[One Thousand Characters a Day] Our Future Learned from Pandas <2>

Editor's NoteThe second chapter of ＜Panda Spirit＞, titled 'The Panda Endures Somehow Even with Few Hands,' is a story about the panda's sixth finger, which originally did not exist. One reason we find pandas cute is because of their hands that resemble human hands. They hold long bamboo stalks with an extended wrist bone, which eventually grew to look like a finger. The remarkable adaptability of living beings to endure discomfort and make use of it is a power not only pandas but also humans possess. The author asks, what are you doing with those hands right now? Word count: 995 characters.

The hand shape of the animal that was the ancestor of the panda was a bear-like hand structure, which was disadvantageous for eating bamboo. Although it was an unusual way for the wrist bone to change shape, after persevering and adapting, it overcame its disadvantages and eventually became the cute appearance we know today. Enduring hardships and unfavorable conditions while trying to adapt somehow and becoming cute ? I think this might be the secret to the panda's popularity and the essence of the panda spirit.

The panda's thumb is a good example to understand the phenomenon of evolution. Evolution does not always proceed in a direction of improvement, nor does the body change through meticulous calculation. Not everything necessarily gets better over time. When the panda ancestor's wrist bone first protruded, it might have had some slight advantages but probably felt more like a hindrance. However, as time passed and the organism tried its best to adapt and survive, living beings strive to use their bodies in the most useful way possible. Through this process, the wonderful animal called the panda, which roughly uses its wrist bone like a finger, was born.

Thinking in reverse, a sudden thought arises. Perhaps what is truly necessary in the world is something like the panda's finger. Long ago, human ancestors stood up to pick fruit from high branches, and Homo erectus walked upright on two legs for long distances. Up to this point, things were good. But among the new paths humans have shown by using their hands, are all of them truly good?

If asked what modern humans have accomplished with their hands, should we answer that we invented machines capable of precisely analyzing uranium? Should we boast that we enriched nuclear fission materials and made nuclear bombs that can destroy an entire city at once?

If you ask a panda what it does with its hands, it would probably think for a while and then answer like this: I don't really know the exact principle, but by using my hands to hold and eat like this, I spill less bamboo and can eat the tastier parts well. It would probably say this with a happy expression.

－Kwak Jae-sik, ＜Panda Spirit＞, Saenggakjeongwon, 18,000 KRW