According to a study out of the University of Utah and published by the Journal of Experimental Biology, human hands evolved over time to be just as useful in conflict as they are in use of tools. In other words, they were made equally well to build and destroy.
From The Telegraph:
“The role aggression has played in our evolution has not been adequately appreciated,” said Professor David Carrier, from the University of Utah.
“There are people who do not like this idea but it is clear that compared with other mammals, great apes are a relatively aggressive group with lots of fighting and violence, and that includes us. We’re the poster children for violence.”
The forces of natural selection that drove hands to become nimble-fingered also turned them into weapons, Prof Carrier believes.
“Individuals who could strike with a clenched fish (sic) could hit harder without injuring themselves, so they were better able to fight for mates and thus be more likely to reproduce,” he said.
So when it comes down to it, we evolved to punch things better so we could have more sex. Works for professional fighters, I guess.
Glib comments aside, the article continues by going further in depth as to the mechanics of force as delivered by the human hand, noting that the force of a punch, over the same amount of surface area, is three times that of a slap, and the structural advantages a fist has to producing force, over a slap.
For the rest of the article, check out The Telegraph.
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2012.
Clinched fish, eh?
I know I was always able to hit harder with a “clinched fish!”
It just worked for me….somehow!
The spectacular thing is that the “fish” error is in the original copy from the Telegraph. Their typo has been noted in the text, and I will now breathe easier knowing that this one wasn’t my mistake.
This is old news. Monty Python demonstrated the devastating power of the “fish slap” back in 1971.
http://www.pbs.org/montypython/images/fish_slapping.jpg
Correlation does not equal causality. Plus the fish thing obliterates any other shred of credibility, LOL!
This study implies that a baseball bat was design to bash heads!
hands were also made for more effective loving….
Hands are for bringing things closer. Your own being should tell you that.
“Clenched Fish”
is that female masturbation?
I always thought human hands were made so effective so that evolutionists could better clutch at straws. Unless, of course, they are Italian evolutionists. Then, they were made for talking. Just saying.
punching and sex, huh? Well I have been doing it right every weekend of my 20’s.