How May Human Hands Evolve Due To Smartphone Use?

Ever wonder how our hands may evolve over time based on our heavy use of smartphones? Me neither…but it’s pretty damn scary!

Human beings are one of — if not THE — most well-evolved species on Earth. Our ability to speak multiple languages, think cognitively and even walk and run upright are all examples of how far humans have evolved.

But, what if in our continued stages of evolution, our favorite attachment — the smartphone — played a key role in how our bodies adjusted? It’s not far-fetched, given our extreme dependence on devices.

In a tongue-in-cheek way to answer that question for at least one important body part, British company broadbandchoices gave a try to see how our hands may adapt to make the use of smartphones easier for us.

The result is awfully scary!

This is what the human hand could evolve into with the continued use of smartphones. Illustration by brandchoices

Notice the pointy index finger to assist in navigation, determined the mobile phone comparison team. Gel pads on some of your fingertips would allow a more secure handle on your phone.

Even the size of our fingers may adjust to be more efficient. Your thumb and pinky-finger may develop a bend to hold the phone in position. The phalanges in those fingers could also lengthen to allow easier access to the screen.

Add to that, your hand just may develop a quasi-shelf for that important device to rest upon.

While these projections may seem crazy, they are based on analysis of the most common smartphone-related injuries, unearthed by a survey of 1,000 adults. More than 30% of responding participants relayed consistent hand and neck strain as a result of daily smartphone use. Nearly 1 out of 4 experienced bruising.

The most common reported smartphone-related injury, at 58%, was”phone planting”, a black-eye sustained when the person is using the phone while lying in bed and loses grip of the phone.

The study did not detail possible adaptations to other body parts. But, future changes may involve improved peripheral vision during phone use. Over 50% those surveyed stated they had injured someone else while on the phone, mostly during episodes of walking-while-texting.

Based on how evolution works, it’s highly unlikely that you — or your next 3 generations — would ever experience these ghastly digits. Also, smartphones will most definitely evolve at a faster rate that our bodies, so we’d likely never catch up.

But, it sure is fun — an frightening — to imagine a world full of phone hands!