Taller people are smarter: study

[rodeodance]

gawd, i hate studies such as this!!



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060825/ts_nm/economy_height_dc;_ylt=Ar3QRwCZq.RXt1qJY5wa7Eis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

Taller people are smarter: study

Fri Aug 25, 5:53 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it's not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality -- tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds.
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"As early as age three -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests," wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The findings were based primarily on two British studies that followed children born in 1958 and 1970, respectively, through adulthood and a U.S. study on height and occupational choice.

Other studies have pointed to low self-esteem, better health that accompanies greater height, and social discrimination as culprits for lower pay for shorter people.......

[Not_Giving_Up]

1. Ummm....

OK, I don't think that being taller makes you smarter. However, I do believe that the smaller kids get less attention in school. My daughter is ten and very petite. Every school year, she gets picked on for being the tiny kid. She's very aware of the size difference, and she does have self esteem issues, despite our attempts to convince her that good things come in small packages. My son is quite tall, and excels in school, although he gets picked on for being skinny...he eats me out of house and home, just never gains any weight.

[Bunny]

2. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1984510

[natrat]

3. "Short people got no reason....."

[peekaloo]

4. maybe they should wear platform shoes on their nasty little feet.

:rofl:

[brentspeak]

5. Increased self-esteem might be why taller people test better on IQ tests

Negative thoughts and self-doubts can both drag a person's thinking skills waaay down.

[nini]

6. I found this amusing.... others did not..

this will turn into a flamefest like it did the other night.

[Bunny]

7. I thought it was pretty funny, too.

And I'm short!

[nini]

10. you're obviously smart enough to see this study isn't the final word

:D

Seriously, I was so surprised at how many took offense. Obviously there are countless shorter folks who are intelligent and lots of not so smart tall people. A 'study' doesn't change that fact.

[MADem]

13. I mean....really!!!! They use two data sets in the UK and extrapolate

their results to the world? PLEASE!

They should do another study on HAT sizes...the bigger the hat size, the smarter the person! Big head, big brain!

Makes about as much sense.

I know some big dumb lugs, and some miniature geniuses.

[Ezlivin]

8. I went from 6'7" to 4'6" - Did my IQ drop as well?

My friends just thought I was a smart ass when I was up walking. Now that I'm part of the "permanently sitting" group of wheelchair users, they still say I'm a smart ass.

Maybe bigger people have a few more neurons in their slightly-bigger craniums? I can't see any other physiological reason for the difference.

What's next? Eugenics?

[rock]

9. Come on now. A taller kid is probably older.

Same as kids with bigger feet are smarter.

[PADemD]

11. Isn't "W" tall? I guess not tall enough.

[MADem]

14. No, he's not. He's shorter than Poppy, shorter than Jeb

...and he wears lifts in his shoes, which accounts for his stupid walk (like a football player in high heels).

[tinrobot]

12. What does this say about Shaq? Napoleon?

I can see how nutrition seriously plays into it. People who grow up undernourished are shorter, and lack of nutrition in childhood also affects brain development. But not all short people grow up undernourished, which would explain why some short people are brilliant.

I think in some ways, this study is barking up the wrong tree. Tall people are smarter not because they're taller, but because they had good care and nutrition as kids.

Einstein was 5'9" tall... about average, btw.

[Wilber_Stool]

17. And if the were 6'8'' we'd probably traveling to the

stars by now.

[neoblues]

15. Worse yet... they're more successful at passing on their genes...

which means they're more successful with women. Well, the study did show that tall men were more likely to be married and have offspring by comparison with those of shorter stature. Of course, if you want anecdotal evidence, just check out any online dating site or newspaper's personals--you'll find one of the few requirements that are made explicitly as options by significant numbers of women is a height requirement (usually rather tall requirement too; often by short women too, though more often by taller women)(I guess women just generally don't like dancing with a guy who has to look up to make eye contact)(alas).

Another interesting tidbit... of all the people who will deny the implications of the results of these studies, the most vociferous/energetic denials will come from 'short' men. Boy, do they just hate admitting that there might be something to this.

Still, it's a relatively mild phenomenon when compared simply to the difference in success rates, or advantages or what have you, based on a person's "attractiveness" quotient. Divide people into a couple of groups, photograph them, have a panel of people judge the photos for attractiveness on some scale--and you'll find that those who are attractive, get better jobs, more promotions, etc.

Of course, you'll find variances based on "people skills" too (and this one may even be the most important of all). Interestingly, a person's people skills seems to be related to a number of factors, including genetics (all by themselves), parental qualities (developmental environment; learning from parent) and to some extent, individual experience (referring to having been in situations that forced the person to learn social skills; enviornment). Whatever the causes, I recall that this one characteristic alone can outweigh height and attractiveness; of course, my memory isn't what it used to be.

In the end, though... and it ought to be obvious in a sense: life's not fair. Just imagine, you could've been born with a below average intelligence and no apparent skills to help make up for it... or have been born into a family that either has no advantages or one that indoctrinated you into a cult or other form of thought disease... (for some reason I keep thinking of Republicans and what made them that way...)

I didn't even mention a person's weight and how that can work as a statistical disadvantage; but that reminds me of something important.

It's all statistics referring to groups; for a given individual, it may or may not have any detectable effect. Point being, do the best you can with what you're given and hope that "choice" is really real--and that we're not all "pre-determined" by all of the possible factors--which could even determine what our best effort and/or what our "choices" are; which would mean we're all subject to "fate", in which case, what's the point?

I think, therefore I am. Or is it: "I think, therefore, I think"?

I am short, therefore I am. Or "I am short, therefore I am short".
Or worse, I'm short, therefore I got no reason... (dang that song).

[Retired AF Dem]

16. Makes as much sense as as the study that said grouchy old men

are nicer than nice old men.

[Totally Committed]

18. Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and Marie Curie were all

short. I think this study could just be pretty subjective.

TC

[JCMach1]

19. Stupid study-- it's obvously the nutrition factor

Outside of genetics, kids grow better with good food and enough of it... so their brains grow as well

[Speck Tater]

20. Height 5'5". IQ 167

If I was any taller I'd be as smart as Wylie Coyote.

[mikelewis]

22. Height 6'2" I.Q. 134

Could be one of us is the exception, I hope it's you.

[Spinzonner]

21. Sounds like a short-sighted conclusion to me ...

[newspeak]

23. Oh, great another study this week from Princeton

What's up with Princeton? We just had the economic study, wasn't it from Princeton-sending jobs overseas is great for workers here? What's with these Princeton BS studies?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

24. Doesn't seem to hold true for criminal minds, though.

Exhibits A through D:

- Short Biggy and Big Smally
- Pinky and the Brain
- Biggy Rat and Itchy Brother
- Simon Bar Sinister and Cad

I rest my case.

[long_green]

25. I'm Six foot Five...

and I eat punks like you for breakfast.

[Maestro]

26. I'm 5'7"

with a Masters and I am bilingual. I'm learning my third as I write this, Portuguese. I think the study is flawed or I am an exception.