system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Silmarillian] You read about how, when humans first appeared, they could take on Balrags by the score, wound Melkor, and scare Sauron. Later, after having been gifted their island, they lived longer and stronger lives than current humans do. Were humans tougher back then or was that survivor bias?
gpt
I don't think there is any human that did those things. Those are all attributed to *Elves*, not Men. Don't get me wrong, Men did great things, but nothing along the lines of what you describe.

The Numenoreans were so great because they were explicitly gifted as reward for remaining true in the War against Morgoth. And, yes, they were - in almost every way - better than contemporary humans. It was basically an entire race of Captain America's, with the line of Elros specifically even more gifted.