On the Origin of the Handshake—and Other Gestures

Humans have been developing their bodies and minds for millions of years.  Natural selection has carried along characteristics that date back to our earliest origins as well as some that have developed along the way.  Unfortunately, there is little record of this long history.  We only attained the ability to leave lasting descriptions of our activities a few thousand years ago.  Historians often make the mistake of assuming our behavior in that short, hectic, and chaotic period defines who we fundamentally are.  Since the recorded history available to us was filled with war, violence, and male domination, it is assumed that those represent the core of our character.  Given that background it is not to surprising that experts generally conclude that the origin of the humble handshake was as a mechanism of defense against a potential assailant.  This source provides this explanation.

“The history of the handshake dates back to the 5th century B.C. in Greece. It was a symbol of peace, showing that neither person was carrying a weapon. ... Some say that the shaking gesture of the handshake started in Medieval Europe. Knights would shake the hand of others in an attempt to shake loose any hidden weapons.”

This hypothesis paints a rather depressing view of humans and their tendencies.  It is just as likely that humans spent most of their existence learning how to become a cooperative, social species where collaboration for the common good was the necessary rule.  In this view, our past few thousand years were an aberration which we are relying on our intrinsic pro-social nature to overcome.  A recent study suggests that we humans are born into this world inheriting traits that are millions of years old.  Who we are depends on those hidden eons of evolution—probably more so than the horrible past few thousand years.  An article by George Dvorsky, Toddlers and Chimpanzees Share a Surprising Unspoken Language, reports on a research paper that observed human children before they acquired the ability to speak with speechless chimps of all ages.  The chimps were observed in the wild, and the human children in their natural habitats.  Both species were required to communicate with gestures in order to accomplish what they wished.  The result was that young children and chimpanzees shared the majority of the gestures that were utilized.

“Results show that toddlers between 12 to 24 months use nearly 90 percent of the same gestures employed by juvenile and adult chimps, including hugging, jumping, stomping, and throwing objects. The presence of this shared gestural repertoire, the researchers say, suggests these behaviors are innate—a legacy of our shared evolutionary history.”

Some may be uncomfortable with this type of approach.

“’Wild chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans all use gestures to communicate their day-to-day requests, but until now there was always one ape missing from the picture—us,’ explained Catherine Hobaiter, a senior author of the paper and a scientist at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. ‘We used exactly the same approach to study young chimpanzees and children, which makes sense—children are just tiny apes’.”

This sharing of characteristics with other animals, particularly the other apes, is on a firm scientific footing.  For example, our emotional makeup has an ancient origin tied to our physical bodies and is shared with many other animals.

Getting back to the humble handshake, one of the gestures we share with the chimp is the outstretched, palm-up hand.

This gesture has several meanings for both humans and chimps.  It can be begging, it can be demanding, or it can be an expression of submission.  It is the latter instance that is of interest here.  Consider a person struggling to explain to an audience how something bad happened.  He is likely to stand with both arms stretched and palms up submitting to whatever fate befell him.  The palms-up expression of submission means something different in chimps.  They develop a well-defined hierarchy with a dominant alpha male.  Unless a chimp wishes to challenge the dominant male for his position, it is best to keep a low profile.  Should a chimp arouse the suspicion of the alpha, he has several options for expressing that he is no threat and is satisfied with the leadership of the alpha.  One such gesture is the outstretched hand with palm up.  The alpha, if he so chooses can respond with touching the outstretched hand—palm down of course.

One of humanity’s greatest accomplishments was to shed this alpha male concept.  While we still have leaders and subordinates, the terms of engagement have changed, and such explicit acts of submission are no longer mandatory.  Instead of today’s handshake as an indication of our violent recent heritage, why not look at it as a result of our past improvement in social behavior.  Consider the handshake to be a transition from the palms-up/palms-down fealty of the chimp to an expression of mutual respect with the palms turned sideways, essentially saying let’s assume we are equals and let’s proceed as such.

We are a better species than our recent history would suggest.  Let’s embrace that knowledge and see where that takes us.

The interested reader might find the following articles informative.

The Human Animal: Emotions Are Critical in Animal Evolution

What if Ancient Humans Designed Themselves to Be Lovers—Not Warriors?