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Shamon_Yu OP t1_j5u36df wrote

Reply to comment by DavidxPxD in Pound for pound, humans have very powerful kicks compared to animals. by Shamon_Yu

Unfair comparison when we go to the extremes. Tiny animals are strong simply due to how area scales with respect to volume.

For the same reason elephants need sturdy legs, but not mice.

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dr_xenon t1_j5u5oy9 wrote

  • By my standards I’m stronger than an elephant!

By the same standards a grasshopper is stronger than you.

  • That doesn’t count.

Great argument.

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Shamon_Yu OP t1_j5u8exg wrote

Straw man much?

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analthunderbird t1_j5ugcgg wrote

It’s not a strawman when it’s literally what you just said

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DavidxPxD t1_j5u4798 wrote

How is that not fair? It is literally a pound for pound comparison.

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Shamon_Yu OP t1_j5u5wsj wrote

It's fair within a range. Like comparing a horse to a dog. But not when it's a dog vs an ant.

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iestructural t1_j5u63sl wrote

Fun party guy over here.

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Shamon_Yu OP t1_j5u751e wrote

Thanks for the nostalgia trip. Brings me back about 20 years.

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bragov4ik t1_j5vq6cq wrote

Even considering this, what about jerboas?

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ImReverse_Giraffe t1_j5uw764 wrote

Then explain horses.

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Mikisstuff t1_j5vxank wrote

It actually isn't that much when you break it down by bodyweight like OPs initial showerthought.

A quick Google tells me a horse kick is, on the higher end, about 2000 pounds of force per square inch. Another quick Google search says the average, non-trained adult human male kicks at about 1000 pounds (though I found a video of a MMA fighter kicking @ 2400). Depending on how the person is kicking (toe, heel, flat) the PSI will shift, so let's say 2 square inches for a forward kick with point of impact being toes or shoe-tops. 500PSI, or 1/4 of a horse.

Google puts the weight of an 'average' horse (I know this is super variable but since I went for the high end kick strength it's hardly going to be a Shetland pony kick...) at about 450-500kg, which is more than 4x a standard male.

OPs premise of kick strength per pound holds up for human v. horse.

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ImReverse_Giraffe t1_j5vzkrt wrote

I meant horses having incredibly weak legs....OP said that elephants have sturdy legs because they have to carry a lot of weight and mice have small legs because they don't. Horses are a counter to that statement.

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ablondedude t1_j5wf1uf wrote

Their legs still allow them to run really well though. It's sort of like our shoulders. Our shoulder is the most flexible joint in the body, it's also the weakest. There's a tradeoff for everything.

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ImReverse_Giraffe t1_j5whpo3 wrote

Did I ever say that they couldn't? No, I didn't. I was refuting a specific point that the guy above me made. Nothing more, nothing less.

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ablondedude t1_j5wiki6 wrote

Chill tf out, I'm just adding to the discussion. Not everyone in the world is trying to argue with you and someone saying something you don't agree with isn't automatically an argument.

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beebsaleebs t1_j5w31yl wrote

Coolest thing about horses is that they are basically running on their evolutionary equivalent of their fingertips/toe tips.

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Shamon_Yu OP t1_j5uwvl8 wrote

They do break their legs very easily.

The strength of a bone is proportional to its cross-sectional area. The loading on a bone is proportional to the mass (volume) of the animal. Volume increases more rapidly than cross-sectional area when the animal gets bigger.

Edit: What was unsatisfactory?

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Den1alzz t1_j5v8jh3 wrote

if you have to say unfair criticisms in the comments the shower thought probably wasn't realistic

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