stream of consciousness

[enemyofperfect]

The other day I was wondering why most humans have five fingers. I mean, it seems like a lot, doesn't it? I can see why you'd want at least two, so you can grasp things between them, and maybe sometimes you want to get a little fancier, so sure, throw in a couple more. But five, really?

Then I got to thinking about why other animals, like the noble wolf for example, have any toes at all. It's not like most of them do anything with them individually; a wolf isn't out there knitting or playing piccolo. So why have digits and not just merge them all into some kind of unified foot?

What do they even use their toes for? I asked myself, and answered: Finding purchase on the ground while running, probably, or digging sometimes. But couldn't you do that with sort of a flattened spade-like foot object as well?

No, you could not, I realized. It's harder to dig a shovel into the ground than it would be a garden fork. Narrowing the cutting edge of the foot to individual points concentrates the force applied to each of them, ensuring greater traction and/or clawing capacity. This satisfied me. I had answered the question of why toes exist.

But seriously, why five?

Comments

[amovingtarget]

Perhaps nature has a thing for neat round number like I do [chinhands]

[enemyofperfect]

But 10 fingers is only round because the inventor of our number system counted on them, Salma! ;_;

[amovingtarget]

The plot thickens.....

[schneefink]

Probably a prime number thing? Nature has a thing for prime numbers. And five toes is easier to balance on than three, and seven seems redundant. And I don't think you could balance/find purchase/much less climb as well with a flat surface than with fingers/toes.

[enemyofperfect]

I think you're absolutely right about flat surfaces. Meanwhile, I've been doing some reading about different digit configurations in the animal kingdom. Apparently owls have four toes per foot, two of which point forward, one of which points backwards, and the last of which can switch between positions!

[alchimie]

I have no insightful comments to add, but this really made me smile.

[enemyofperfect]

I hoped it might have that effect for someone! (Other recent musings of mine are why blankets exist when we could just go to bed wearing jackets, and why the stream of water from a tap seems to taper instead of remaining the same width.)

[alchimie]

Why do blankets exist? I am guessing less effort in the making, since you don't even really have to take care of the edges, whereas jackets require cutting/sewing/fitting to really work? But I know in Heian Japan aristocrats just slept in layers of clothing -- not all worn, I think, they spread them out over themselves, but still.

The stream of water I have no idea about beyond 'fluid dynamics' which of course is not an answer at all, but now I want to hear what you think! (About both of these!)

[enemyofperfect]

I hadn't known that about Heian aristocrats! That sounds very stylish, and I suppose it would expose the clothing to additional wear, perhaps making it a form of conspicuous consumption as well. My conclusion about blankets was that they're easier for a half-waking person to adjust for greater or lesser warmth, but you make a good point about ease of creation, and tradition alone could be plenty of reason for them to persist!

As for the flowing water, I eventually concluded -- and the internet seems to agree -- that it's because gravity causes the falling water to continually accelerate. Every portion of the stream is flowing away faster than it's replenished from above, so the cross section narrows as the same amount of water stretches out across a greater vertical volume.

Sometimes I'm a bit like that Homestuck quote: "thats a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery and didnt even really need solving but damn if it didnt just get solved". But it's fun!

[amovingtarget]

The more you know!

[enemyofperfect]

Exactly! :D