anatomy question....

[Jesus_marley]

what do you think would be some of the advantages and/or disadvantages of a hand that had two opposable thumbs. the hand in question would resemble a normal human hand except that where the fourth finger would normally be, an opposable thumb is in its place.

In essence, the hand would have a thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and a second thumb.

discuss.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A slightly better grip...maybe.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Ask a Koala.

 

[Jesus_marley]

Not quite the same thing.... The Koala's thumbs are both located on the same side of the hand.

 

[Umbran]

Hm.

Advantages - greater gripping ability than a similarly muscled hand with only one thumb. Perhaps greater dexterity with manipulating small objects.

Disadvantages - far greater tendency to break or dislocate one of the thumbs. A hand like this has no "safe" edge that doesn't have a finger sticking out of it.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Handshakes would be - weird.
Karate chops would hurt a lot more.
Thumb wrestling would be much more intense.
You could give both thumbs up and thumbs down at the same time.
Texting could be done with four thumbs.

I can't think of any really serious advantages over current design.

 

[Ferret]

Advantage - It would be awesome.

Yes I'm feeling childish today

 

[Huw]

Sleight of hand would be much easier. Don't magicians try and build up the muscle next to the little finger to get an extra ridge to grip things with and help palm stuff?

With an extra digit of comparable flexibility to the thumb (as opposed to an opposable pinky or a panda-like spur), you could also play some very complicated music and type really quickly.

 

[Umbran]

... type really quickly.

Not so sure about that one, at least with a standard keyboard. Note how with normal typing, you use your thumbs only for the space bar. The thumb is oriented on your hand so that if the palm is down, the thumb cannot easily press downwards with its tip. The side of the thumb is broad, and not as good as fingers for poking small keys. So, assuming similar orienation on the hand, it might not be grand for typing.

 

[megamania]

giving the bird with symmetry.


disadvantage- harder to do showy tricks with swords and other weapons