In Maya you make models that are blockier than the final result. And then smoothing them gives you a more detailed, and well...smooth geometry. The hand on the left is the smooth one.
Yep sometimes all you need to do is turn on smooth shading :) I always have it on for organic models (and I also use Blender but same principles XD) Nice hands.
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DarkChibiShadow
oooh! i like the unsmooth actually!