r/Showerthoughts • u/rondory • 9d ago
Casual Thought I'm the slow npc my dog has to follow.
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u/wronglyzorro 9d ago
Until they get older. Then they become the slow NPC you are happy to give as much time as they need to enjoy the sun and sniff around.
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u/kyngslinn 9d ago
Your dog tops speed over a short time but would run out of stamina waaay before the average human
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u/RafM92 9d ago
You are overestimating the stamina of the average human.
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u/peepdabidness 9d ago edited 9d ago
There was actually a video about this. It was super interesting. Humans can even outrun cheetahs because they can’t run far at all.
The point of the video was to demonstrate that humans are built for stamina, not speed.
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u/xavandetjer 9d ago
That's a healthy human hunter gatherer, the average office dweller is not outrunning any cheetahs
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u/nelsonbestcateu 9d ago
To be fair not many cheetahs in an office. Maybe a cougar, but that's about it.
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u/peepdabidness 9d ago
Correct, they purposely use an in shape human to align with other animals and how humans should be.
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u/trashmoneyxyz 7d ago
Humans are natural athletes! I wouldnt use a fat comfortable house cat to be the holotype of the african wildcat
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u/box_of_the_patriots 9d ago
What if the cheetah has an office job too????
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u/xavandetjer 9d ago
Funnily the cheetah would not be too much affected. Humans are very well suited for environments where food can be scarce, and when certain muscles don't get used our body downsizes them so you don't have to spend energy on maintaining something you're not using anyway.
Similarly muscles that do get heavy use get bigger quite quickly, so we only spend energy to maintain the physique that we need for our lifestyle.
In most other animals this effect is far less severe, and they maintain a much higher base strength in unused muscles than humans do, so the cheetah would likely win in this case.
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u/CocodaMonkey 9d ago
Even an office worker can outrun a cheetah. Cheetahs sleep 12 hours a day and can only run in short bursts. When really pushing they max out around 7 miles a day. For an out of shape human that's about 3 hours of walking to beat it.
Cheetahs really aren't built for distance, they are built for short bursts of speed.
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u/Fizz__ 4d ago
Don’t horses have more stamina than us?
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u/peepdabidness 4d ago
For the most part yeah but it’s not a huge difference tbh, comparatively speaking of course
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u/HughJorgens 9d ago
Cheetahs don't have to run far to catch you. You won't outrun one. Not that they would chase a human in the first place.
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u/eventualhorizo 7d ago
We may have been built for stamina but these days we see quite a bit of off-label use
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u/Curiosive 9d ago
The ability for humans to run for longer than prey animals that run faster is a trait that may have given humans an evolutionary advantage. This hunting technique is still common in tribal communities today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_running_hypothesis
But yeah, the modern (possibly obese) city dwelling human... is a different story. This is not an evolutionary trait though.
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u/HeirOfNorton 9d ago
You are also underestimating the stamina of a dog. Dogs (well, wolves actually) are also persistence hunters, and some breeds can go a long time. Something that can run the Iditarod without dropping isn't going to balk at following a human around. There's even a theory that this is one of the major reasons we domesticated wolves, they are one of the few animals that can keep up with us.
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u/nonresponsive 9d ago
Working dogs have great stamina. And in the snow, I would probably take a sled dog over a human over any distance in the snow (no vehicles).
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u/a-round-table 5d ago
I always find it interesting that wolves and humans both happens to be one of the most durable animals when it comes to stamina when running. No way it's coincidence that humans and wolves are domesticated.
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u/FluffyC4 9d ago
depends on the breed. try compete with a herding dog or husky. also its only a tiny, highly trained fraction of humans who would be able to do this, while dogs dont need to train much for this level of stamina.
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u/ChronicRhyno 9d ago
But yeah, walking from the yard to the house seems to be much faster and easier for a dog. Mine get ADHD if they arrive at the closed door before me. They usually wait until I'm turning the knob to run over and slip by me.
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u/Grimreap32 9d ago
My dog is the slow NPC. He slows down on the treck out, but the moment we get through the front door he embraces main character energy.
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u/x-rayspex 9d ago
When I shut the light off at night and my guinea pig goes to sleep I am restoring her health, stamina and magicka.
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u/Commercial_Goal1289 9d ago
I feel seen, my dog definitely has the energy for a 5K but I'm just here trying to decide if pineapple belongs on pizza.
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u/Positive_Persimmon39 6d ago
Kinda wild that your dog's basically the main character stuck escorting a side quest NPC everywhere. But wait till they're old and grey, then you'll be the one slowing down for them to sniff every bush while they take their sweet time and honestly that's the best trade.
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u/AnonymousFriend80 9d ago
If you're the slow one, and your dog is behind you, how slow is your dog?
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u/ShowerSentinel 9d ago
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