Sometimes America Scares Me

“Alright, what demon has possessed our dizzy little lyra?

Be gone, ye evil thang!!!

I've never seen such intelligence issue forth from "she who speaketh with stuffed monkeys".”

“i'm a dabbler.

not bad but i really couldn't answer most of the questions the way i wanted - which would be -
i dunno.
i'm not sure.
who knows? beats me?
well, i hope so.
it'd be nice, but probably not
i dunno.

ect. ect.”

“That's the post I was referring to, but to the first sentence. I think we're saying the same thing.”

“Are the averages for a total population, say England, actually going up? I hear people say that because there are more 7'ers around that folks are therefore getting taller. That's their argument for the height thing. I don't think that holds water. There used to be 150 million people in this country and now there are about 300M. Should be at least twice as many really tall folks and they magically wind up on TV in the NBA.”

“i believe we're talking about the average person, which would take into account the rising population numbers.

like i said before, one of the many ways we know this is true is by looking at preserved suits of armor from over 1,000 years ago. they're all made for guys barely over 5 foot tall.

also, it's well known that george washington was considered a giant in his day. he was just over 6 foot tall if memory serves.”

“That's correct about Washington.”

“Gee golly trivia: Brain size was increasing at a steady pace throughout Homo evolution. Homo sapien brain size is not much different then Homo Homo sapien size. Size has stopped increasing within the modern era.

Why?”

“It's also true that we eat a hell of a lot more. I've seen studies on why the average height has increased, every one that I've seen has attributed the increase to diet, not to genetics.”

“People are reaching their potential?”

“So why am I being left out of the evolution process? I be very short girl. :)”

“You are unworthy, embear! ;)”

“That could definitely be the case MarkO, it's just that we are growing fully into our potential height, whereas those in the past did not. If you think about we have no reason to be growing taller from an evolutionary standpoint, it gains us nothing, those who are tall are found to be somewhat more desirable from a breeding standpoint, but the fact is that they don't end up breeding at a higher rate, short people also live to breeding age so there should be no selection for height.”

“bison, sorry man but that's just insane.


i'd like to meet an actual scientist who would tell me that i'm a short dude cause of my diet, and it has nothing to do with the fact that everyone in my family is short.

and everyone else in the world who's height is generally similar to the members of their family.

if i eat alot i'll get fat, not grow tall.”

““So why am I being left out of the evolution process? I be very short girl. :)”

embear
12:06:13 PM
10/27/04

You got it all wrong, you're perfect :)”

“We're talking about the population in total Sacco, not just you're individual case. It may very well be that your potential height from a genetic standpoint is not very tall. But you are not at a disadvantage as far as living to reproduce compared to a taller person.”

“if i eat alot i'll get fat, not grow tall.”
SacOSeveredHeads
1:08:56 PM
10/27/04

LMAO!!!!! Sorry. I think I'm easily amused today


Gee Goll trivia 2 - why have womens boobs evolved to such pleasant sizes?

Hint - this answer helps embear and may even cancel out her "shortness" LOL!”

“" It may very well be that your potential height from a genetic standpoint is not very tall. But you are not at a disadvantage as far as living to reproduce compared to a taller person.”

Okay, girls. Fess up. Kramer or George???”

“How come I am the only member of my family who is under 5'6? My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.....all are pretty average to tall people. Is that genetics or evolution or what?

Aw, thanx Bison.”

“Goofy vs. Nerdy is a whole other discussion.”

“um, well, THANKS, MarkO! LOL!

here's the actual Gallup poll that article cites. http://www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/current/creation/evol-poll.htm

it's very interesting that people's "beliefs" changed along with the phrasing of what is purported to be the same question in two different forms.

it seems like this poll wants to give people one of two labels.”

“Your short height in comparison to your family is certainly genetic embear, unless you were being starved when you were a child. You just need to be careful not take your individual case as an example when disscusing averages across the total population.”

“and everyone else bison?

everyone else who is generally similiar in height to thier family members(only a tiny bit taller than their parants on average)

does the word mendel mean nothing ?
remember the ol' pea plants?

that's evolution and gentics right before your very eyes on a very basic scale.”

“Bison, are you saying that the potential average height has always probably been 5'-10" or so for men and 5-6" or so for women and that as the nutrition of the general population has increased, so has our average height towards the total potential? That seems to make sense. OTOH, to take the armor example again, those folks were the most affluent of their time and would have also had the best food available at that time. Granted, their best is still probably many times worse than what a, say welfare recipient would recieve.”

“Recessive genes can be an explanation but so can pressures on your genotype, embear.

A great example of recessive expression can be found in one of my brothers. He is way taller than us and has dark red hair.

He has all the same facial features as the rest of us though, so no, it wasn't the milkman. ;)

You do have to go back in our family history quiet a ways before you see the Tall Scotch/Irish as a familial standard.”

