What is the most important and least important finger(s)?

[indigoasis]

Not really anything important, just a general question that I'm curious about. I think when I was younger, I heard somewhere that the pinky finger accounts for about 60% of the hand's strength. Probably a false memory, but anyway, I then tried to carry my lunchbox to lunch with just my pinky most of the time. I was able to do it just fine, and it proved to my young mind that the pinky finger is handy to have.

I know that you can argue that every finger is important, but for the sake of the topic, which finger is the most important finger to have and which finger could you go without?

[Ertrick36]

The thumb is the one finger that separates primates from most other animals.  With thumbs, we can use tools and do lots of things.  Think about it, we use thumbs to press buttons, flip widgets and switches on tools, and to generally perform multiple functions with one device in our hand that we'd otherwise need two hands for.  So I'd say for our species, it's the most important.

The least important is either the ring or middle.  Went with ring because I'm probably never getting married and I would like to retain my ability to make unkind gestures at bad drivers.  I mean, I could bite my thumb at them, but that takes more effort than simply flipping the bird.

And I'd lose a finger on my left hand because obviously being right-handed my right hand is more important.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Ertrick36

[DarthR0xas]

32 minutes ago, Ertrick36 said:

The least important is either the ring or index.  Went with ring because I'm probably never getting married and I would like to retain my ability to make unkind gestures at bad drivers.  I mean, I could bite my thumb at them, but that takes more effort than simply flipping the bird.

What obscene gestures can you do with your Index finger? Middle finger, I know, Index, I don't.

[EricaofRenais]

Yeah the thumb is the most important.  I would rather lose my pinky since I use my other fingers to do crafts.  I am left handed so if I had to lose a finger I would rather lose it on my right hand.

[Karimlan]

Most important has to be the middle, for obvious reasons.

[/troll]

In all seriousness, it's the thumb. I won't call any of the other fingers as vestigial, but if one were to go, the ring would.

[X-Naut]

Nothing trumps the thumb. Index finger might be used for a lot, but the thumb can replicate nearly all of it anyway; it's a close second.

The ring finger doesn't even have autonomy.

[Ertrick36]

1 hour ago, DarthR0xas said:

What obscene gestures can you do with your Index finger? Middle finger, I know, Index, I don't.

fuck me, I meant to say middle.