The mystery of the tendency is 'off the left' that people don't recognize

According to scientists, when looking at the left side of the face (in the direction of view), the face will bring stronger emotions and regulate the overall emotions of the whole face. So in the above case, the left side of the face is the smiley face, so in general, he is happy, even though the two sad features on his face are balanced.

Some studies have shown that when looking at a person, our right brain mostly works. This is the 'specialized' brain section for face recognition and emotional reading. However, the brain must work through the left side of the body.

So when looking at someone's face, the right brain takes information from the left side of the view and we will determine, remember to the left side of the face, instead of to the right.

Another example confirms that the brain is biased to the left. When you look back at the photo to the left of that person, you get a feeling that this person has a 'more like the left side' face . That is the feeling fooled by the brain.

According to Sam Kean, the best-selling author of the book 'The tale of the dueling neurosurgeons' , the 'left- leaning ' problem has existed and influenced Long time in painting - especially in portrait drawings.

Left-handed viewing habits (left-side bias)

The people sitting in the model always have the feeling on the left side of their face that contains strong emotions and the ability to make a bigger impression on the right. This is an unconscious idea, so in most historical portraits, models tend to tilt to the right, revealing the left chin, instead of staring at the painter.

Instead of looking straight .

. they leaned over, revealing the left side

Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting is a famous example. In the painting, the Mona Lisa tilted her face slightly, revealing her left chin.

Mona Lisa picture

There are many opinions that there is no "bias left" but they seem to be defeated by the reality. If one assumes that their sitting posture is random, the probability is divided equally: 33% look straight, 33% tilt left, 33% tilt right.

However, in more than 1,474 paintings in Europe from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries, more than 60% revealed the left side. Among them, 56% of male paintings are left tilted, while 68% of women.

In another study of more than 50,000 Stone Age specimens, 'left-leaning propensity' has emerged since ancient Greece. Even the statue of Jesus on the cross: the head of Jesus tilted to the right and revealed the left side.

Jesus also "deviates left"

According to Sam Kean, the 'left- leaning ' habit is not related to whether left-handed or right-handed artists and this bias are common.

When the model tiltes his face, his left eye tends to move to the middle of the frame, making the left side more exposed. This aims to help the artist's right hemisphere recognize the face 'more impressive and emotional' .

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, the Dutch artist's self-portrait

Besides, there are exceptions. The picture of famous scientists at the Royal Society reveals the right side. This is relatively confusing and Sam thinks that the scientists do not like to expose many emotions, so they tend to tilt their faces to the left.

However, some doubts argue that this is only the behavior of studying at art schools. If the teacher teaches to reveal the left chin in the drawing, the student will take it and apply it.

In addition, many people consider this to be the Western habit of writing from left to right. However, through some research, Sam objected to this.

He argues that Egypt is a country with a right-to-left script, but most portraits here are also 'left-handed'. In children, they only instinctively draw and have not been exposed to adult painting, but still draw people to the left, so this cannot be learned behavior.

* The article is based on the views of Robert Krulwich, published on the NPR science page.