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Comment by olalonde | Hacker News Reader

Chimp muscles are stronger than ours but we are often stronger than them in absolute terms because we are bigger (more muscle mass).

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We are not stronger than chimps. Our arms certainly aren't.

yes, a chimp could literally rip the arm(s) out of a human without a sweat. 1 chimp arm is roughly equivalent to 2 of the strongest human arms.

Chimps, no, but a small 20kg macaque, yeah definitely. You could yeet such a small animal, for lack of a better word. That's why they band together :)

For a good idea of what chimpanzee musculature looks like, do a search for "hairless chimpanzee." Here's one:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36924808

I certainly agree, you wouldn't have much of a chance against a chimp one on one without weapons. It's just that the article isn't about chimps, but about much smaller macaques.

Generally true, but the average chimp is only 50% stronger in relative terms and the average chimp is only 4ft tall.

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/28/7343

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138714-chimps-are-not-...

> This result matches well with the few tests that have been done, which suggest that when it comes to pulling and jumping, chimps are about 1.5 times as strong as humans relative to their body mass. But because they are lighter than the average person, humans can actually outperform them in absolute terms, say O’Neill.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138714-chimps-are-not-...

We are not stronger, we have more stamina. There is a difference

We both are stronger and have more stamina than macaques. The biggest male adult macaques are 18kg. That’s probably more that the average adult can raise with one arm but not by much and I insist on average. That’s nothing exceptional for someone in shape.

Considering the weight and power in a human leg, a swift kick would seriously harm and probably kill an average macaque. The issue is not strength here.

The average adult can't lift 18kg with one arm, even with improper posture? That's pretty sad if true.

Average adult would include women, which are much weaker than men. It is sad if it applied to just men.

With one arm? I’m not sure, but with two arms certainly most women can do it.

18kg is the average weight of a 5 year old kid [1]. It’s pretty routine for women in childcare roles to pick up kids for various reasons.

1. https://www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/height-wei...

The average parent can definitely lift 18kg with one arm, that's the weight of a 3 year old...

More than half adults are women, a third live in Asian when the average weight of an adult is 58kg. You have strong bias.

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