# Human-Chimp hybrid: Would that "bother" you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780 "2013-03-24T00:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/41 "2013-03-25T06:37:47Z")
> [@grude](#): > > There was a case of a full chimp raised from birth in a human family with human “siblings” as an experiment to see if it would think it was a human. > > The kicker? After the experiment the chimp was sold to a MEDICAL RESEARCH COMPANY. > > Wow…people are un-human. > > [Nim Chimpsky - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim_Chimpsky) Pretty disgusting behavior by humans. I’d consider anyone who gave their dog or child over for medical research to be a complete sociopath. And no, I don’t think it should be done, or that it is moral or ethical. If it were done, I’m sure we could look forward to a repeat of that Dr. Zaius fiasco. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/42 "2013-03-25T15:14:12Z")
Only if he didn’t tell me he was a hybrid _before_ the first date. I think the surprise would bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/43 "2013-03-25T15:27:09Z")
If the OP is not asking about the ethics of the thing, I’m not sure what is being asked. How could this change someone’s “world view” anymore than the existence of a mule? What is a world view, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/44 "2013-03-25T15:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape! No, wouldn’t effect my “worldview”. Organ donor source??? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/45 "2013-03-25T15:59:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But even still, it might be that hundreds of embryos need to be created before one is viable. It may be possible, but not easy, with only some small percent of embryos surviving. It may work only with chimp sperm and human ova. We just don’t know enough to say one way or the other. As far as I’m aware, hybrids such as ligers/tigons thus far have _only_ occurred in captivity. Which suggests to me that while it is clearly possible, it’s not easy to accomplish without some extraordinary circumstances. Maybe it’s just geography, but there’s not exactly a glut of hybrids running around in captivity, either. > [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I don’t think that it would really change my views, since I already think that most of the distinctions that we draw between “humans” and “animals” are artificial - [especially in the case of Great Apes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ape_Project). > > I would be uncomfortable with scientists trying to create chimp-human hybrids mostly because, knowing how humans are, I would expect that it would end up being exploited or abused rather than treated humanely. Even many human beings who aren’t fully able to protect themselves (mentally disabled people, the elderly, the young, women in general etc.) are treated very badly in many parts of the world, after all, let alone a creature that is “almost human but not quite”. This is the main point of my objection, too… the most likely result is you have an individual who is going to be roundly rejected by both human and chimpanzee societies. The only life they’ll lead will most likely be marked by isolation. “Protective custody” maybe, but functionally a prison. Humans and chimps are smart and social, and I can’t think of a reason why a hybrid would be any different; so this individual would be _miserable_ and lonely, even if some sort of arrangements were made to protect him/her from outright violence. And smart enough to be aware that s/he is “different” and doesn’t have the same freedom of movement that everyone else does. (Likely even aware enough to know that s/he is “ugly” when measured by the prevailing standard of beauty, and that will take its toll, too.) [We already have evidence that hybridization between closely related Hominid species is possible](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23240-the-father-of-all-men-is-340000-years-old.html), so I have no idea what scientific knowledge would be gained by doing this. Not enough to justify the emotional torment of a sentient being. It seems like most people look at this like the result will be “an animal” (like it’s a meaningful distinction to begin with), while forgetting that the individual will be just as much a human. Would you subject a little kid to that sort of rejection, isolation, or bullying, if you could help it? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/46 "2013-03-25T16:08:28Z")
Hybrid human-chimp working in the carwash? Alright. Restaurant server? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/47 "2013-03-25T21:03:09Z")
I would be bothered if it was intelligent enough to, say, comprehend human speech but didn’t have the ability to talk. Due to vocal cord anatomy or tongue/teeth shape, or whatever. Sure it could maybe write things down or learn sign language, but it seems unfair to saddle an intelligent being with an intentional handicap merely to push the bounds of medical science (or due to curiosity). It’d be like \*planning \*to give birth to an intelligent human being who’s only unable to speak due to a physical disability like, oh, cerebral palsy. It’s cruel if done on purpose. And I just don’t think it’s worth the hypothetical gain to play around with interspecies breeding that’s so closely-related to us. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/48 "2013-03-25T21:06:28Z")
::Wild eyed panic:: Why? Is the chimp pregnant??? Oh, geez, I KNEW this was a bad idea! Stupid Jack Daniels and mood lighting… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/49 "2013-03-25T22:22:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What legal rights would such a being have? That’s what bothers me. Ditto. What would we do with it/him/her? How would we treat it? How intelligent would it be? I don’t see a good outcome if it is intelligent and shares the human want for self-determination. If we deny it, then we’ve created a being to enslave it. If we allow it, we leave it open for abuse and probable death in the world (humans haven’t figured out how to treat people decently based on different skin melanin yet). I don’t think the scientific benefits would be worth that gamble, quite frankly. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/50 "2013-03-25T23:22:20Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Ditto. What would we do with it/him/her? How would we treat it? How intelligent would it be? I don’t see a good outcome if it is intelligent and shares the human want for self-determination. If we deny it, then we’ve created a being to enslave it. If we allow it, we leave it open for abuse and probable death in the world (humans haven’t figured out how to treat people decently based on different skin melanin yet). I don’t think the scientific benefits would be worth that gamble, quite frankly. In order to get past that, let’s assume that it’s done by scientists in China or Iran or Venezuela. That is, countries not allied with us and over whom we have little control. So you needn’t worry about even passive participation in the process. All you know is that it has happened, and that there is nothing you can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780/51 "2013-03-25T23:35:35Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > In order to get past that, let’s assume that it’s done by scientists in China or Iran or Venezuela. That is, countries not allied with us and over whom we have little control. So you needn’t worry about even passive participation in the process. All you know is that it has happened, and that there is nothing you can do about it. In that case I would be _extremely_ bothered; I can well imagine a totalitarian regime knowing that the process is possible creating a new slave caste of them - if they were intelligent enough to follow instruction, enough like us to use our tools and infrastructure but different enough from us to make brutalising them to keep them in their place easy. No need to dehumanise something that isn’t fully human to begin with. They could even create an army of them without regards to the norms of war like concern for casualties. I would go so far as to advocate military action against such a regime lest we through inaction become accomplices to this. Are they able to breed, with each other, 100% humans or 100% chimpanzees? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-chimp-hybrid-would-that-bother-you/653780.md?page=2)