by Priyanka Singh.
The Why Series!
Ananya, I have often wondered the same. Thanks to your question, now I know the answer too. There are several studies conducted on the uniqueness of our hands, thanks to our wonderful and unique opposable thumb. Do you know that humans are the only animal in the world to have a perfectly placed thumb opposable to all the fingers. Try opening a door without your thumb. You can’t! Right! This particular trait of ours has opened a lot of doors for us (That’s what we call a pun!).
The most popular theory is as follows:
During the stone ages humans learned to make stone tools. This was an invention out of necessity – for food and to protect themselves from wild animals. This trait required hand strength and dexterity (ease of using hands). Over the time, their hands evolved i.e. their thumb separated from the rest of the fingers and the fingers rearranged in size to provide strength and precision to do basic activities like pinching and squeezing.
There are two kinds of grips that a human hand can manage:
1. Precision grip: Halfway fold your fingers as if you are about to catch a ball. This grip was needed to drink water, catch things, etc.
2. Power grip: Observe your fingers when you hold a cricket bat in your hands. Your fingers completely curl around the object. This grip was needed to hold tools.
Can you guess what is the most primary weapon that we can wield when emergency arises – It’s our fist. Observe your fingers while making a fist. Do you think we could have made a fist if our fingers were of the same length? It is because of the difference in the sizes that we can perform this function. When we try to curl our fingers, all our finger joints come in a straight line and form a shape that protects itself when we fight.
