left hand? Or they just use the left hand? Do they use hands as human do? Or maybe also to walk? To move?

Is it simple to spot their left-handedness? If so: when they eat? When they perform a relevant action? When they grab things? when they say hello? When they interact/learn to use objects for the first time? When they perform sudden actions (e.g. when a thing is thrown to them their instinct is to grab it with the left hand instead of the right one) Because the right hand is used for something else (e.g. balance)? Because the right hand is different from the left one? Because they do not have right hand at all?

Is left-handedness useful for them? Had they wanted to, could they have been right- handed? If so, would it be practical? Do they have a relevant culture/religion/job/communication habit?

[Zanreo]

Humanoid but not human? Does this population actually exist? Are they living creatures? Fictional characters?

[irishelk]

Earnest

To be sure: human population? No, small ish. Animal population? No, small ish. Ape population? No, even smaller ish. Other populations (object/plant...)? Yesish. (e.g. statues of a person that was left-handed) No, interesting thought. Is it a subset of human population? A subset of the 10% of left-handed people? No.
...I mean...for someone to be defined left-handed I guess the someone (animal, human, object...) need at least one hand right? So can we safely assume that people belonging to such population has one hand? Two hands? This (for most). And if so they mostly use the left hand? Yes. Or they just use the left hand? They occasionally use the right. Do they use hands as human do? Yes. Or maybe also to walk? To move? Generally no.

Is it simple to spot their left-handedness? Yes. If so: when they eat? When they perform a relevant action? When they grab things? when they say hello? When they interact/learn to use objects for the first time? When they perform sudden actions (e.g. when a thing is thrown to them their instinct is to grab it with the left hand instead of the right one) Irr what exactly they're doing.
Because the right hand is used for something else (e.g. balance)? Because the right hand is different from the left one? Because they do not have right hand at all? No to these.

Is left-handedness useful for them? No/irr. Had they wanted to, could they have been right- handed? Not if they wanted to exactly, but this decision could be made. If so, would it be practical? No. Do they have a relevant culture/religion/job/communication habit? No.


Zanreo

Humanoid but not human? Many of them, yes. Does this population actually exist? Hm...I'll say yes. Are they living creatures? No. Fictional characters? Yes.

[gregoryuconn]

Robots? Robots that perform a certain task? Buttons relevant? Relevant that as you face someone (or a robot) your right hand is opposite their left?

[GalFisk]

Are they mirror images? Reflections? Selfies?

[Earnest]

Death humans relevant? Bodies? Pictures?

Are such creatures small? Are they monsters? Pokemons?

Is the title a clue? Is the name left-something? Is there also a right version?

[trebor]

Just in case none of the above posts have nailed it, are they from a specific work of fiction? If so, literary? Film? TV? Internet? Radio? Theatre?

[irishelk]

gregoryuconn

Robots? Robots that perform a certain task? Buttons relevant? Relevant that as you face someone (or a robot) your right hand is opposite their left? No to all. You are thinking vaguely along the right lines...


GalFisk

Are they mirror images? Reflections? Selfies? No, excellent guess though.


Earnest

Death humans relevant? Bodies? Pictures? No.

Are such creatures small? Sizes vary. Are they monsters? Some are, yes. Pokemons? No.

Is the title a clue? It's way too vague to be of any help. Is the name left-something? No. Is there also a right version?


trebor

Just in case none of the above posts have nailed it, are they from a specific work of fiction? Yesish--it encompasses many individual works. If so, literary? Film? This. TV? And this. Internet? Radio? Theatre? I believe so, sometimes.

[irishelk]

HINT if you want it:

They are left-handed because another population is right-handed.

[GalFisk]

Were they created right-handed? But then flipped for some reason? Are they comic book characters created in a left-to-right writing language, and flipped during translation for a right-to-left reading audience, or vice versa?

[trebor]

I think I know this, actually, so I'm sending a PM. If I'm right, this is a clever puzzle.

[irishelk]

GalFisk

Were they created right-handed? No. But then flipped for some reason? Are they comic book characters created in a left-to-right writing language, and flipped during translation for a right-to-left reading audience, or vice versa? No, but thinking along the right lines.


trebor

I think I know this, actually, so I'm sending a PM. If I'm right, this is a clever puzzle. You got it! Sp0i1 if you like, if not we can reveal your insider knowledge later.

[Earnest]

Are they the left-handed version of the right-handed population? i.e. they are exactly the right handed population flipped? They are similar /identical to the right-handed population? Do they repeat the exact same movements of the right handed population with the left hand (e.g. like in reflections)? Are puppets/puppeteers relevant (e.g.I was thinking about puppeteers using both hands to move different puppets, meaning that there is a left-handed population which are puppets moved through the left hand and a right-handed population which are the puppets moved through right hand)? Had they been designed/created by the right-handed population? For the right-handed population? Starting from the right-handed population?

Let's assume we have a charachter (Bob): is there a left-handed and a right-handed version of Bob (the same right-handed Bob transposed in a left-handed world)? Or Bob is either left/right handed?

Addam's family relevant? (e.g. the hand of the Addam's family) Population of left hands? Something that needs to be taken with two hands forcing people to be also left-handed (e.g. Had I not known that movies were relevant I would have said something like dip two biscuits at a time rather than one so that right-handed people should necessarily use the left hand) Emoticons relevant?

[irishelk]

Earnest

Do they repeat the exact same movements of the right handed population with the left hand (e.g. like in reflections)? Are puppets/puppeteers relevant (e.g.I was thinking about puppeteers using both hands to move different puppets, meaning that there is a left-handed population which are puppets moved through the left hand and a right-handed population which are the puppets moved through right hand)? Had they been designed/created by the right-handed population? For the right-handed population? You got it. =)


*************************SPOILER

They are puppets, and I was specifically thinking of the Muppets.

A puppeteer who is right-handed (as, apparently, all the original team for the Muppets were) will typically operate the puppet's body with their right hand, so they will use their left hand to have the puppet gesture with its left hand. Obviously other methods can be designed, but this is often the default. So most puppets, and all the original Muppets, are left-handed!

The title refers to my favorite joke from my favorite Muppet movie:

Mudwell: Dead Tom's dead! Long John shot him!

Walleye Pike: But Dead Tom's always been dead. That's why we call him Dead Tom.

Mudwell: Oh. (drops the corpse)

[Earnest]

Very cool one

[peter365]

Oh that's very clever , as a leftie myself I'm sorry I missed this one.

[trebor]

I’m glad I didn’t spoil. It was great to see Earnest solve it rather quickly.

In case anyone’s wondering, my “insider knowledge” is that I am a professional puppeteer, as well as actor and musician. Futility Closet did a similar puzzle on their podcast - and I think forum members might enjoy their show and website - that I got rather easily due to my field. And I think they reworked it from No Such Thing as a Fish, which irishelk mentioned in a PM to me. Both excellent shows!