The internet is full of distractions, but occasionally you find a website that genuinely challenges you. Humanbenchmark.com is a minimalist, brilliant site dedicated to testing the raw processing power of your brain.
Through a series of simple UI mini-games, you can measure your raw reaction time (in milliseconds), your sequence memory, your typing speed, and your aim. It is highly addictive, but the most humbling experience on the site is undoubtedly the Chimp Test.
The chimp test explained
When you start the test, a grid of squares with numbers appears on the screen. The moment you click the number “1,” all the other numbers become hidden behind blank white squares. You must then rely entirely on your short-term spatial memory to click the remaining squares in correct numerical order.
Most humans tap out relatively early. It feels impossible to hold that many spatial locations in your head at once. But here is the kicker: chimpanzees excel at it.
The science behind the monkey
The test on the website is directly inspired by a famous 2007 study conducted by researchers at Kyoto University. They tested young chimpanzees (most notably one named Ayumu) against human university students using this exact number-masking game on touchscreens.
Ayumu completely destroyed the humans. He could memorize the location of numbers 1 through 9 in less than half a second.
Why do humans lose?
Scientists theorize it comes down to evolutionary trade-offs. As human brains evolved to prioritize complex language and abstract reasoning, we may have sacrificed the incredibly rapid, photographic-like working memory that chimpanzees use to instantly assess their surroundings (like remembering the exact location of threats or ripe fruit in a dense jungle).
So, if you took the test on Human Benchmark and realized you have worse working memory than a primate, don’t feel bad. You just traded that skill for the ability to speak, read this article, and send the test to a friend who will inevitably score worse than you.