When did we figure out that hugs are really, really nice? A while ago. History doesn't record when we learned that hugs are comforting, reassuring, centering, and (with the right person) arousing. History probably didn't exist yet. Maybe language didn't exist yet. MAYBE WE DIDN'T EXIST YET, but our ancestors did. THAT'S what we need time travel for: not dinosaur hunting, not killing Hitler (though maybe for still trying to rescue Marilyn Monroe from that overdose), but to find when arms went around torsos and everyone whose arms and torsos were involved felt better! Maybe they then contentedly grunted "ug." And were two-thirds of the way to the word. At least in English.
Anyway, we've practiced hugs. A lot. Babies' arms are too short to hug their parents, but -- you hope -- babies figure it out from being cuddled and from seeing hugs. (I hope babies are seeing hugs.) Maybe arms could be so long (like that Close Encounters alien with the almost impossibly long arms [scroll down]) that someone could simultaneously hug others and oneself. Whoa. That would require how many arm joints? Maybe stick to usual-length arms.
There. Now you're thinking about hugs. Nice thought, right?