It’s something I find quite amazing. Why is it that everyone’s finger is always smaller than the diameter of their nostrils? Throughout the ages this coincidence has led to nose picking, a habit that is deeply frowned upon in polite society. Officially I don’t pick anymore but I must say there is a temptation involved when I think of it.
Is there some magic ratio that relates finger size to nostril size? For instance a man with thick fingers couldn’t pick the nose of a preemie and in fact I don’t want to see this tried due to the delicateness of a little baby. Yet all through our lives, we are able to pick and that delicate nostrilled preemie might grow up to be that thick fingered man.
Looking at the close animal world of the dog and cat, say, we find that this is not a universal animal kingdom thing. Dogs and cats have much smaller nostrils and certainly their paws or foot digits couldn’t get up there. But aren’t their claws suspiciously the right size? With a cat, I suspect that unfortunately these animals would shred the skin of their delicate nostrils. Maybe a dog could get away with it but fortunately they don’t and are allowed in polite society.
So then, why us? Did God or evolution have something in mind? Maybe, just maybe we were made to pick. When we breathe in through our noses contaminants such as smoke or pollen or sand get somewhat filtered or blocked by our nose hairs. Picking would then “recharge” the filter or blockers. Sounds plausible. Then why don’t we always breathe through our noses instead of our mouths. Perhaps some people do and they are closer to what evolution intended.
If this was the original story then maybe it was found that open mouthed activity was more important as with talking. Thus we lost the nose breathing advantage.
And even in polite society, it must be pointed out that having a booger is even more a sin than picking one’s nose. So perhaps it is best to pick that booger away and then act like nothing happened.
Join us next week when we discuss how suspicious it is that a normal arm is just long enough for us to wipe our butts.
