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Old June 14, 2003, 17:11   #1
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Thumbs?
In various discussions about evolution I remember hearing(reading) people talking about thumbs being one of the big human advantages over other animals.

Can anyone clarify this point? It sounds odd.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:12   #2
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Grasping.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:13   #3
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Think on the Romans, no gladiator bttles without thumbs....
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:14   #4
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Cut off your thumbs and let us know.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:14   #5
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Think about tying your shoes without thumbs.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:15   #6
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Of course, the truly big difference, the one from which all else follows, is the ability to walk upright.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:17   #7
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I´ve heard thumbs are also neccessary for save masturbating....
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:17   #8
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Thumbs, upright walking, and sentience are tied IMO. Thumbs allow us to build complex tools, sentience lets us think up the complex tools, and upright walking lets us use them.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:34   #9
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While we're at it, what's the big deal with walking upright?
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:54   #10
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Getting from one patch of trees to another with enough weaponry in your now available hands to not get eaten.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:56   #11
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Walking upright gives us two arms instead of four legs, you know?

Also allows for the growth of fingers, including the thumb.
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Old June 14, 2003, 17:59   #12
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Quote:
Originally posted by mrmitchell
Thumbs, upright walking, and sentience are tied IMO. Thumbs allow us to build complex tools, sentience lets us think up the complex tools, and upright walking lets us use them.
thumbs up

On a side note, this is why I don't think monkeys or dolphins are NEARLY as intelligent as humans - they have no use for it, so why would they evolve it?
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Old June 14, 2003, 18:02   #13
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The big deal is opposable thumbs - without thumbs, making tools and such would be much harder. Even more worrying, we wouldn't have

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Old June 14, 2003, 18:21   #14
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I gotta see that!
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Old June 14, 2003, 18:53   #15
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I had forgotten about that!
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Old June 14, 2003, 18:55   #16
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to allow us to exercise our 2nd amendment rights
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Old June 14, 2003, 19:07   #17
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Well, Dave Barry's theory is that thumbs led to the creation of the "OK" hand sign, which gave us a big advantage over the apes, who could only make a noncommittal shrugging gesture when a good idea came along. Thus, while ape geniuses were unappreaciated and became despondent, humans followed through on good ideas and developed into the outstanding life forms we are today.
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Old June 14, 2003, 19:24   #18
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how true... scary
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Old June 14, 2003, 21:09   #19
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Quote:
Originally posted by Soul Survivor
to allow us to exercise our 2nd amendment rights
you pull the trigger with your thumb?

I guess he shows the intelligence of the usual second amendment supporters
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Old June 14, 2003, 21:12   #20
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Quote:
you pull the trigger with your thumb?
Um... you need the thumb to hold the gun itself, especially around the handle part.

I guess you show the intelligence of the usual gun control supporters?
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Old June 14, 2003, 21:17   #21
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That reason (grasping) was already covered by the first reply. It seems within reason to believe that SS was bringing something new to the discussion, hence HTower's comment.
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