George ILIEV
Because of the unique proportions of the bones of the human fingers, a clenched human fist is 4 times as rigid as the fist of a chimpanzee, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. This allows humans to deliver bone-breaking blows with their knuckles and may partly explain how humans evolved (and survived) through an era of large predators while at the same time losing the fangs that served a defensive role in earlier humanoids and in present-day great apes.
Human fingers have evolved to fold neatly into a fist without leaving a gap in the middle. This makes the structure stiff, while chimpanzees fingers curl up in a way that always leaves the centre hollow. The human thumb adds extra support to the structure by buttressing it sideways and turns the fist into a formidable defensive tool.
The evolution of the fist resembles the rise of Google and its "Don't Be Evil" motto. By giving up the fangs of aggressive corporate techniques such as cornering markets, leaning on suppliers and squeezing long hours out of employees (think investment banks), Google has built a "gentle empire" of innovation and creativity. Google's development of superior data crunching algorithms is the virtual fist that punches heavy blows in the online world.
(Photo: Google HQ, Mountain View, California, May 2009)
(Photo: Human fist, March 2013)
