Swindon & Wiltshire News
Review: Will the handshake survive the pandemic? Swindon’s Festival of Literature offers answers
Business Biscuit reports from Swindon Festival of Literature, where author Ella Al-Shamahi explores the handshake – why we really do it, whether we should, and if we will again.
The handshake. In business it means many things: good to meet you, great to see you again, we have a deal, until next time…
But in the age of Zoom networking events and Microsoft Teams meetings we’re just not shaking hands any more. So, will the handshake return?
The question was explored yesterday (Wednesday) during an event at Swindon’s Festival of Literature, which is spending a second season as an online event.
In the author appearance, which can be watched online, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and television presenter Ella Al-Shamahi talks through her new book The Handshake – A Gripping History.
According to Ella, humans have a long history of shaking hands in greeting – far longer than many of us realise.
We’ve been told the greeting originated during the Middle Ages, when knights would offer their sword hands to prove they were not armed.
It’s a credible origin story, but even a cursory Google search will bring up pieces of art more than two thousand years old depicting men (kings, soldiers, traders) shaking hands.
Ella suggests the handshake may go back as far as the dawn of man – and earlier. After all, chimpanzees and bonobos – our closest genetic relatives – shake hands.
Why? In her book, the author points to research that suggests we’re more likely to sniff our hands after shaking them with someone. The handshake, she posits, could be a way of transmitting chemical signals in a way that predates verbal language by millions of years.
So, are there compelling reasons to dispense with the handshake post-pandemic? Well, more research suggests there are around 150 species of bacteria living on the hands of each and every one of us.
Meanwhile, globally – although I’m not sure who’s admitting to this – only nineteen percent of us wash our hands after taking what Ella delicately describes as a ‘number two.’
Access to water, she chides, does not fully make up the shortfall.
So by shaking hands we’re partaking in a ritual that facilitates the transfer of chemical signals, but also up to 150 different varieties of germ. So will we ever go back to shaking hands?
Ella looks to the relatively recent past. Outbreaks of yellow fever and cholera in the 18th and 19th centuries saw the handshake fall out of fashion. And when Spanish flu hit the United States in the early 20th century, some towns banned the practice – but the ritual soon reestablished itself.
Personally, I’m happy to offer an elbow bump when social meetings resume. But before long I’m sure I’ll be shaking hands again. Old (and beloved) habits die hard.
Ella Al-Shamahi appeared at Swindon Festival of Literature on Wednesday, May 5. You can watch the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYu9n_PbrM
The Festival still relies on ticket sales, and a suggested donation of £5 is appreciated.
