Lately, Michael Arrington at TechCrunch has been on a crusade against handshakes, which he thinks are gross, 'medieval' and germ spreading. He suggests we ought to do away with hand shaking.

This is very stupid. Sure, you could accuse Arrington of being anti-social or a germophobe. You might be right on both counts. But I'd like to accuse Arrington of making no sense. Here's why. I'm sure that handshakes spread germs, especially when people don't wash their hands. You touch your nose, your face, and then you shake, and that seems gross when you focus on it. But people touch their noses and faces all the time, and then they touch lots of things. They touch the bus rail, the conference table, the shopping cart, or the pen you loaned them. They pat you on the back, or they bump your fist (let's not single out the palm – backs of hands can be gross too).

Their germs (and yours) are literally EVERYWHERE. That's why not washing hands is such a problem – germs that go anywhere but down the drain with soap can be a public health hazard.

But here's why Arrington's crusade is just a pet peeve, and nothing like a sensible argument: if germs are everywhere, compared to the baseline rate, how much more likely are you to be exposed to something by shaking hands than not? I'd argue the additional danger is infinitesimal, if it exists at all. Does anyone know of studies on this? I bet you'd have to shake A LOT of hands, and then suck on your own hands, to be at any increased risk at all. And even then, the answer is to wash YOUR hands, not stop shaking hands. Or else stop touching things altogether, get a plastic bubble, and die alone.

That said, there are clearly a lot of people who think it's gross and don't want to shake hands. They shouldn't have to. I understand it's not always (or even usually) a rational thing. But those folks can't hide behind some false claims about germs. They should just admit that they don't like the practice, and deal with the awkward situations it will produce. That means you, Arrington.