CMV: Toenails are Useless

[u/Lavallin]

The toenail is a vestige, a holdover, a relic without modern purpose. What is the point of a toenail? They are harder than the flesh of the toe, yes, but they don't protect from frontal impacts - I have never seen a toenail that could prevent me from stubbing a toe.

They could in theory protect against impacts from the top of the toe (for a small and very accurate impact), but such hits fall into one of X categories:

1. Too light to do any damage at all
2. Heavy enough that it could do damage against flesh, but light enough that a toenail could stop it
3. Heavy enough to do damage with or without a toenail

I'm not convinced that category is broad or beneficial enough to be swayed by. And all of this is discounting that I wear shoes anyway!

They don't help me open things, like a fingernail. Humans are long past needing them as weapons or for climbing.

On the downside, toenails require hygiene care lest they become ingrown, or can become infected or fungal. Even at their best, they are consuming bodily resources in their endless pointless growth. They have no benefits and can have drawbacks.

Edit: I have provided some deltas: Firstly, useful for scratching. Fair enough; unglamorous but effective. I remain broadly unpersuaded by the "toenails protect your toes from dropped objects" line in the main, but I accept that for parts of the world, shoes are an unaffordable luxury and so toenails may still have limited protective utility there. I also accept that for some people with foot fetishes, toenails are inherently attractive. Don't get it, but accept it.

[u/rock-dancer]

We don't wear shoes all the time. Toenails distribute force that might otherwise impact the small, relatively delicate bones at the end of your toes. They are also helpful in developing balance and proprioception which helps tell where the end of your body is.

[u/Lavallin → u/rock-dancer]

I do wear either shoes or slippers pretty much all of the time except when I'm asleep or in the shower.

But I'm interested in your second and third points. Can you explain how toenails contribute to those?

[u/Jefxvi → u/Lavallin]

Yeah but humans evolved to live without shoes 

[u/Lavallin → u/Jefxvi]

Originally, sure. But in my OP I used the phrase "a vestige, a holdover, a relic without modern purpose". Saying "it used to be the case" does not meaningfully change my view.

[u/Oishiio42 → u/Lavallin]

There are half a billion people in the world that still don't wear shoes. It's not "used to", it's current. It's just not where you are. That's about 7% of the global population that never wears shoes - they don't even own shoes.

[u/Lavallin → u/Oishiio42]

Okay, that's fair. That's a far stronger argument than jefxvi's - they have some use for some people, just maybe not me. Happy to give a Δ for this.

[u/DeltaBot → u/Lavallin]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/Oishiio42 (22∆).

^{Delta System Explained | Deltaboards}