Hands: the Instruments of God

Hands have led our interface of the human operating system in reality from the first time Homo Habilis built a fire to the scientist splitting the first atom. Humans have evolved a significantly different hand structure than, say, apes. According to The Journal of Experimental Biology, a controversial theory about human physiology originating in a violent past, human hands are more similar to chimps. We have a shorter palm, shorter fingers, and a longer thumb than chimps. What is the function of our hands? What kinds of evolutions occurred in our to give us the meanings we have today? Have we yet fully realized their potential? The hands are the most vital organs in our bodies. They enable us to perform basic tasks, hold objects, sense our surroundings, and experience the sense of touch. Our hands gave our forefathers the ability to wield weapons and use tools.

Their function, like that of the rest of our bodies, evolved over millions of years. They grew in size to provide greater dexterity and, like chimps, became opposable. Humans have been rearranging the material world with their hands since Homo Habilis began producing tools around two million years ago. As the biological child bearer, the primordial woman (Eve) used her hands to care for her young and gather supplies. Humanity would not exist today if the cooperative caregiver and hunter dynamic did not exist. In recent years, some evolutionary biologists and neuroscientists have argued that the emergence of tool-making ability in the earliest hominids may have accompanied or enabled the development of language. Proponents of this theory, including Aldo Faisal, a neuroscientist at Imperial College in London, believe that when early humans began cooperating to create increasingly sophisticated tools, they also began communicating vocally.

Art, like tools, was a step forward in our hands' evolution. The wall paintings left in the cave of Leang Timpuseng were the oldest known pieces of art 39,900 years ago. These paintings depict a Homo Sapien's elegant hand. Our hands serve a purpose in humankind's bio-evolutionary role; however, our exact origins are unknown. What we can say for certain is that it is still present in our DNA to this day. Your hands are the key to survival for the primordial man (let's call him Adam).

Without them, Adam's death would be unavoidable. For the hunt, his hands held his spear. They were instrumental in waging war on intruders within his perimeter. The human hand structure may have evolved in such a way that the human fist can punch without accidentally breaking bones. David Carrier developed this theory. He works at the University of Utah as a comparative physiologist. Previous research suggests that the male Homo Sapien's robust jaw, cheekbones, and brow evolved to withstand more punches.

Mating conflicts or territorial disputes are most likely to blame. What, then, was the factor that influenced tribal trust? In the early fifth century B.C., Anaxagoras, a pre-socratic philosopher, lived in Asia Minor. Aristotle, the first philosopher historian, wrote about his predecessors' ideas: "Anaxagoras says that man is the most intelligent of the animals because he has hands, but would it be better to say that he is most intelligent because he has hands?" Hands and intelligence appear to have evolved together, with a fate that is intertwined. Aristotle referred to the hands as "...instruments of instruments...", and they serve as a conduit for our will. Our hands eventually evolved to serve more civilized functions such as communication, agriculture, and medicine. I believe that the need for trade and agricultural cooperation contributed to humanity's increased trust in one another.

Carl Sagan writes in his book The Dragons of Eden that the human hand waving gesture is a symbol of trust, indicating that one is not armed and thus is harmless. This is where the modern hand wave originated. It's interesting to think that a friendly wave at your neighbor essentially means, "NO WEAPON, NO HARM". The meaning may have evolved alongside us to represent humanity's trust in others. The pressed hands in ritual prayer serve as an acknowledgement of God. In Hinduism, something similar is known as a mudra. This means "seal" or "gesture" in sanskrit. Pranam Mudra is a mudra that is performed with the hands in the center of the chest or heart chakra. It also represents the divinity within you and the recognition of divinity in another. Nowadays, our hands are used to perform more modern tasks such as writing computer codes that allow rockets to launch into space, re-enter the atmosphere, and land themselves.

These "instruments of instruments" carry creative intelligence, love, art, and much more. We can even wave them around the right piece of technology and have it perform a specific task based on the gesture. Look around you; everything above the dirt was made by hand. To summarize, hands have always been an important part of human life. They have been used to make basic tools, survival necessities, violence, art, and to connect to God and to one another. What remains in our hands? What changes can we anticipate in the future? Is it our integration with technology? Or will it be a higher unlocked spiritual integration in which the hands resemble those of fictional characters that can be waved around to manipulate reality? We shall see.