July 27, 2002
Suffice it to say, I watch a lot of TV. So I'll watch just about anything to break up the monotony. Which brings us to this: Hold your hand out in front of you, with your fingers extended. Which is longer, the index or ring finger?
Odds are, if you're male, your ring finger is noticably longer; girls' index fingers are longer. Apparently those two digits react to the presence of hormones (testosterone or estrogen) while a fetus is developing and cause the disparity.
Here's the real kicker, though. In an activity which one gender has a noticable advantage in (say, running for men) a larger disparity in finger lengths tends to mean more natural ability. In other words, among men with similar training and physiques a man with a larger ring-to-index difference will run faster, due to the larger "hit" of testosterone received in the womb. Freaky, huh?
For the record, my ring fingers are less than ¼ inch longer than the index fingers. And I couldn't run fast if my life depended on it.
