Will humans keep getting taller?
1–10 of 51 posts
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#2As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated this to not be the case[0] or relatively mixed [1] in preference.
Anecdotally, the answer to the article seems to be "yes" due to selective pressures, but the data suggests otherwise.
[0] (meta study) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3277695/
[1] http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ebs/7/2/121.pdf&productCode=...
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#3As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated th…
Being tall is highly advantageous in the right circumstances, terrible in the wrong ones. It just varies based on environment, resources, etc. Athletes know this too, but it does so happen that the sports which make the most money right now thrive on big, tall men. Basketball and American football thrive on giant guys, but it's not the only model.
The best rock climber isn't going to be an NBA forward, it's going to be someone with a better power-to-weight ratio. That doesn't have to be short, but it can't be too tall without wasting weight on long bones that are going to have to support smaller muscles.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#4As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated th…
Being tall is highly advantageous in the right circumstances, terrible in the wrong ones. It just varies based on environment, resources, etc. Athletes know this too, but it does so happen that the sports which make the most money right now thrive on big, tall men. Basketball and American football thrive on giant guys, but it's not the only model. The best rock climber isn't going to be an NBA forward, it's going to…
Cramped airlines seats aren't great for tall people either.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#5Height can also be a pain. I'm 6'5" and have lower back and sciatica pain, probably since most of my height is in my torso. Fitting into some cars is horrible. Airline seats are hell. My son is short for his age; go figure.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#6As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated th…
Being tall is highly advantageous in the right circumstances, terrible in the wrong ones. It just varies based on environment, resources, etc. Athletes know this too, but it does so happen that the sports which make the most money right now thrive on big, tall men. Basketball and American football thrive on giant guys, but it's not the only model. The best rock climber isn't going to be an NBA forward, it's going to…
One of those circumstances is in combat. Historically that has been extremely important.
It wouldn't surprise me that under more violent circumstances, mate preferences shift toward those of greater size, strength, and overall physical ability.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#7As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated th…
There is pretty conclusive evidence that taller men are on average more attractive than shorter men. However being more attractive does not necessarily mean you will have more kids. My theory is that people want to marry people of similar attractiveness, so if for very attractive people the pool of potential matches could actually be smaller, in part because attractive people are more choosy. Also in terms of evolution, if you have sex it doesn't matter how attractive your partner was.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being tall is highly advantageous in the right circumstances, terrible in the wrong ones. It just varies based on environment, resources, etc. Athletes know this too, but it does so happen that the sports which make the most money right now thrive on big, tall men. Basketball and American football thrive on giant guys, but it's not the only model. The best rock climber isn't going to be an NBA forward, it's going to…
Cramped airlines seats aren't great for tall people either.
Japanese housing is terrible for tall people too.
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#9As an extremely "average" height guy, height has been one "human variable" that has always confused me - anecdote after anecdote after anecdote from both proclamations from women, professional sports, and more importantly, our(Western) culture in general have made height seem to be the most important physical trait in a male; yet this article, along with actual research have time and time again either demonstrated th…
I'm not sure what you mean by "the most important physical trait in a male". Women prefer taller men. They say so and studies back this up. Taller men have more mating options and more attractive partners. Taller men make more money, and they are more likely to be selected as leaders. They are perceived as more dominant and more attractive. It is utterly indisputable that in western societies at least, being above average in height is a huge benefit societally for men.
Do taller men have more children? Apparently not, but that's kind of a horrible metric for success in a modern society, because people are actively choosing not to have as many children. More interesting questions might be how height affects frequency of sexual encounters, or number of sexual partners, or any of a number of other measures that most men might want to increase, vs number of children, which is a number that most men do not want to increase significantly beyond the average.
Actually, an interesting question might be too ask how many children a man wanted compared to how many he had. Do taller men end up with more, less, or the same control over their reproduction?
Re: Will humans keep getting taller?
#10[deleted]