My Left Hand
Laurie sent this in this morning.
Scientists say that relative finger lengths can predict our performance on standardized tests, and, by extension, what kind of thinking we are best at.
“Kids with longer ring fingers compared to index fingers are likely to have higher math scores than literacy or verbal scores on the college entrance exam, while children with the reverse finger-length ratio are likely to have higher reading and writing, or verbal, scores versus math scores…
…Exposure to testosterone in the womb is said to promote development of areas of the brain often associated with spatial and mathematical skills, he said. That hormone makes the ring finger longer. Estrogen exposure does the same for areas of the brain associated with verbal ability and tends to lengthen the index finger relative to the ring finger.”[LiveScience]
The scientist in me was definitely amused that the researchers “measured the length of [children's] index and ring fingers using calipers accurate to 0.01 millimeters.” Where did they start measuring, that they could take repeat measurements with that level of accuracy??
A further study used finger length to predict aggression in men. I extrapolate to conclude that mathematicians, as a group, are more naturally aggressive than, say, boxers (making the assumption, of course, that boxers suck at math). That story was messin’ with me for awhile, because for some reason I kept reading “ring finger” as “middle finger.” I kept staring at my hand thinking “What kind of achondroplastic freak has an index finger longer than their middle finger??!?! Of COURSE they suck at math!”
