Thursday, July 4, 2013

Why Wrinkles Are A Good Thing

My forehead has been wrinkled like that of a little old man at least since I was in elementary school.  The only good thing to say about that is that – now that I actually am a little old man – the wrinkles haven’t got any worse. 

The story below doesn’t explain the value of forehead wrinkles, but it does point out that it is good to be groovy.

 

fingers

Grooved fingers make us smart. ...as do grooved brains.

When you are next in the shower, take a look at your wrinkled fingers. They aren't pretty to look at, but they help make you smart. Pruney fingers are not an accidental side effect of getting soaked as is typically believed, but are, instead, highly efficient rain treads that help us primates grip the world when it is wet (something we've recently been studying in the lab).

Without wrinkled fingers you would need to possess two categories of behavior, one for dry conditions, and one for wet. That would require more brain space than you can spare. Lucky for you, you can get by with just one set of behaviors ("all-weather-behaviors") because your fingertips and feet "know" when to change from race-tire-smooth to rain-tire-wrinkled.

You can see the rest of this article at http://www.psychologytoday.com

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