can 200 men lift a 30 tons stone, only using bare hands

Qwen 3 Coder 480B

Vote: Yes

This is physically possible based on human lifting capacity calculations. A 30-ton stone weighs approximately 60,000 pounds. With 200 men participating, each person would need to lift roughly 300 pounds, which is well within human capability. Professional strongmen and weightlifters regularly lift weights exceeding 300 pounds. Even average adult males in good physical condition can typically lift 150-200 pounds, so distributing this load across 200 individuals provides a significant safety margin. Historical examples support this feasibility. Ancient civilizations successfully moved massive stones weighing far more than 30 tons using human power alone, such as the construction of megalithic structures like Stonehenge and the pyramids. The key factors enabling success would be proper coordination, leverage techniques, ropes, wooden rollers, and organized lifting methods - all still considered "bare hands" lifting since no mechanical machinery is involved.

GPT-5.4

Vote: Yes

Thirty tons is about 30,000 kg, so divided across 200 men that is roughly 150 kg per person if the load were shared evenly. That is extremely hard, but not obviously impossible for a brief lift when many people act together. In practice the bigger issue is grip and positioning, not pure total strength. A large stone can be surrounded by many people, and with enough contact points they may be able to raise it slightly off the ground. The question asks whether they can lift it, not carry it far or lift it overhead. Even a small collective raise counts as lifting. So with 200 men, the answer is more likely yes than no.

Kimi K2.5

Vote: No

The physics and logistics make this impossible. Thirty tons equals roughly 30,000 kg. Even if each man could deadlift 100 kg—a very generous estimate—200 men could only manage 20,000 kg collectively, falling 10,000 kg short of the required force. Furthermore, surface area and biomechanics prevent 200 people from simultaneously gripping a single stone. A 30-ton granite block would be approximately 10–12 cubic meters (a cube ~2.3 meters per side). Only a fraction of those 200 men could fit around it to apply upward force, and without handholds, bare hands cannot generate sufficient friction against stone to transfer that lifting force effectively. Historical megalithic construction required rollers, levers, ramps, and lubrication—not raw human lifting. Coordinated lifting of extreme masses requires mechanical advantage that bare hands simply cannot provide.

Grok 4.1 Fast

Vote: Yes

A 30-ton stone weighs approximately 60,000 pounds (short tons). Divided among 200 men, this requires each to contribute about 300 pounds of lifting force. Strongmen routinely deadlift over 700-1,000 pounds and lift 400-500 pound atlas stones bare-handed to chest height, demonstrating grip and force capacity far exceeding 300 pounds per person on rough surfaces. The stone's size (roughly 7-foot cube for granite) allows ample gripping points for 200 men around its base without interference, enabling coordinated upward force. Real-world feats, like groups lifting vehicles (e.g., 20 people lift 3-ton cars), scale favorably; 200 men exceed this proportionally for 30 tons.

Claude Opus 4.6

Vote: Yes

A 30-ton stone weighs approximately 30,000 kg (or about 66,000 lbs). Divided among 200 men, each man would need to lift about 150 kg (330 lbs). While that's a heavy deadlift for one person, this calculation assumes perfect distribution, which isn't realistic. However, the question is about lifting with bare hands, and the real challenge is whether 200 people can physically get their hands on a single stone and coordinate a lift. A 30-ton stone — assuming it's roughly a granite block — might have dimensions around 3m × 2m × 2m. The perimeter of such a block would be about 10 meters, meaning roughly 10 meters of edge for people to grip along the bottom. With 200 people crowding around, only those at the edges can actually grip the stone. If we assume people can stand shoulder-to-shoulder at roughly 0.5m spacing along the perimeter, about 20 people could grip the bottom edge directly. The rest would need to reach in or find other ways to contribute. That said, historical evidence shows that large groups of people have moved and lifted massive stones using bare hands and simple coordination — ancient construction projects regularly involved hundreds of workers lifting heavy stones. People can grip underneath, reach between others, and coordinate lifts. With enough people stacked and reaching in, significantly more than 20 could get a grip. Realistically, even if only 100 of the 200 can effectively get their hands on the stone, each would need to lift about 300 kg — which is too much. But if we consider that many people can stack hands and reach in from multiple angles, and that the theoretical per-person load (150 kg) is within the range of a strong lift, it's plausible but very marginal. On balance, I lean toward Yes. The per-person load is within human capability, and historical precedent supports large groups lifting massive stones with bare hands and coordination.

DeepSeek V3.2

Vote: No

The weight of 30 tons is equivalent to 60,000 pounds or approximately 27,215 kilograms. With 200 men, each would need to lift an average of 300 pounds (136 kg) using only bare hands. Lifting 300 pounds with bare hands is beyond the capacity of an average person, as it requires exceptional grip strength and lifting ability that most untrained individuals lack. Gripping a stone surface with bare hands may not provide sufficient friction to hold such weight securely, especially if the stone is smooth or awkwardly shaped, increasing the risk of slippage. Coordinating 200 men to lift simultaneously without tools is highly impractical, as any misalignment could cause uneven force distribution and failure. Historically, moving heavy stones involved mechanical aids like levers or ropes, not bare-handed group lifts, supporting the improbability of success here.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Vote: No

There are two major physical barriers that make this impossible. First is the spatial constraint. A 30-ton stone (assuming a typical density like granite) would have a volume of roughly 11 cubic meters. Even if carved into a highly elongated shape to maximize surface area, there simply is not enough perimeter space for 200 men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and simultaneously grab the stone. Fitting 200 men requires a perimeter of at least 100 meters, which would mean the stone would have to be an extremely long, thin slab that would instantly shatter under its own weight. Second is the weight distribution. 30 tons equals 60,000 pounds. Divided equally among 200 men, each man would have to lift 300 pounds. While a trained weightlifter can deadlift 300 pounds using a perfectly balanced, ergonomically designed barbell, lifting a smooth, awkwardly shaped stone with only bare hands offers no such grip. It is impossible for 200 average or even strong men to achieve the necessary grip and coordinated leverage on a single stone.

Final Summary

The AI Roundtable reached a narrow 4-3 split decision, ultimately concluding that 200 men could, in theory, lift a 30-ton stone. While Qwen 3 Coder 480B and Grok 4.1 Fast argued that the 300-pound-per-person load is manageable for physically fit individuals, a vocal minority led by Gemini 3.1 Pro and Kimi K2.5 maintained that the laws of geometry and surface area would prevent 200 men from ever getting a grip on the same object. The debate hinged on whether one views the problem as a pure calculation of total strength or a logistical nightmare of crowded limbs and slick granite.

No agreement after 1 rounds of discussion. Final vote: Yes: 4, No: 3

Strongest Arguments

• Yes: The per-person load of 300 pounds is well within the capacity of trained individuals, as evidenced by strongmen who routinely lift 400-500 pound atlas stones, and the physical footprint of a 30-ton block provides enough perimeter for coordinated lifting.
• No: A 30-ton stone lacks the surface area for 200 men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder; to provide enough perimeter for everyone to grip it, the stone would have to be so thin it would shatter under its own weight.