Swinging of arms

Hi all,
I would like to discuss on the topic " Why are we swinging our arms while walking/running?". From what I have read about the human evolution, Homo genus has evolved from the quadru-pedal movement to bipedal movement through a series of species (like Homo habilis, Homo erectus...). The reason being that the energy spent on bipedal movement is less than that of quadru-pedal motion. We.. Homo sapiens exhibit quadru-pedal movement during childhood (sometime less than 1 year). From the data I have on the evolution of Human brain, the portion of the brain which takes care of the fundamental functions remain same but with some minor differences. So, I guess the part of the brain which issues command for locomotion, still remains differentiably common and hence the movement of our hands, which were forelimbs of some lesser mammals.

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Life is beautiful

So why did u make a conscious effort to swing your arms? What did you gain from it?

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Life is beautiful

I think we feel less stable because we got used to it. I do understand that hands can keep us balanced when we lose balance sideways. Like when we walk on a thin platform, we tend to stretch out our hands sideways.. but we push our hands to the front/back while walking, right??.Edited by AdminPD, : Quote Box

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Life is beautiful

Doddy..Thanks for the reference...
I went through that article..supportive...
I also want to stress on the 180 degree phase difference between the forelimb and hindlimb on each side of the body...This difference is seen in some gaits of the lesser mammals...The concept of balance can be applied here, I guess..like when a Tiger lifts both forelimb and hindlimb on left side, it may lose balance..so the 180 degree difference is introduced..and we still have it !!!

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Life is beautiful

Other quadrupeds have that synchroniztion maybe because they don't exhibit erect-stance..and likely to lose balance if they move left fore-limb, left hind-limb together...
In humans, that too while walking I don't see that balance coming into the picture..While running, it may help in balancing..as you tend to move your upper body in front...