eli5/Why are our fingers all slightly different lengths?
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All sounds very plausible and I just want to add my thoughts.
I also think it’s because most (… all?) organic systems follow the fibonacci numbers / sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,…) / golden ratio in their proportions when growing, like the order of leaves, branches of trees, snail houses etc and kind of grow in a circular way to fill the space as well as possible coming from one source, like a puddle.
The thumb and general finger size and position enable us to hold something, so that’s functional, but the position of all finger tips together is like an invisible circle, when outstretched.
Additionally a small detail: the length of the ring and index finger in comparison is also influenced by hormones we got as embryos. In the end it’s still circular.
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