Steven Schroeder | fighting shaped human hands
Fighting Shaped Human Hands
–headline in JEB (highlighting key developments in The Journal of Experimental Biology)
They say the first joint of the index finger is four times more rigid when supported by the thumb, the force delivered through the fist surface of the index and middle fingers transmitted to the wrist through the meta carpals doubled by the presence of a buttressing thumb
and all I want to know is how force is measured when the question is why
the human hand evolved short squat usable as a weapon
while close cousins (sure to have been in just as many fights given what we know of their disposition) evolved long palms long fingers that curl to open
donuts. The force of the thumb is not in doubt for anyone who has ever been called out
on a bases loaded full count hoping for a grand slam.
I wonder if they measured the force of the back of a soldier’s hand square on the cheek of a captive bound before the other is turned. I wonder if they measured the force of the turn.
I wonder how many times greater the force of the finger
pointing at the act, turning the gaze of a crowd to injustice meant to be in shadows out of sight out of mind – not the closed finger thumb buttressed fist but turning eyes open.
And the force of fingers caressing, love transmitted to the whole body from their tips through every bone
casting out fear as perfect love has been known to do. The hand evolved for nothing, the way the universe turns. It is
what it has done, what it does, what it will do. It is
the moon, not the finger,
pointing.
from the moon, not the finger, pointing | 2015
