Hands. To think something made up of 14 phalanges (finger bones), 5 metacarpals (the bones that attach the fingers to the wrist), and 8 carpals (bones in the wrist) in each hand, has to do with so many things we do in the day. From turning off your alarm, getting a drink of water, to answering your cell phone, you do it automatically without really realizing your hands are amazing. It is because of hands we have gotten this far. Now I am sure you are wondering “what about monkeys and apes, they have hands!” Very true, and I will get into that in a minute. In the following blog I will discuss what makes up the hands, and the amazing things those humans with and without hands can do.
Now all primates from monkeys to apes to humans have hands, but no other animals do. What is more is all hands have the same make up. We all have the same phalanges, metacarpals, and carpals; the only difference with the bones is in some of the larger apes they are thicker than those we humans have. Even though hands are pretty much the same on the inside, when it comes to the surface they could not be more different, but yet the same. With humans whether we be males or females, we do not have much hair on the top of our hands. When looking at the top of apes and monkey hands they have much more hair on them. At around the knuckles at the top of the fingers the amount of hair is similar to us humans. But with the palm of the hands, all primate hands, with the exception of apes and monkeys having longer palms, are the pretty much the same. All humans and most ape and monkey palms do no have melatonin (a hormone that decides the darkness of a species). But chimpanzee and gorilla palms are as dark as their hair. Also, no primate hands have hair on the palm. Reason for this is because we need the skin to create traction to grab onto things; be it trees, bananas, or a cell phone. And if you would look at your hand you can see the creases. These creases are the cause of when we were in the womb and had our hands clenched and help us when we grab on to things. Ape and monkey hands have these too.
With all this talk about primates and our hands, why do only primates have hands? The answer is one word: evolution. From our earliest evolutionary ancestors we were adapting to living in trees. If we had flippers our evolutionary ancestors would have been assumed to be adapting to life in the water. But why were we not given claws instead of hands? Claws would be effective in tree life, but we have our own sort of claws, in a flattened form which we call nails. There is also a theory that our hands were made to fight with; whether it be fighting over food or a mate, which we still do today. When clenched and made into a fist, we have less of a chance to cause self injury. If we had claws and fight the way we did, we do, they would be seriously damaged, we would be seriously damaged. We should find ourselves lucky we have hands, because give humans claws with one little dispute, there would be a lot less, if any, humans around.
That said, there are humans who were either born without hands/arms or have lost them. When this happens there is only one option left; to use the feet. There are amazing people who put so much work into making due with their feet as both feet and a hands/arms. One example of a person who was born without arms is Mark Stutzman, get ready for this, the archer. The tools he uses are not altered for his condition, they are regular run of the mill bow and arrows. “He uses a mechanical release attached to a sling around his right shoulder. To pull the trigger, he uses his jaw. When he shoots in tournaments, he doesn't enter as a disabled shooter.” If he manages to do this, he can do all he needs to do with his feet. From eating even driving, which he does, like his archery, without the car being modified; even a stick shift. If you would like to see an example of his archery: https://youtu.be/Ea552U65-0w Even though these accomplishments are truly amazing, he was born without arms. I am not saying that those who lose their arms are any more amazing, but you can not help but think of how your life would be without arms. An example of this is of a boy, Liu Wei, who lost is arms when he was electrocuted during a game of hide and seek. Liu Wei was made famous because of his entry into the show “China's Got Talent.” In this program he played the piano, and eventually won the contest. I have know this for a while, but what left me with my mouth agape was as I researched him, I found out he had lost his arms 2 years before competing and winning this contest. It is amazing how much dexterity someones toes can take on when they need to, nevertheless learning how to play the piano with them. “After his first performance he told judges with a winning adorable grin: 'There's no rule that says piano can only be played with hands.'”If you are interested to see Liu Wei play the piano: https://youtu.be/X9DilOIZMu4
It is truly amazing what the human body is capable of when one vital element is missing. If humans evolved to have flippers, we may be at the mercy of dolphins. Likewise, without hands, we could not do anything we do now; one because no hands and two because it would not have happened. All our buildings, computers, cars, bridges, we owe it all to our hands in the first place. I understand that the brain plays a vital part, but what is the use of Henry Ford having the brains to build a car without the tools to do so, IE. hands. But like the examples I gave, I am sure we could get by with our legs and feet; and there are those out there who were born or lost their legs and use, you guessed it, their hands to walk on. In reality, if we lost one extremity or organ we would not be complete. That said, we got this far because we humans and we are adaptable. It is almost unthinkable how much we own to those little bones in our hands.
