Timeline for Would gorillas with human-level intelligence make effective soldiers?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 24, 2016 at 22:01 | comment | added | pluckedkiwi | Gorillas are mostly ground animals - some more than others, but they are not great climbers. They absolutely do not swing from tree to tree. That is orangutans. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:59 | comment | added | AndreiROM | @sdrawkcabdear - gorillas have far more muscle than humans. Watch a video of them climbing a tree. In an urban environment they wouldn't necessarily be scaling the outside of skyscrapers. They couldn't But what about getting to a better vantage point by pulling themselves up from balcony to balcony? Or climbing on top of a bus in one quick motion, then shooting the soldiers on the other side of it? They would have a lot more vertical mobility than a human. We are simply not as strong when it comes to climbing. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:56 | comment | added | sdrawkcabdear | @AndreiROM Its true the tree advantage for gorillas is minuscule. I hadn't thought of gorillas scaling buildings with their bare hands. Could a gorilla scale the outside of a building? Buildings have many fewer hand holds than trees and are designed to be hard to climb for security purposes. Does a gorilla it have any climbing advantages over a human, aren't gorillas significantly worse climbers than monkeys? Humans are taller and have longer arm spans to reach sparser hand holds. Humans like monkeys are build vertically and so could keep balance when climbing a vertical wall better. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:44 | comment | added | AndreiROM | sdrawkcabdear - we don't need to climb into trees because wars are fought on the ground (from an infantry perspective). The odd sniper doesn't count. In other words the fact that gorillas can climb trees better is irrelevant. That they might climb through an urban landscape however, is critical, and given them a huge advantage. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:43 | comment | added | AndreiROM | @WhatRoughBeast - there are very efficient systems for slinging/unslinging your weapon made for special forces. Furthermore, a special system can be designed for gorillas. Those are not deal breakers. And who said gorillas would need to walk extensively on two legs? | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:39 | comment | added | sdrawkcabdear | @AndreiROM Humans usually don't climb in the forest, because we move much more slowly in the trees. But it is not uncommon to position snipers in the tree tops. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:38 | comment | added | WhatRoughBeast | While It's true that troops don't shoot while running, they can begin to fire as soon as they reach cover. Gorillas would have to stow their weapons before running, then unstow them when they reach cover. This would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the (presumably) heavier weapons they could carry. Furthermore, it's not at all clear that gorillas are capable of operating bipedally for long periods of time, especially while carrying heavy loads. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:23 | comment | added | AndreiROM | Human's don't "move fast and shoot at the same time". In fact, we run from cover to cover, and fire from behind said cover. You wouldn't hit anything by shooting while running. Also, why would human troops climb trees in the forest? That puzzled me. | |
| Feb 24, 2016 at 21:19 | history | answered | sdrawkcabdear | CC BY-SA 3.0 |