How come bears, tigers, even apes are naturally so powerful… And why are humans so weak in comparison
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Don’t overlook that a tiger can weigh 500 pounds, which means it has way more muscle mass than you do, and the same applies to bears and apes and horses.
Different species were naturally selected for different things. Tigers and lions are incredibly powerful, which is great for hunting, but not very active.
Humans had natural selection two particular traits: endurance and intelligence. Unlike a lot of other animals that use speed or power in short, sudden bursts to hunt, humans are the marathon runners of the animal kingdom. Someone in good physical shape could chase prey for hours intermittently until their prey gave up from exhaustion.
Intelligence, the other trait, allows humans to form long range weapons, such as bows and arrows or throwing spears to attack from afar.
When combined, humans make incredibly effective hunters.
Raw strength, while helpful, just isn’t as important for humans to he effective in gathering food. In fact, lots of muscle mass burns extra calories that aren’t strictly necessary and adds additional weight to the body that needs to be more lean for endurance.
There are a few reasons why animals may be stronger proportionally to humans. One reason is that animals have evolved to be well-suited to their environments and have developed physical characteristics that allow them to perform various tasks. For example, horses are known for their speed and endurance, allowing them to run for long periods. Similarly, oxen have powerful muscles and a sturdy build that enables them to easily pull heavy loads.
Another reason why animals may be stronger than humans is that they are designed to be more efficient in their movements. Unlike humans, who have relatively weak muscles and rely on technology to perform many tasks, animals have evolved to perform various activities using their physical abilities. This means that they can use their muscles more efficiently and effectively, which allows them to perform tasks that would be much more difficult for humans.
Additionally, animals often have a greater strength-to-weight ratio than humans. This means that they can generate more force relative to their size, which allows them to perform tasks that would be much more difficult for a human of the same size. For example, an ox can pull a car because it has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio than a human, allowing it to generate more muscle force.
Overall, animals are much stronger proportionally to humans because they have evolved to be well-suited to their environments and have developed physical characteristics that allow them to perform a wide range of tasks efficiently and effectively.
Most people are weak because they don’t exercise. Humans are exceptionally good at endurance running.
Also we spend a lot of our energy on our brain.
Humans are adept at exhaustion hunting – keep chasing a prey animal until they collapse from exhaustion.
Carrying a large muscle mass is great for burst attacks but would be a liability to carry over a long chase.
Horses can’t run for hours on end. At a run, they’re good for maybe 10 minutes. At a trot, a few hours. Humans, though can run marathons.
You ever seen a human sit on a sofa for 14 hrs?
How come ants, small cats and rats are naturally so weak… And why are humans so strong in comparison?
The simple answer is that you picked the stronger animals and never looked at the weaker ones. That question “why” is now moot.
It’s called “survivorship bias”.
Anyways, “weaker” animals outnumbers the “stronger” animals.
Even taking into account “proportional” your focus is on a certain weird things that the animals are REALLY good at. Elephant is strong in absolute term, but they can “carry” 25% their body weight. Humans can do much more. There’s no way to compare animals apple-to-apple.
In case you’re asking more in a mechanical sense, there’s a few reasons for that. One that’s particularly interesting is where the relevant muscles of each species insert around a joint. This is often compared to holding a long wrench at the far end compared to right next to the nut you’re trying to turn – the difference in force production can be huge. You can see differences from human to human in this, which accounts for some of the difference in force production between us, but between different species the difference can be much bigger. Combine that with increased neural drive – roughly analogous to your 0-60 – and potentially being much larger than a human, and you have a very big difference in strength.
All animals, including humans are exactly as strong as they need to be to survive. that is what evolution does: it adapts species to its environment.
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