Like most sane people I occasionally consider what would be my best course of action in the event of the inevitable alien invasion. And this got me wondering about the universality and origin of the surrender gesture.
Everyone human recognises the ‘surrender’ gesture, both arms held high above the head in an open-handed posture. Its also easy to see what it means, “I have no weapons”, (or at least no ready access to same).
Is this an instinctive gesture, is it recognised globally? If it is something that is learned where and when did it originate and what is the earliest record of its use?
Is that true today? And has it always been true? It seem logical but most people who you see using that gesture have been exposed to modern media and/or have access to firearms. Would it make sense to someone who’s never seen firearms? I can’t picture a medieval knight making that gesture, but that may be my lack of imagination.
I read of an encounter between groups from separate tribes in Papua/New Guinea who showed open hands to each other, without raising them above their heads, to indicate they had no weapons and thus no harmful intentions. It was apparently understood by both sides, though. If one side was unaware of the customs of the other side, I imagine any gesture, especially raising your hands up high, could be mistaken as a signal to others hidden nearby rather than as a sign of surrender.
That’s probably true, and universal. The hands over the head may have become more common with the development of firearms, but going way back someone could have a knife or just a pointy stick stuck in the animal skin tied around their waste. If you have to give up to someone who wants to kill you then you’ll do anything to make yourself look harmless, as long as you can stay on your feet and make a break for it if you have to. So open hands would be a universal sign, perhaps evolved behavior, and what you do with those open hands would be situational.
To the sides but not in a crucified pose is less tiring than straight up, though. And anyway you’re not expecting to stay like that for a long time: either the other side accepts your surrender or they don’t, usually the procedure doesn’t involve calling HQ and filling three different forms in quadruplicate (“green copy for the surrenderee, pink copy for HQ, white copy for you, blue copy for Records”).
I think palms out in any position is the recognized sign for “I mean no harm”. Surrendering would require more obsequience. So holding the hands up, to the sides, or some additional cue would be needed to signify a real surrender.
*other than, of course, certain death. the wiki entry for “surrender” cites the hands in the air as a known universal signal for giving up.
i believe the hands out signifies a lack of weapon, but the arms raised signals a lack of intent. police ask you to do this to both show you hold no weapon and have your arms away from your body (indication no intention to grab one, all of the sudden).
if you consider the concept of surrender, there’s an implication of aggression or offense being committed previous, then a signal of cessation of the aggression. thus it make sense to show a lack of weapon and intent.
it makes me wonder how many times someone quick-drew another weapon once the other person’s guard went down before the “arms up HIGH” became a really standard procedure…
I recall reading some years ago that an ancient gesture for surrender was to hold out your hands in more-or-less in what we’d call Christian style prayer position (supposedly that’s where the prayer position originated, as “surrendering to God”). The idea is that you holding your hands out and together makes it easy for them to put manacles on.
I believe that the entire concept of shaking hands came from accepting the benign intentions of another and yours to them by grasping their primary hand and/or arm.
We are a warlike species. It is unpleasant to say so in this age, but nevertheless, we are.
Such gestures are ancient and well beyond the written or even oral traditions of our many peoples.
This ‘surrender’ idea must be ancient as well.
Do all cultures share the same gestures to indicate ‘I recognize your superiority; do not kill me’?
I daresay not. We don’t all even share the same gestures for ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
