Eight Months

That's all it takes, according to Wikipedia. In their article on left handedness, someone has made the following claim. Causes of left-handedness include:

Long-term impairment of the right hand: People with long-term impairment of the right hand are more likely to become left-handed, even after their right hand heals. Such long term impairment is defined as eight months or more.

Now, aside from the fact that this is tagged with a "citation needed" link, showing that it is unconfirmed, it raises some interesting points. That is, using one's non-dominant hand for a period of eight months is sufficient to develop dominance in that hand.

That's a major claim, and one that I intend to test for myself. I've already spent the last couple of days attempting complete left-hand reliance. I've even been writing entirely left handed at work--thankfully, I've gotten good enough at this now so that I can get away with it. As long as I keep thinking about it, I think I can develop the right habits.

Now, I just need to keep it up for eight months. In time for St. Patrick's Day of next year.

I think this is an entirely realistic project. I'm a touch typist (approximately 85-90 wpm), and both hands have equal dexterity. Actually, since I type on a qwerty keyboard, the left hand probably has greater dexterity. In other words, I know that complete dexterity is a skill that I can develop, with lots of practice.

Before I embark on this long project, I need to state to myself why I'm doing it. I remember telling someone once that I was tired of my left hand getting a free ride, and that's actually part of it. But I think the biggest reason is because I hate being clumsy at anything, and as of right now, I've got an entire half of my body that's nearly useless. (Sure, that's an exaggeration, but so what?) It's past time that I evened the playing field a bit.