Fingers and toes wrinkling in water is not a passive reaction caused by skin absorbing moisture, but rather an active, involuntary neurological response controlled by your autonomic nervous system.

A closer look

Fingers and toes wrinkling in water is not a passive reaction caused by skin absorbing moisture, but rather an active, involuntary neurological response controlled by your autonomic nervous system. Blood vessels constrict below the skin surface to create these ridges, evolutionary designed to give you a significantly better grip on wet objects or submerged surfaces. Your body is literally transforming your hands into biological rain tires so you do not slip and die while foraging in a river. Of course, modern humans exclusively trigger this brilliant primal survival mechanism by soaking in a bubble bath for far too long while watching reality television on an iPad. It is comforting to know thousands of years of evolution gave us aquatic tactical grip just so we can successfully hold a glass of overpriced wine in a lukewarm Jacuzzi without dropping it