Quote from: deadDMwalking;1100116Since China has a billion people (~3x the population of the US) it wouldn't surprise me, but it would be inconsistent with the information I have seen.  I have consistently seen references that approximatly 10 million people in China speak English; I don't know if that includes Hong Kong or counts that separately (approximately half of Hong Kong's 7 million people speak English).  

Wikipedia indicates that the US has 283 million English speakers compared to China's 81 million.  This reference includes a note that only 20% of them can conduct daily conversations, which may be why there is a discrepancy between the 10 million I have seen reported and this number comes from (ie, 81 million may speak SOME ENGLISH, but a much smaller number speak it well enough to get by in an English speaking country).  

What figures do you have?

This paper says that there are over 300 million Chinese that speak english.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100122By the way many question if we humans can still interbreed with bonobos and chimps, hopefully we never find out.

That Chimp is a dirty liar, dont believe a word.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;1100116Wikipedia indicates that the US has 283 million English speakers compared to China's 81 million.

With Wikipedia I find you always have to check the citation. There you will find: "That is to say, among 415.95 million Chinese foreign-language learners, 390.16 million had learnt English." And that only includes mainland China; Hong Kong adds another 3.5 million. Having visited both Hong Kong and China I can say from first hand experience that their English is much better than my French.

Quote from: Shasarak;1100128That Chimp is a dirty liar, dont believe a word.

I knew it! He was talking out of his ass!

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100122By the way many question if we humans can still interbreed with bonobos and chimps, hopefully we never find out.

I think there's a chromosome difference so basically no, we can't.

Quote from: S'mon;1100134I think there's a chromosome difference so basically no, we can't.

We share about 98-99% DNA, and yes we have 23 while chimps, bonobos and gorillas have 24 chromosomes.

But there are people with duplicate chromosomes and they are fertile. (even if they have other problems)

Dogs and wolfs share about 99% DNA and can still interbreed.

Like I said the question is in the air, and hopefully it will remain unanswered.

Quote from: Brad;1100069This board is slowly being overrun by so much non-RPG related Marxist stuff it's not even funny.

We need a POLITICS IN GAMES subforum.

We can keep it separate from both the Main RPG Board and RPGPundit's Personal Mosh Pit. That would be the best solution since the culture war is raging inside the hobby, but these threads should be separate from the Main RPG Board which should be exclusively about RPGing.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1100081I'm fine with scrapping or redefining the mental ability scores (d6 Star Wars and Pendragon both get by fine without them

Great point about D6 Star Wars!!!

Do any D6 games use Intelligence or is it skipped by the system entirely?

Anyone have any issues running D6 without an IQ stat?

Quote from: Shasarak;1100111Would it be a surprise to find out that there are more English speakers in China then there are in the USA?

Almost as surprising as finding more pro-America spirit in Hong Kong than Portland, Oregon!
https://www.sebgorka.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Hong-Kong.jpg

Quote from: Spinachcat;1100138We need a POLITICS IN GAMES subforum.

We can keep it separate from both the Main RPG Board and RPGPundit's Personal Mosh Pit. That would be the best solution since the culture war is raging inside the hobby, but these threads should be separate from the Main RPG Board which should be exclusively about RPGing.

Agreed and seconded

Quote from: Ratman_tfBut if a species is defined by groups where two individuals can breed, Elves and Humans in Middle Earth could.

Quote from: WillInNewHaven;1100112That is not a definition of species that is widely used in biology anymore. Else, polar bears and grizzly bears would be the same species. "Race" is not much of a scientific term and is a pain in the ass when used in non-scientific discussion. Species is a scientific term and covers the human/elf gap pretty well.

I don't think that's clear. The reason we say polar bears and grizzly bears are separate species is in part because they're separate breeding population despite technical compatibility. i.e. We don't see polar/grizzly hybrids in the wild. But given that there are plenty of half-elves in D&D, I don't think calling them separate species is accurate.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100137We share about 98-99% DNA, and yes we have 23 while chimps, bonobos and gorillas have 24 chromosomes.

But there are people with duplicate chromosomes and they are fertile. (even if they have other problems)

Dogs and wolfs share about 99% DNA and can still interbreed.

Like I said the question is in the air, and hopefully it will remain unanswered.

This is weak bullshit. A human with trisomy is just as incompatible as any other human. It's not just about having the right number -- the chromosomes simply won't match up. We have a chromosome 2 that is roughly double the size of the others, and there is no way that it would successfully match with any chimpanzee chromosome.

