Evolutionary biologist John Manning has come up with a handy way of working out just how masculine or feminine we really are. He’s measured the fingers of thousands of men and women, and he found that the amount of testosterone and oestrogen you get in the womb determines the length of your ring finger. Testosterone effects the development of the right side of the brain, where we have our visual ability and judge speed and distance. So now he’s putting his theory to the test in selecting promising football players on the basis of finger their length alone.
Evolutionary biologist John Manning has been very busy measuring the fingers of thousands of men and women, and now he’s come up with a handy way of working out just how masculine or feminine we really are.
Dr John Manning: It turn out that the genes which control the development of the fingers are exactly the same genes which control the development of the testes and the ovaries, that is a very, very odd observation but it’s true.
Narration John found that the amount of testosterone and oestrogen you get in the womb determines the length of your ring finger.
Dr John Manning: Because the development of the ring finger is under the influence of testosterone males have longer ring fingers relative to their index fingers than women do. So what possible use does this finding have? Well for a start John thinks it could be a reliable way to choose champion football players.
Dr John Manning: Testosterone effects the development of the right side of the brain. The right side of the brain is where visual special ability is. Now this is important term in any kind of physical endeavour where you have to judge distance. Where you have to judge in playing football for example where the ball is where the foot is when your foot is going to hit the ball and where the ball is going to go any kind of interactive sport.
Narration: To test his theory he photocopied the hands of 24 English soccer players. He then measured their fingers and selected his top six players on the basis of finger length alone.
Dr John Manning: These are the six that I’ve chosen from the exceptional group. So one measures from the base of the finger, which is very well marked on this finger. You can see the basal crease to the tip of the finger. And this particular finger is about 81.65 millimetres. You measure the index finger and the index finger on this particular hand is 69.25 millimetres So a difference of 81 millimetres to 69 millimetres this is a phenomenal difference. Indicating high testosterone before birth. Low oestrogen is what this hand is saying. Well you find that kind of ratio quite commonly in football players.
Narration: John chose his six top players. Would they match the coach’s top six? It turns out four out of six were the same.
Coach: I mean to get four out of six was a big surprise to us and we’re very impressed.
Dr John Manning: Measurements of fingers could be used I think in a very important way for young boys. For 10 year olds eleven and twelve year olds and so on. Pick them out and coach them properly and bring them on.
Coach: There’s obviously something in it. I’d like to find out more so we can get a head start on our rivals
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stori...htm#transcript
http://www.dse.nl/~frvc/palmistry/science.htm
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Re: Ring Finger
Originally Posted by Tore
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