Finding Your Hand in the Age of Tools and Transformation
Saturday, 3 January 2026
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it really means to pause and look inward, to notice the hidden corners of our minds and hearts that often get overlooked in the rush of daily life. There’s a tension between reflection and action, between tending to our inner world and building the frameworks we need to navigate the outer one.
And with this, I’m drawn to an image that’s both literal and symbolic: the human hand, particularly the opposable thumb. The thumb is what sets humans, and some of our primate cousins, apart in the animal kingdom. It allows us to create, manipulate, and shape the world with precision. I recently had to experiment with this idea, sketching with burnt palo santo instead of my usual charcoal as I had run out. The methods and systems I relied on stayed the same, but the tool itself required adaptation.
Jane Goodall observed the same ingenuity in apes, who used twigs and sticks to extract ants from tree crevices. Moments like these reshaped our understanding of what it means to be human. For so long, we defined our uniqueness by our ability to use and manipulate tools, but by observing other species, it challenged that notion. We are not as singular as we once thought. We are not alone in using tools to survive, adapt, and shape our world.
Opposable Thumb: A Definition
Noun (uh-poz-uh-buhl thum)
A thumb that can be placed opposite the fingers of the same hand, allowing for grasping, manipulating, and handling objects with precision. The evolution of the opposable thumb was a key factor in primates’ ability to adapt and shape their environment.
I want to carry this idea into our modern-day context. A question that has been on my mind for years now, since I started getting hints and ideas toward the future of technology and humanity, has been: “What will it mean to be human in the age of true AI?”
As we enter the era of AGI, I find myself more and more reflecting on what it means to be human. Today, generative AI and intelligent agents are great tools. Powerful tools, but still in the stage of “twigs and sticks” compared to the full potential they could reach. They feel more like fingers, rather than a fully developed thumb that can grasp and manipulate with the dexterity we need to engage with our world responsibly. But with my days of sitting in my silence and watching the world turn round as new launches and tools arrive, I still see fingers being developed, not thumbs. And I want the whole damn hand to work with.
Let’s place this into the hot topic of this week, and I may as well share a quick two cents on this, as I had warned people of this security risk years ago…Manage My Health and the breach of people’s sensitive medical data. One word to solve this: decentralisation. Doesn’t have to be blockchain, but one centralised server relying on encryption and good faith is no longer enough. Never was. Humanity needs a decentralised approach, especially in a world where someone could be on the brink of breaking into true AI.
That calls for a truly decentralised system capable of holding and protecting what matters most without slapping you across the face on a random Wednesday. Just as the opposable thumb allows precision, our systems must allow secure, adaptable interaction with the world around us.
If humanity wants a steady hand to hold as we evolve into what we will become, we need to make sure it’s one that we all can trust.
Final Notes
I want to wrap up today with a reminder from an article I wrote back in July 2025, originally published on my Cosmic Anthropology Substack when I was writing over there. At the time, I explored the curious connection between Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, who were born just four days apart. The article was a study in light and shadow, power and control, and the ways we navigate authority in the world. Highly recommend reading it.
The lesson then, and now, is timeless: structure and influence alone are not enough. True power requires integrity, emotional wisdom, and the courage to face our own shadows. Chaplin embraced his vulnerability and used it to inspire humanity; Hitler let his fears dominate, wielding control as a weapon.
But with all of this in mind, I feel called to ask a more inward turn of questions. So, ask yourself: what part of your heart holds the aged wisdom that completes your puzzle? What insights have been waiting for you to notice them? All the tools, the knowledge, and the courage you need are already in your hands. You just need to simply trust them and let them guide your next steps.
Looking back on some of my past reflections, one lesson remains timeless: structure and influence alone are not enough. True capability requires integrity, wisdom, and the courage to face our own vulnerabilities. Just as the opposable thumb allows precision and control, so too must our actions, our systems, and our thinking be rooted in clarity and care.
The tools, the knowledge, and the courage you need are already in your hands. Trust them. Use them. Let them guide your next steps.
Best,
Alison Mackie
Founder, RHC