Evolution: Half tall, half small?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a speculative claim regarding the future evolution of humans, suggesting a potential division into two distinct height categories: very tall and very short individuals. Participants explore the plausibility of this idea, its implications, and related concepts such as attraction patterns and sexual dimorphism.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recounts a claim from a scientist about a future human division into populations of approximately 10 feet tall and 2 feet tall, expressing skepticism about its validity.
  • Another participant questions the credibility of the original claim, asking for the identity of the scientist who made it.
  • A participant humorously imagines a scenario where very tall and very short people come together to create a medium-sized population, while also expressing doubt about the original claim.
  • One participant reflects on a past belief that tall individuals are attracted to shorter ones, suggesting this could be a balancing mechanism for height, but also considers the possibility of sexual dimorphism influencing height distribution.
  • A participant notes the lack of references or supporting evidence in the original claim.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express skepticism about the initial claim regarding human evolution and height division, with no consensus reached on its validity or the underlying mechanisms proposed.

Contextual Notes

The discussion lacks empirical evidence or references to support the claims made, and participants express varying degrees of uncertainty regarding the concepts discussed.

P-Jay1
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A little while back I heard a scientist speak of a division that will happen as humans evolve further. He said that humans would either be about 10 foot tall or around 2 foot tall. So around half the population would be realllllllly really tall and the other half rather small.

I believe humans are getting taller, although I think this is a little bit of a tall tale. Anybody got any views on this?
 
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I think this sounds silly. Who was this scientist?
 
Vanadium 50 said:
I think this sounds silly. Who was this scientist?

You're right. It really does sound absurd. Although I do like to imagine a world were one day really tall folk and really small folk unite and create some medium sized folk.

And I can't remember the name of the scientist for the life of me.
 
When I was young (early 80s), the tale told me was that tall people tended to be attracted to short people (don't really have enough statistical anecdotal experience to comment on the validity of that). While the thinking was that it was some sort of balancing mechanism which would produce medium-sized people, more thinking leads me to think that sexual dimorphism could result (maybe the two populations would actually turn out to be which gender has the tall and which has the short gene).
 
No references, no thread.
 

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