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Stalin's Human-Ape Hybrids (skeptoid.com)
25 points by zizee on Feb 4, 2012 | hide | past | favorite | 14 comments


I was driving to the beach with my wife and the question of whether it was possible to create a half-human, half ape hybrid (much like a liger or mule) popped into my head.

I thought that someone must have tried it out* so a quick google came up with this fascinating piece of history.

*my theory is that just about anything you think of, someone has probably given it a go.


I have rarely seen such a well written and well researched report. As readable as a tabloid article and as well researched and solidly referenced as a good academic paper.

This is how all articles that deal with facts should be written.

(The comments kind of ruin this good experience, but that is not the author's fault.)


Yup, this also reminds me articles that used to be showing up on Damn Interesting (http://www.damninteresting.com/category/greatest-hits/) few years ago. Too bad they haven't touched this subject.


Reminds me of Snopes.


By 1929, the plan was to have five women be artificially inseminated, and then live at Ivanov's institute with a gynecologist for one full year. But just as the first woman volunteer was secured, known only to history as "G", Tarzan died.

What a lucky lady!


I believe if brainless working force as considerable factor in economy was possible by cross breading apes and humans then this would already be done. But it is not done because it is useless. AFAIK mankind successfully cross bread species more distinct than humans and apes.


This will never happen while we have cheap human workforce (like those working for Foxconn). And even then, I'll prefer robots to Humanzees.


Presumably, the benefit of a hybrid would be that it is as resourceful as a human, but can be treated as bad as an ape.

I don't have a source at hand, but I'm fairly sure that there is good evidence to support that slavery is a less effective workforce than cheap labour is, by far.


This raises an interesting question: what sort of rights a Human-Ape hybrid would have. Is it an animal, or a human?


There's a nice 1952 novel on this subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Animaux_d%C3%A9natur%C3%A9s


Man-animal or men-animals, both Human Rights and Animal Rights organizations will protect them.


Since humans are animals, the question can be reduced to "Is it a human?".


Aren't they sort of equal these days?


i guess if it has more traits of ape it would have same rights as ape, and vice versa.




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