How Strong Is a Chimpanzee?

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by KilljoyKlown, Aug 10, 2011.

  1. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    What do you think when you hear someone say he has chimpanzee strength? I have heard some people say chimpanzee's have 10 times the strength of a man. I find this hard to believe. So I did a little research and found the following article.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2212232/

    It turns out that chimpanzee's are stronger than people. But only about twice as strong and that turns out to be because their mussels are built different than ours are. Still twice as strong is very impressive. I was wondering if anyone knows of any research to make humans stronger? Especially us old guys?
     
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  3. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    I thinking it's twice as strong pound for pound kind of thing. Some really strong men might be close to avg chimp. Anyway it's the bite to fear not a beating.
     
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  5. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I was actually interested more in the why and how of their strength and how that might help scientists find a better way to improve the strength in humans. However I agree with you about getting bit. Also, I heard chimps are dirty fighters, that like to grab onto the soft parts and try and rip them completely off your body. Which IMO is worse than the bit.
     
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  7. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Basically Lean muscle mass.

    I wonder if they fight that dirty with other chimps...?
     
  8. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I wouldn't put it past them and I won't be looking one up just to piss him off.

    I did find another link on the super strength issue. However that picture of a muscle bound cow is a bit of a turn off.

    Researchers find key to creating super-strength in mammals
     
  9. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    I think it means that it would take at least 10 men to subdue a chimp with their bare hands, probably many more, just because there is no match for a wild animal, martial arts experts know this.
     
  10. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    One could say they will chew your face off in seconds like one did with.....

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  11. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Damn!!! That's nasty. Are we going to get to watch that on "When Good Pets Go Bad"?

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    Even 10 martial arts experts might not fair very well against a really pissed off chimp.
     
  12. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    If that happened to me. Before I killed myself I'd make that chimp wish it was dead.
     
  13. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    The strength difference is most likely much greater than two to one if you are comparing a wild adulation male chimp with an average man. The greater strength comes from the mechanics of their activity and environment. They run/climb up a tree as if we were tuning down hill. Add to that, that a male chimp is no light weight. Maybe four feet tall and over 100 lbs.

    For a few years in my youth I worked for a railroad as a switchman. I did a lot of double shifts and the work required constantly climbing the ladders on individual box cars and literally hanging off the side of a car in motion for a significant portion of each shift.

    Recently, one of my nephews told me that I was one of the strongest men he had ever known?? I was in my late twenties back then he had been mid to late teens. It got me to thinking... Twenty years ago long after my twenties in had tunnel carpal surgery, on my right hand. After, rehab was complete at one of my last related Dr. visits the Doc asked me how I thought I was doing. I said I was doing pretty good but I just couldn't get the strength back in my right hand. He literally broke into laughter and told me that he had just tested my grip strength and it was 158 lbs. He went on to say that that was after surgery and that the average grip of most men was nearer 90-100 lbs.

    Sometimes strength is really just a function of use.

    As to the old guy advice... You will most likely never be as strong as you once were but here again it is mostly an issue of use and activity. I have met some old timers that even before surgery on my hand it was a risky business to get into one of those grip battles.

    P.S. Since I retired my grip has suffered significantly. Don't tell my nephew, don't to open any windows for retribution. But seriously I sometimes now even need to apply the use of tools to remove the twist of cap from a bottle.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2011
  14. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    I did not even check the link yet and I am still laughing. It's just a good thing I swallowed before I got to this!
     
  15. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    i seen an episode of "1000 ways to die" where a woman was killed by a chimpanzee. the 911 call went something like "the chimp ripped off a part of the womans nose and started eating it".
     
  16. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I was really surprised when I read that a chimp could out run the fastest humans when using all fours. It just never looked like they were moving that fast. Almost ungainly would be my take.

    Your point about usage is well taken. I've often wondered how strong a human growing up like a chimp would get.
     
  17. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Did you look at the cow? Can you imagine a human body builder taking that stuff?
     
  18. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    This reminded me of a couple of scenes from a book by, Elizabeth Marshall, "The Old Way: A Story Of The First People". It is an account of her family's first contact expedition into the deep Kalahari to meet the San Bushmen, in the early 1950s. I think it was 52.

    Briefly, in one a lone Busman, maybe 5 ft and all of 110 lbs. Calmly faced down three lioness which approached their camp at night, while the rest of the group ignored the whole situation. He just warned them verbally that they should not be there and that he did not want to have to hurt them so they should leave. They did.

    The other was an account of a hunt where when they tracked their previously injured (as in they use poisoned arrows that always kill just not very fast) prey and upon finding it there was already a pride of lions there. The group of bushmen just walked right in single file and as they approached the lions left.

    Sometimes, when we compare ourselves to wild animals we forget that our ancestors have out competed them for a very very long time.
     
  19. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    The interesting thing to me is, why are chimps so much stronger than humans? Why aren't humans physically stronger than we are? Apparently, our survival strategies had us relying more on brains, less on brawn. But still, what would the disadvantage to being stronger be? Wouldn't being both physically strong and smart be the best of both worlds?

    Pure unsupported conjecture on my part; perhaps it had to do with humans living in so many different climates. One thing you learn when studying physiology is that muscle tissue consumes more calories than fatty tissue, even at rest. In times of famine, this would mean that excess muscle tissue would be a liability. Humans have been selected to be strong enough. Since we are here the way we are, it seems likely that being significantly physically stronger didn't offer enough advantages to overcome the disadvantages.
     
  20. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    That's about the way Arnold looked when he was younger. (as in Arnold Schwarzenegger) Or nearly so.
     
  21. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I think I must have missed that episode. I still haven't gotten over that episode where these two stoners snorted fire ants.
     
  22. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Maybe but the bull wasn't flexing his mussels. Hate to see what he looked like pumped up.
     
  23. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    While much of this is true, I don't think you can compare us now with any sort of survival of the fittest mechanism, as it has been a very long time since our survival has been a matter of being the fittest.

    It would also be a mistake to think that our ancestors were not much stronger than we are today. Think about this. Some of those European nights went into battle wearing over 100 lbs. of armor.

    I was in Peru last year. The porters ( I don't remember right off hand what they were actually called) for the people like us only younger and fitter who were trekking the Inca Trail, would after the tourists set off for the days hike, breakdown the entire camp, into perhaps 80 lbs bundles and run to the next camp site, set up and then wait for the tourists to come in exhausted. I personally ran into one young man literally running up a hill with what looked like about 80 - 90 lbs of sand and mortar on his back. He wasn't even breathing hard and I was exhausted going down. So that I don't sound like a complete wimp I'd hard already made the trek up, but not with more than the extra weight of a bottle of water and a camera.

    It is often very difficult for us to really understand how far below our true potential most of us perform.
     

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