[Ultima (OP)]

Hey yall, was just in a boring lecture and discovered something strange. If you put your palm flat on a desk, or something flat. Then lift the "red fingers" first and then let them back down, then lift "blue fingers" and let them back down and keep alternating between the two pairs of fingers. It's really hard to do at first, in fact it took all the concentration I had, but then after about half an hour of trying you can alternate between them quite fast. Everyone i've spoken to can't do it either??? Is there some reason for this or is it that our brains don't ever need to do this normally and thats why we cant at first? I would really like to know if there is anyone around who can do this fast straight off! [] Have fun and give it a go. BTW if you add in your thumb and middle finger it gets a bit harder even if you practiced with the other fingers??? WHY?

Sorry if anyone is red blue colour blind

wOw the world spins?

[DrN]

is it something to do with the tendons of two adjacent fingers coming from a single tendon, whereas the other tendons are 'fed' by individual tendons, so when you try to do something that splits the 'joined' fingers its hard to do?
I can do it OK, but it does need concentration!

[Ultima (OP)]

If it was something physical like that could you improve at it?

wOw the world spins?

[Tronix]

maybe its something like baby steps. a baby out the womb has only had to deal with the enviroment of the womb prior to its birth, which essentiall a sack of nutrious water of small space, no (or very little) light, and nothing but the thunderous din of blood rushing through the mothers viens to stimulate its ears. as soon as its out the womb, it has to deal with gravity, and then, locomotion on planet earth with the rest of our socio-biological race. The baby has to learn how to walk, which probably feels just like that finger excersice: Obviouly within you ability, but requiring practice. but then again, i dont see why or when a human would need to do that with his fingers, save to preserve his sanity during a boring lecture, so your probably right about the brian not needing to do this, thus it being hard to learn.

On a less boring note, i find i cant do it quickly at the beginning either, but i can still alternate. it might also be realted to how some fingers sort of "drag" anothe finger along when you move them. When i try to move my pinky finger, and just that finger, my ring finger curls along with it, but i can do the can-can dance with my ring finger and my pinky just stands there as if totally unawares. curious really.

seesh that was long winded, but i hoped it helped.

Important quotes from important people

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[Ultima (OP)]

Welcome to the forum Tronix, thanks for ya reply. Yeh I think fishytails is right, some of it is to do with the tendons in your hand pulling on groups of fingers rather than inividual ones... Still strange how much effort it takes at first to do it though, I wonder how many other "tasks" there are like this that people never learn???

wOw the world spins?

[daveshorts]

Isn't raising one eyebrow at a time a similar sort of skill - at one point I decided to learn to be able to do this, and I did it by standing in front of a mirror, and pressing buttons in my brain at random until one eybrow raised, then slowly just one eyebrow raised more and more, until I can now raise eyebrows at will.

 Is this because you have a sort of telephone exchange somewhere in your brain that takes commands from your concious brain -raise an eybrow- and translates them into 'contract muscle 145 40%, 184 35%, 243 80%...' and the defining of these commands is what children do a lot of for the first couple of years.