A marked tendency to right-handedness seems evident in modern technology - for example, the shutter button on cameras is always on the right, while espresso machines always have the steam injector on the right.

I was wondering if the direction of particular types of writing is a clue to whether the people inventing them were left- or right-handed.  For example, were the R>L Hebrew and Arabic scripts more likely to be invented by left-handers, and did the L>R Roman/Greek scripts come from right-handers?

I've no idea if Chinese or other oriental scripts (especially when written in columns) exhibit 'handedness', but I'd be interested to know.

When playing a conventional "right-handed" stringed instrument such as a guitar or violin, the player uses their right hand to pluck the strings or hold the bow, and uses the left hand to stop the strings on the fret or fingerboard. Of these two types of action, the left hand appears to be doing much more complicated and extended fine-motor movements than the right hand.

So why is this the preferred configuration of the instrument for right-handers? Left-handed instruments are available as mirror-image versions - Paul McCartney has guitars like this - which suggests some left-handers also prefer the same relative allocation of hand activities.

Tony Baker Victoria, British Columbia, Canada