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Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

theatlantic.com

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Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#11

Post by jmduke »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #9

> (...) it is a fitness error for weaker contestants to attempt to seize resources when they cannot prevail and for stronger ones to cede what they can cost-effectively defend I call bullsh * on that one. How can biceps circumference relate so strongly with evolution when nowadays bulging muscle is largely a result of gym training and nutrition (which, btw, costs money, biasing this study even further)? I would say i…

The argument that only the egotistical care about physical fitness is hilarious.

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#13

Post by analog »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #2

Or, biceps and support for redistribution are both correlated to something else, the far more likely and simpler explanation.

Bicep size is probably far more closely related to high body fat rather than strength. It's much easier to put on fat than muscle.

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#15

Post by shard »

endtime wrote: post #14
mgarfias wrote: post #4

These nerds have never thrown a punch if they think bicep size is responsible for fighting ability.

CINC. Willingness to fight and larger muscles are both a consequence of higher testosterone.

What does CINC stand for?

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#16

Post by Draco6slayer »

Why not link them the other way? The article claims that individuals who are stronger physically will try to claim socio-political highground, but it seems much more realistic to me to observe this data and say that people who aren't as competitive or interested in gaining from others don't have the bent to exercise their biceps.

A better experiment for this hypothesis would be to take these original subjects and have some of them adopt an exercise system and others to abandon one. Then test if ideologies actually change as a result of physical strength.

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#18

Post by gavanwoolery »

Maybe I missed it, but I did not see a sample size. Without this, the study is meaningless - the odds of a correlation between two variables each with two possibilities is not that improbable (i.e. flipping two coins and hitting heads both times in one group, and tails in the other group, with 20 percent error).

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#19

Post by StavrosK »

jmduke wrote: post #11
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #9

> (...) it is a fitness error for weaker contestants to attempt to seize resources when they cannot prevail and for stronger ones to cede what they can cost-effectively defend I call bullsh * on that one. How can biceps circumference relate so strongly with evolution when nowadays bulging muscle is largely a result of gym training and nutrition (which, btw, costs money, biasing this study even further)? I would say i…

The argument that only the egotistical care about physical fitness is hilarious.

I don't think fitness and muscle mass are entirely correlated, unless you consider marathon runners much less fit than the average obese person.

Re: Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies

#20

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

jmduke wrote: post #11
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #9

> (...) it is a fitness error for weaker contestants to attempt to seize resources when they cannot prevail and for stronger ones to cede what they can cost-effectively defend I call bullsh * on that one. How can biceps circumference relate so strongly with evolution when nowadays bulging muscle is largely a result of gym training and nutrition (which, btw, costs money, biasing this study even further)? I would say i…

The argument that only the egotistical care about physical fitness is hilarious.

Please point where I say "only".

All I'm saying is that rich, "alpha" male are in the best position to frequent gyms heavily and bulge muscle. They have the drive, the time and the money. I think the study reached at this data, then (IMHO, wrongly) concludes there's a correlation (strong men choose competition over collaboration) instead of a causation (egotistical rich men have bigger biceps).

Also, biceps circumference only relates to fitness or strength up to a certain point, hypertrophy is left to bodybuilders. Just look at the average tribesman for examples of extreme fit people with average body measures.

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