Plus, you're implying that the only way to know is by physical mating -- which is likewise nonsense. If there were any doubt, then we could easily check compatibility in a test tube.

Quote from: jhkim;1100146I don't think that's clear. The reason we say polar bears and grizzly bears are separate species is in part because they're separate breeding population despite technical compatibility. i.e. We don't see polar/grizzly hybrids in the wild. But given that there are plenty of half-elves in D&D, I don't think calling them separate species is accurate.

http://sciencenordic.com/grizzly-polar-bear-hybrids-spotted-canadian-arctic

Quote from: jhkim;1100146This is weak bullshit. A human with trisomy is just as incompatible as any other human. It's not just about having the right number -- the chromosomes simply won't match up. We have a chromosome 2 that is roughly double the size of the others, and there is no way that it would successfully match with any chimpanzee chromosome.

Plus, you're implying that the only way to know is by physical mating -- which is likewise nonsense. If there were any doubt, then we could easily check compatibility in a test tube.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614052/scientists-are-making-human-monkey-hybrids-in-china/

Don't you ever get tired of always being wrong?

Quote from: Spinachcat;1100138We need a POLITICS IN GAMES subforum.

We can keep it separate from both the Main RPG Board and RPGPundit's Personal Mosh Pit. That would be the best solution since the culture war is raging inside the hobby, but these threads should be separate from the Main RPG Board which should be exclusively about RPGing.

Hmm, your ideas are intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter....

Seriously though, I think that is a great idea.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100137We share about 98-99% DNA, and yes we have 23 while chimps, bonobos and gorillas have 24 chromosomes.

But there are people with duplicate chromosomes and they are fertile. (even if they have other problems)

Dogs and wolfs share about 99% DNA and can still interbreed.

Like I said the question is in the air, and hopefully it will remain unanswered.

Apparently scientists in Russia tried to find out. But far as anyone knows it was not successful. Pretty sure that was made into a scenario for Delta Green? Dealing with Russian ape-men commandos or somesuch?

Quote from: Spinachcat;1100138We need a POLITICS IN GAMES subforum.

We can keep it separate from both the Main RPG Board and RPGPundit's Personal Mosh Pit.

Never work. This nuttery is infesting too much of the gaming community to the point its in the damn rules now sometimes. It is incresingly impossible to talk about RPGs without this creeping in somehow. Especially since a few posters here are SJW cultists and didnt just drink the kool-aid. They chugged it and are getting ever more irrational.

Quote from: Omega;1100163Apparently scientists in Russia tried to find out. But far as anyone knows it was not successful. Pretty sure that was made into a scenario for Delta Green? Dealing with Russian ape-men commandos or somesuch?

Damn, now I have to get Delta Green ASAP!

Also, China created a monkey/human hybrid.:eek:

Quote from: Omega;1100163Apparently scientists in Russia tried to find out. But far as anyone knows it was not successful. Pretty sure that was made into a scenario for Delta Green? Dealing with Russian ape-men commandos or somesuch?

  They show up in Ken Hite's wonderfully insane Day After Ragnarok, too.

Quote from: jhkimI don't think that's clear. The reason we say polar bears and grizzly bears are separate species is in part because they're separate breeding population despite technical compatibility. i.e. We don't see polar/grizzly hybrids in the wild. But given that there are plenty of half-elves in D&D, I don't think calling them separate species is accurate.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100147http://sciencenordic.com/grizzly-polar-bear-hybrids-spotted-canadian-arctic

This is a news article about a handful of new exceptions to the rule. If these had been happening regularly and over time, then this would change the classification of the two species.

Quote from: jhkimThis is weak bullshit. A human with trisomy is just as incompatible as any other human. It's not just about having the right number -- the chromosomes simply won't match up. We have a chromosome 2 that is roughly double the size of the others, and there is no way that it would successfully match with any chimpanzee chromosome.

Plus, you're implying that the only way to know is by physical mating -- which is likewise nonsense. If there were any doubt, then we could easily check compatibility in a test tube.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1100147https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614052/scientists-are-making-human-monkey-hybrids-in-china/

Don't you ever get tired of always being wrong?

Do you? Did you even bother to read the article, or did you just scan the headline? It doesn't describe cross-breeding of humans and monkeys. It's describing engineering a monkey with a human organ implanted into it. Having an implanted organ from another species technically makes an organism a "chimera" - but it's not in any sense cross-breeding, any more than getting a kidney implant from someone is the same as having a child together.