Thumbs and Pockets - and if kangaroos ruled the world.....

Thumbs and pockets .... after years of considering this carefully I have come to this conclusion that these are the two things that give you the advantage - well that and the ability to walk balanced on your back legs so that you can use your opposable thumbs to put things in your pockets.

It means you can easily carry things around with you - like lunch, and can openers.  

Those opposable thumbs come in really handy with can-openers.

Cats could carry things around in back packs - I've seen dogs doing it, so cats could (if they wanted to).  However,on the whole it's easier, more refined, and definitely more sensible to rely on human pockets and backpacks.  Dogs are just plain stupid - all eager to please and no  nouse  (did you know that word apparently comes from ancient Greek 'noos' and means intellect or common sense?  No, neither did we until F spell-checked it.)

There are things I wish your opposable thumbs couldn't achieve - like getting the lid off the toothpaste, but for the fur-brush and can-opening they are good.

Anyway the conclusion of my observation is that humans have got to where they are because they have opposable thumbs and somewhere in their evolution realized that kangaroos were onto a good thing with built-in pockets, and back leg propulsion.  You are just very lucky that kangaroos don't have opposable thumbs.  Imagine if kangaroos ruled the world!