“Dayhiker,

Those affluent people also weren't being pumped full of vitamin D enriched whole milk during their childhoods.”

“i don't like milk. it's for cows, not people.

maybe that's why i'm short...”

“I think that earth's gravitational pull is magically lessening, thereby allowing people to get taller. It's all part of God's will. don't fight it.”

“Acttally the earth's gravitational pull is lessening as it's rotation slows down, although I seriously doubt that this is significant enough to affect height :)”

“I read an article a while back that discussed how the increase of hormones in milk and food has effected growth in the younger generations. Maybe this explains why women's breasts are getting larger (for bearmagnet).”

“wrong embear.

it just proves that god is a tit man - (as opposed to an ass man)”

“I thought we were gettin' taller Sacco, are you sure God's not a leg man?”

“can't he be both?”

“HeyZeus Christay, People!

Think - Surface area! Who has more surface area, a short stocky person, such as an.....hmmmmmm....Inuit or a lanky person such as a......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........African?


Who needs to retain heat and who needs to lose heat fast???????

How might surface area effect this???

Now - we are all mixed and everything is F***up but there are environmental reasons for these selections!

Now Brain size has stopped increasing because we can't have the females getting ripped apart in childbirth, yes? hips can only evolve so much. The female physical structure is the limiting factor.

As for breasts (Thought I was kidding?) - compare cleavage to ass crack. No, I'm still not kidding - they are identical.

Primate Femme Fatales attract with their ass. They, however, don't stand up completely erect and boy do they flare when they are in heat.

HSS primates stand erect and the female does not go into the outwardly obvious heat as our cousins. Another physical attractent was needed - BOOBS


Did God Plan this? WTF cares. Evolution happens. D

id God Plan my Rant? I hope so. I'm tired, hungry, hungover, and have another long day.

God willing, I'll get through it.”

““can't he be both?”

SacOSeveredHeads
12:42:18 PM
10/27/04

If he were me, he might be all three :)”

“once again you prove your ignorance bison.

it is well known that ass men and tit men are diametrically opposed.
two or more parts can be of equal intrest, but never those two together.
(example, leg-tit-feet men exist, or stomach-ass-neck men.)”

“What can I say, I'm a rebel.”

“ok, but what about the people being born without an appendix then?”

“being born without an appendix would be a defect. The appendix is an integral part of the secondary immune system, like the tonsils.”

“oh whew!

at first i thought y2 was asking "ok, but what about the people being born without an appendage then?”

i thought, man, those poor bastuds”

“How come ever since I got my tonsils out, I havent been nearly as sick as when I had them? Seems like maybe I would have been better off without them. Doesnt seem like a defect to me.

Of course, you are the all-knowing science brain Bearmag. You explain.”

“"Great article on asking weather Darwin was wrong in National Geographic. It answers a resounding "NO". But it appears that 44% of Americans don't believe in evolution. How does this happen in a modern sophisticated country?”
Y2
9:37:49 AM
10/27/04

Ignorance must be maintained or democracy might establish too firm a footing.
last edited: 10/27/04 1:11:15 PM”

“Tonsils are actually the first line of defense against oral invaders, in terms of immune organs. Like all secondary immune organs, They "inform" the Spleen and Thymus (primary immune organs) to invaders first, while initializing a local response.

Some people have over active tonsils, an almost autoimmune reaction. This is why doctors generally only take them out now when it is deemed they are causing more harm then good.

Before tonsils were known to be an immune organ, doctors would wack 'em out at the first sign of trouble.

Gee Golly trivia 3 - up until recently(70's), doctors would wack out the thymus if they happened to be doing other surgical work inside the body. The thymus shrinks after adolescence is reached so they came to the conclusion it was no longer of value. ;)”

“"my point is that it is undeniably true that we are growing taller, and it's one obvious, undeniable example of evolution.”
SacOSeveredHeads
11:02:54 AM
10/27/04

Nope, not undeniable. I believe it it is the result of changes in health and nutrition.”

“yeah, but that's a process that's occurred over time. It's not a result of one generation suddenly getting taller, it's happened over generation. So while it's a result of improved diet, it's also become an genetic issue. It's gotto be a combination of diet and to a degree, or evolution.”

“Well, I'd have to see the data, but I'm skeptical that there is growth that can't be accounted for due to dietary and health changes.

Look at the rapid changes in height of Japanese people that come to the US - or that rapid changes in height in Asia as nutritional patterns change rapidly.”

“i should never underestimate...


i guess to some people airplanes prove that gravity is a farce as well.”

“NEWTON WAS A HERETIC!”

“Anyhow - changes in average height if genetic are evidence for some natural selection of characteristics, but not of speciation due to natural selection thats a whole nother ball game.

I'm on your side on evolution. I think natural selection has resulted in new species. The evidence is overwhelming. I'm not disagreeing about your conclusion, only about how good this particular argument is.”