CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE
By Judith Ashton
The human hand is a masterpiece of design and function. The most complex and beautiful tool imaginable. Its range of movement is truly remarkable. Think of the thousands of ways we use our hands; from the precision of a surgeon delicately operating on an eye, a pianist playing an overture or a Michelangelo creating heavenly visions. We can all create beauty with our hands. Hands and how we use them really do set us apart from all other living creatures. Hands are our tools for creating and healing.
The hands are used approximately 25 million times in a lifetime. They are endlessly in use and are constantly interacting between our world and others. They are essential and invaluable to the way we operate in our lives.
Hands have played a central role in human evolution. They helped shape our brains, build societies, communicate and care for one another. As our ancestors began walking on two legs, their hands were freed to adapt, grip and manipulate objects with remarkable precision and control, largely thanks to fully opposable thumbs.
As humans evolved, they became capable of more complex tasks, including using tools, and the brain developed in response. A diagram of the motor and sensory homunculus shows that a large portion of the brain’s motor and sensory map is devoted to the hands and fingers. The hand has the widest range of movement of any body part and is also one of the most sensitive. In every culture, a loving touch is an empathetic gesture of love, support and wordless understanding.
For most of us, our very first introduction to this world was when a midwife’s experienced hands and loving touch gently guided our safe arrival before “handing” us over to a parent or carer.
The human hand is vital to learning and child development. Through touch, movement and sensation, children explore their surroundings and begin to understand the world. For a child, the world is full of wonder and their hands are how they reach out, discover and connect with everything around them.
Our hands are central to language and emotional expression. Before spoken language evolved, our ancestors used gestures to communicate. Hands can signal friendship, hostility, emphasis and subtle meaning and they still naturally accompany speech today. Some cultures use gestures more expressively than others, such as Italians. In Ireland, Irish Sign Language is a recognised language and a powerful form of communication for many deaf people. It is structurally complex and depends entirely on the expressive movement of the hands.
The Chinese want to solve the most difficult problem in robotics, which is replicating hands, and they are at the forefront of robotic development. The race is on to develop a fully automated robotic hand with the complex ranges of movement and sensitivity possessed by humans.
“True multi-purpose humanoids are far off yet.” According to the International Federation of Robotics Sept. 2025; and Elon Musk says, “Hands represent the majority of the engineering difficulty of the entire robot!”
Despite thousands of years of human history, there has never been a machine that can truly replicate all that a hand can achieve. Once a robot with hands is developed, humanity will face big new challenges. Think of all the ways that a human workforce will be transformed.
A fully dexterous robot with hands will be life-changing for people who rely on assistance, including ageing populations. Such robots could administer medication and carry out delicate personal care tasks. Should I need a carer in old age, I hope that it will not be a robot but a human with a big heart and soothing hands. A gentle touch can communicate so much and more instantly than spoken words.
Our hands are also a vital part of our creativity. Handicrafts and objects which are skilfully handmade can reflect the heart and soul of the maker, and writing as opposed to typing often allows us greater access to feelings. Practical hobbies like writing, crafting, knitting, painting and playing music are the ultimate mindful stress relievers.
By continuing to touch, create and heal with our hands, we preserve the very qualities that make us human. It’s important to reach out to both give and receive. We all need a “helping hand” from time to time and nothing will ever replace “the human touch”. Hands are the ultimate instrument of human empathy, healing and contact.
Remember, our hands grow out of our hearts and enable us to express love out into our world.
