According to the recently published results of a study by biologist David Carrier, the human hand, when formed into a fist, was an evolutionary advantage for early humans:
For this latest study, he and co-author Michael Morgan, a medical student, conducted three experiments. First, they analyzed what happened when men, aged from 22 to 50, hit a punching bag as hard as they could. The peak stress delivered to the bag -- the force per area -- was 1.7 to 3 times greater with a fist strike compared with a slap.
"Because you have higher pressure when hitting with a fist, you are more likely to cause injury to tissue, bones, teeth, eyes and the jaw," Carrier said. [...]
In terms of the size and shape of hand anatomy, the scientists point out that humans could have evolved manual dexterity with longer thumbs, but without the fingers and palms getting shorter.
Gorilla hands are closer in proportion to human hands than are other apes' hands, but they and no other ape -- aside from us -- hits with a clenched fist.
Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: Adam Merton
Comments (2)
I als remember that fists are not suitable for hitting a head of a person, ... this was the reason why boxing gloves have been invented...
The higher pressure when hitting with a fist also leads to higher stress values for the tinier bones of your hand... That is hitting something with a fist also has a higer rist of self-injury...
All in all i am not convinced....
I rather thing of other possible reasons for a shorter and thicker Thumb such as a shorter lever for compensating the force of 4 fingers...
I don't think so.
But its good :)
Jojo
They have to be cheese curds, squeaky ones.
And the gravy has to be the exact kind of gravy with just the right salty kick.
When I was living in Canada (up until about a year ago), I didn't care much for poutine. Now that I'm living in the U.S., I crave it all the time. Maybe I just miss all things Canadian (like Harveys, Timmys, the Tire - you Canucks know what I'm talkin' 'bout).
I've noticed there are a LOT of Canadians working for MS, Amazon, etc. in Seattle, and I think the "geek food" thing has been caused by all the CDN ex-pats having similar cravings for food that isn't as readily available to them (at least from what I've seen in Seattle, it isn't, and believe me, I've looked). I'm not sure what the situation is like in other geek-filled cities - I calls 'em as I sees 'em.
Only they called it Hobo Fries. We did feel like hobos when we ate it.
It's essentially chips with your favourite Yiros/Kebab topping. For those who don't know, that means shavings of either Lamb or Chicken, with garlic/aoli sauce, tomato sauce and BBQ sauce...
But being that I'm always drunk when I eat it, I can not recall if there is anything else on it, but it is the best cure for a hangover before it has even started.
Having said this, I never recommend eating an AB sober. Ever. It is horrible. But you're in heaven when your drunk, it's a phenomenon within itself. Enjoy if you dare.
Fries with gravy yum but not a geek food. It does get some geek points for inclusion of cheese curds but geek cheese should come in either neon orange powder form or be squirted from a can.