Now all primates from monkeys to apes to humans have hands, but no other animals do. What is more is all hands have the same make up. We all have the same phalanges, metacarpals, and carpals; the only difference with the bones is in some of the larger apes they are thicker than those we humans have. Even though hands are pretty much the same on the inside, when it comes to the surface they could not be more different, but yet the same. With humans whether we be males or females, we do not have much hair on the top of our hands. When looking at the top of apes and monkey hands they have much more hair on them. At around the knuckles at the top of the fingers the amount of hair is similar to us humans. But with the palm of the hands, all primate hands, with the exception of apes and monkeys having longer palms, are the pretty much the same. All humans and most ape and monkey palms do no have melatonin (a hormone that decides the darkness of a species). But chimpanzee and gorilla palms are as dark as their hair. Also, no primate hands have hair on the palm. Reason for this is because we need the skin to create traction to grab onto things; be it trees, bananas, or a cell phone. And if you would look at your hand you can see the creases. These creases are the cause of when we were in the womb and had our hands clenched and help us when we grab on to things. Ape and monkey hands have these too.
With all this talk about primates and our hands, why do only primates have hands? The answer is one word: evolution. From our earliest evolutionary ancestors we were adapting to living in trees. If we had flippers our evolutionary ancestors would have been assumed to be adapting to life in the water. But why were we not given claws instead of hands? Claws would be effective in tree life, but we have our own sort of claws, in a flattened form which we call nails. There is also a theory that our hands were made to fight with; whether it be fighting over food or a mate, which we still do today. When clenched and made into a fist, we have less of a chance to cause self injury. If we had claws and fight the way we did, we do, they would be seriously damaged, we would be seriously damaged. We should find ourselves lucky we have hands, because give humans claws with one little dispute, there would be a lot less, if any, humans around.
That said, there are humans who were either born without hands/arms or have lost them. When this happens there is only one option left; to use the feet. There are amazing people who put so much work into making due with their feet as both feet and a hands/arms. One example of a person who was born without arms is Mark Stutzman, get ready for this, the archer. The tools he uses are not altered for his condition, they are regular run of the mill bow and arrows. “He uses a mechanical release attached to a sling around his right shoulder. To pull the trigger, he uses his jaw. When he shoots in tournaments, he doesn't enter as a disabled shooter.” If he manages to do this, he can do all he needs to do with his feet. From eating even driving, which he does, like his archery, without the car being modified; even a stick shift. If you would like to see an example of his archery: https://youtu.be/Ea552U65-0w Even though these accomplishments are truly amazing, he was born without arms. I am not saying that those who lose their arms are any more amazing, but you can not help but think of how your life would be without arms. An example of this is of a boy, Liu Wei, who lost is arms when he was electrocuted during a game of hide and seek. Liu Wei was made famous because of his entry into the show “China's Got Talent.” In this program he played the piano, and eventually won the contest. I have know this for a while, but what left me with my mouth agape was as I researched him, I found out he had lost his arms 2 years before competing and winning this contest. It is amazing how much dexterity someones toes can take on when they need to, nevertheless learning how to play the piano with them. “After his first performance he told judges with a winning adorable grin: 'There's no rule that says piano can only be played with hands.'”If you are interested to see Liu Wei play the piano: https://youtu.be/X9DilOIZMu4
It is truly amazing what the human body is capable of when one vital element is missing. If humans evolved to have flippers, we may be at the mercy of dolphins. Likewise, without hands, we could not do anything we do now; one because no hands and two because it would not have happened. All our buildings, computers, cars, bridges, we owe it all to our hands in the first place. I understand that the brain plays a vital part, but what is the use of Henry Ford having the brains to build a car without the tools to do so, IE. hands. But like the examples I gave, I am sure we could get by with our legs and feet; and there are those out there who were born or lost their legs and use, you guessed it, their hands to walk on. In reality, if we lost one extremity or organ we would not be complete. That said, we got this far because we humans and we are adaptable. It is almost unthinkable how much we own to those little bones in our hands.
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