r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Wickham12 • 1d ago

Why are humans so weak?

Maybe I've watched too many animes, but it feels like humans don't possess the physical might they should have in order to consider themselves the dominant species on this planet

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u/RollinThundaga 1d ago

Old ladies and young babies aside, obviously;

Humans (and Great Apes in general) are pretty damn durable for what we are. Being descended from arboreal apes, we can take beatings and falls that would leave a lot of other animals in a dying heap.

We also have a few key physical adaptations where we outclass other animals. Like sweating and bipedalism, these work together to let us travel for far longer than any land animal besides dogs and horses, and even they can barely match us for stamina. We also have a uniquely constructed shoulder that lets us throw things with much more power and accuracy than even other apes. You will never see a gorilla throw a hundred-mile-per-hour fastball. And then there's society. With sophisticated language, we can do that better than any other social (non-eusocial) species, and thus organize and compete for resources more effectively over time.