- LONDON (Reuters) - The use
of gadgets such as mobile phones and GameBoys has caused a physical
mutation
in young people's hands, according to a British Sunday newspaper.
-
- New research carried out in nine cities around the world
shows that the thumbs of people under the age of 25 have taken over as
the hand's most dexterous digit, said The Observer.
-
- The change affects those who have grown up with hand-held
devices where the thumbs are used for keying in text messages and
emails.
-
- "The relationship between technology and the users
of technology is mutual. We are changing each other," said Dr. Sadie
Plant of Warwick University's Cybernetic Culture Research Unit.
-
- "Discovering that the younger generation has taken
to using thumbs in a completely different way and are instinctively using
thumbs where the rest of us are using our index fingers is particularly
interesting."
-
- In her research, Plant noticed that while those less
used to mobile phones used one or several fingers to access the keypad,
younger people used both thumbs ambidextrously, barely looking at the keys
as they made rapid entries.
-
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