Study Claims Taller People Are Smarter

I've always wondered why Shaq is so smart.

Gladwell talked about this in one of his books. It was probably The Tipping Point...

Interesting study, but more or less utterly filled with crap. I'm sorry, but at 3 years old, you can't really tell who will be tall vs. short. When I was three I was the same height as my best friend who is now 6 foot 5 inches (see my height below).

Essentially this study appears to imply that being short is a bad thing. As a 23-year-old, 5 foot 4 inch tall, caucasian male living in the United States, I can tell you that being short has many advantages, including:

1. Unlike tall people, short people can sit comfortably in the front or back seats of any automobile.
2. Short people always have someone to look up too! (I know, terribly corny joke).
3. Short people can always find our clothing or shoe size. We don't have to special order because the stores don't carry those crazy sizes tall people need.

Of course, there are some disadvantages:

1. Whenever a short person goes to the movies, theatre, concert, etc.; it's guaranteed a person 12 inches taller than them will be sitting in front of them, completely blocking the view. Lesson to tall people: SIT IN THE FREAKING REAR!!!!!!
2. Crowds are a b****. Tall people have a BAD habit of never looking down, nearly stepping on short people as they move around.

Socially descriminated against, hahahaha. Try fitting on an airplane when you are 6'4", or try fitting in a sedan. Get your knees hitting the friggin steering wheel. Try dancing with that lovely lady you've admired for a while. It's akward as hell when you are a foot taller.

But there are plenty plently of advantages of being tall. I exploit a lot. I don't think intelligence is tied with hight in anyway. Ive seen real dumb short and tall people. Mostly blondes

ham_man said:

Gladwell talked about this in one of his books. It was probably The Tipping Point...

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Randy Newman sang about it, too. But that was way before "If I Didn't Have You."

Yeah, the study doesn't really take into account Asian people... I know it's a generalization, but you know it's true

I would think that intelligence would come more from parents' genetics (i tend to notice that usually smart parents = smart kids, and usually smart kids also have smart siblings. reverse also true) and from nurture (there are born geniuses, but apart from that, i think i would have turned out pretty stupid if i were born in a 3rd world country to rice farmers).

No, it's true! We're more attractive and worthwhile too

MacRy said:

No, it's true! We're more attractive and worthwhile too

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Indeed. I can't fault the thinking behind these claims.

OK, without seeing the actual studiy I can't tell whether they were well-conducted or not, but people are certainly misunderstanding certain things about it:

1. This was not a study of three-year-olds. In fact it was a meta-study (i.e. combining the results of other studies) which took into account results obtained "as early as" three, and "throughout adulthood".

2. It did not claim that "taller people are smarter" - only the journalist reporting it did that. It merely reported a correlation between being tall and being smart. This is quite different.

3. It did not claim that being tall "makes" people smarter, but that both tallness and smartness are themselves influenced by similar things (e.g. nutrition).

4. They didn't forget about Asian people - they specifically stated that this only took into account British and American people, i.e. they were aware of their own limitations.

5. More generally, a study like this is not indented to be final and all-conclusive, although it is more exciting for the journalist to report it that way. Science does not work through individual world-changing experiments. This study is just one more piece in a giant tapestry of knowledge being built up in its particular area. To understand what is known in an area you must look at the whole body of knowledge, not just one study which will be tested and criticised and repeated and altered by other scientists.


That was all a bit serious, so he's some smiling for you:




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.

ZoomZoomZoom said:

I would think that intelligence would come more from parents' genetics (i tend to notice that usually smart parents = smart kids, and usually smart kids also have smart siblings. reverse also true).

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That is not sufficient evidence of genetic effects. You share a common environment and cultural influence with your parents and siblings. This is why separated-identical-twin studies are so exciting for scientists studying in these areas - you can see how people with the same genetic make-up fared in different environments. If you ever find your long-lost-twin you could make a fortune putting yourselves forward as research subjects!

ZoomZoomZoom said:

and from nurture (there are born geniuses, but apart from that, i think i would have turned out pretty stupid if i were born in a 3rd world country to rice farmers).

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I'm not sure I like the suggestion that being poor = being stupid. You may find that the third-world subsistence farmer requires a set of skills and resourceful intelligence to survive that is more often lost in rich parts of the world...

Having said that, of course environmental factors - nutrition, education etc. - play an important role, as does genetics. But these are complex correlations. Nothing is ever a simple as "tall=smart, poor=stupid".

Jaffa Cake said:

Indeed. I can't fault the thinking behind these claims.

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Well you are clearly an incisive, intelligent and beautiful man of above average height.

MacRy said:

Well you are clearly an incisive, intelligent and beautiful man of above average height.

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Yep, that just about covers it thanks.

Jaffa Cake said:

Yep, that just about covers it thanks.

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The air really is thinner up there, isn't it? Hope you don't pass out from the lack of oxygen.

Note that the study only mentions the U.K. and the U.S.A. I wonder how often tall people are smarter in Asia.

bousozoku said:

The air really is thinner up there, isn't it? Hope you don't pass out from the lack of oxygen.

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Oh dear, I sense short bloke syndrome. I realise that last word was polysyllabic but maybe you can get a tall person to explain it to you

That explains my mental lethargy when faced with work.

I used to be 5"7' (just over 170cm)about 20 years ago but when last measured at the hospital, I was just under 5"6.5 (about 169cm).

I'mmmmm shrinnnnkinnnng....

bousozoku said:

The air really is thinner up there, isn't it? Hope you don't pass out from the lack of oxygen.

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As long as the hair's not thinner I don't mind.

it's not height that matters, but shoe size

MacRy said:

Oh dear, I sense short bloke syndrome. I realise that last word was polysyllabic but maybe you can get a tall person to explain it to you

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Do you know any?

Well this has not been a good week for little people, places and things, has it? Even Pluto gets snuffed for being too small. Somehow tapping only the UK and U.S., and coming out with any type of result, seems rather short sighted in terms of scope. Will we continue to be vexed by a glut of studies from all the M.A. and PhD candidate's thesis? At this rate, small states like Rhode Island should be looking over their shoulder in order to preempt cessation without representation.

srf4real said:

it's not height that matters, but shoe size

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I've got everything on my side, then. Woot, as I believe you people say.

skunk said:

I've got everything on my side, then. Woot, as I believe you people say.

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Solely, survival of the feetist.

I am a testament to that survey.

Whoever conducted this study must be really, really... short.