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If Cooper got on before Mitchell he sat on the right if he came up the stairs...I would of sat on the left side.

I considered this too and looked at my decision making process as a right-hander and found that I tend to favor taking a seat to my right...or to the left if there's a good looking woman involved.

Handedness plus:

You guys are asking the wrong questions because, hand dominance and visual dominance work together in 99% of all normally wired humans (and primates) ... that was the case for Cooper as it has been in human history going back as far as research can go (including measurements of Neanderthal and Hominid skeletal remains).

80-95% of all male Caucasians are right hand dominant. Cooper probably belongs to that group.

There is a debate about whether handedness is the result of Nature vs Nurture, genetics vs environmental factors.  Some geneticists believe handedness is determined in the womb, as the result of a gene, PCSK6, a gene involved in turning the fetal spherical ball of equally oriented cells into a differentiated embryo that displays left vs. right side traits. Because, it is those fetal cells that will determine how the brain and eyes are formed and organise, how the spine and neural system, limbs, and other body parts are formed and wired as a cohesive whole. Handedness and visual dominance (right vs left) develop together and may be determined during this critical period in the womb. Over 85% of most Caucasian males will be right brain dominant at birth, and right handed, and right eye dominant. It was the same for our ancestors.

Hand dominance and right vs left eye visual dominance go together, neurologically. You cannot talk about one without also talking about the other - they are a bound trait pair, neurologically, in all normal primates.

If Cooper sat on the right side of the plane at the back, chances are he was right handed and right eye dominant. This would give a person with 20/20 vision a clear view ahead, and a normal sense of kinesthetic balance for a right handed right eye dominant person, especially if passengers are moved out of his visual path. But there is a further advantage to sitting in this position if he is right eye dominant. People have two eyes that work together. Right eye dominance carries with it acute sensitivity to 'motion' in the left eye 'peripheral' zone; socalled ‘averted vision zone in a dark adapted eye’, an advantage for sensing 'motion in the left hand edge of visual acuity'. That would mean a sensitivity to motion on his far left hand side. People generally orient themselves in space to accommodate their visually dominant eye but that extends to peripheral vision in the opposite eye also. In fact our motor neurology is wired to orient according to a person’s visually dominant eye, especially in situations involving stress where motor activity may be involved in an emergency for speedy self protection. These are well known principles in tactical defense training.

The seat Cooper sat in (18C) aligns with both right handedness and right eye dominance... as I understand his seating choice. It aligns with the known statistical choices based on how human neurology works.

So, the issue is not simply right vs left handed, but right vs left eye dominance also, since both systems work together neurologically.

*it has been a long stressful day. I applaud all those keeping things going . . . and now Im going to make a hot cup of coffee for some personal time.

Interesting discussion and interesting tangents.  If the FBI knew for sure he was a lefty, then that would really narrow the field. 

For the smokers or friends of smokers-Could Cooper have used his non dominant hand to smoke and not give himself away?  Smoking seems like one of those habits that is so repetitive, that doing it with the other hand would look a little odd.  And, he smoked 7 or 8 cigarettes, so there was plenty of time to observe him.

I'm trying to visualize him smoking, one hand in the briefcase, one with a cigarette, his bourbon drink.  Lots of variables here.

Just my 2 cents worth on which side of a plane one might sit on as it relates to right or left handed. I’ve been flying a lot in my 79 years and I’m basically right handed. Every single time I chose a seat, it’s had nothing whatsoever to do with being right handed ! I choose my seat according to what view I want to see and also according to the sun direction. For instance IF I’m flying from Vegas to Portland, I know what side of airplane will provide me with whatever I want to see ! It’s not rocket science here. If I want to view Crater Lake, Mt. Jefferson, Three Sisters, Mt. Hood etc, I sit on right side of plane. if I want to see Lake Tahoe and Mt. Shasta, I sit on left side of plane. I’d also like to note that right handed people almost always wear their wrist watch on their left hand. I’m different there but I also like to bat left handed and am better at shuffleboard with my left. I guess I don’t see the correlation between what side of a plane a person sits on and whether that person is left or right handed ! JMHO

Does a pickled herring know it is pickled?    

Some OCD person who claims to know everything will feel they must answer this, and not be the slightest embarrassed!