Why are people in universities taller?

[AWdeV]

No, short people are better at avoiding work too. They can just weave and dodge and hide because they're so hard to check up on.

Unless their supervisor is short too. In which case he/she/it knows all the super-secret hiding places.

 

[Tibertus]

 

[AWdeV]

Pro-tip, I wasn't serious either.

 

[Tibertus]

I know, hence the silly eye-roll.

 

[AWdeV]

It always looks like a serious eye-roll to me.

 

[Tibertus]

But he's smirking! 

 

[Ludial]

people in unis are not taller. end of topic.

 

[Víkingr]

Not sure, but given your constraints, my hypothesis is that people who go to uni tend to come from more well off families and tend to be better fed. This allows them to grow taller since they have the appropriate nutrition during puberty.

 

[Wolfang]

The reason is that people that go to uni usually come from well-off families (usually), or at least the majority, and thus have access to better and more varied food types which have a great impact on their length.

 

[Ludial]

tell that to all the shorties I have in my school.

 

[Tibertus]

Just read a study: in the 11th century, people from the British Isles were 5'8" on average, compared to 5'9" on average now. I think we'd all agree that there was a bigger difference between diets back then and now, then there are now between people in the US who are in different social-economic classes. And before someone says "They were just counting the nobles" I'll point out that they're going off of any complete skeletons they found, so probably an equal distribution of peasants and nobles.

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

And before someone says "They were just counting the nobles" I'll point out that they're going off of any complete skeletons they found, so probably an equal distribution of peasants and nobles.

I have to wonder how many complete skeletons they found, because if they're doing a survey of, say, 2000 British adults, it's only fair that they do a survey of the same number of 11th century skeletons.

 

[Uhtred Ragnarson]

well looking at this through sociological lenses, people who are taller generally make more money, have higher overall status, people are more likely to trust taller people, be attracted to taller people, taller people are generally seen as dominate in western societies (and Japanese and Chinese culture AFAIK). This dominance translates through schooling and jobs. I remember seeing a study that CEO's are generally taller than the average population.

That being said, being taller has nothing to do with intelligence, it has everything to do with how society perceives those people.

 

[Tibertus]

Aye, I think that has a much larger part in the whole thing. I also liked Bulle's explanation that taller people tend to be more confident or something like that, which led them to pursue higher education, which probably has a lot to do with your idea.

 

[Uhtred Ragnarson]

Aye, I think that has a much larger part in the whole thing. I also liked Bulle's explanation that taller people tend to be more confident or something like that, which led them to pursue higher education, which probably has a lot to do with your idea.

this

 

[Ludial]

OH DA 'UMANITY!

Seriously, there's not even 10% of the students in my university that are as tall as me, and they're mostly varsity athletes and skinny Goths. The rest are average to short.