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I'm a short guy (5'8") and don't doubt this is true. However, I also strongly believe that it can be completely overcome and then some. It would be a little imm

by nilkn 11y ago

I'm a short guy (5'8") and don't doubt this is true. However, I also strongly believe that it can be completely overcome and then some. It would be a little immodest for me to explain why I believe that, but suffice it to say that my height has not held me back in any appreciable way in any area of life. I suppose it might matter more if I were to seek the Presidency, but the present evidence is that it would still be possible for me to at least be a temporary front-runner for a nomination (see Rubio, Cruz, Paul, etc.). Not bad. In fact, there are a lot of elements of my height that I've always enjoyed. It's made me naturally athletic, in the sense that I've always been very agile. I've never not been able to trivially do pull-ups. I can do things in gymnastics without training that some much taller people with twice my strength cannot do with training. I also think that while taller people can be viewed as more dominating or powerful, at the same time shorter people can be viewed as more endearing, relatable, and morally innocent. I honestly believe that on more than one occasion I've been given the benefit of the doubt in some situation because my physical stature caused me to be viewed with more empathy and with less of a competitive spirit.

guard-of-terra 11y ago
"I suppose it might matter more if I were to seek the Presidency" Unless you want to do it in Russia :-/ We literally had garden gnome for "president" forced on us. No offense to capable short people here.
- sndean 11y ago
  I didn't realize Putin was 5'6"-5'7". Would've thought ~6'0". I guess his image manufacturing works pretty well.
- chiaro 11y ago
  Well good news is you can always surround yourself with shorter people like him.
Jtsummers 11y ago
You're not short, at least not in the US. You're not tall, either. Current average is 5'10", with a standard deviation of 4". You're very nearly average.
- nilkn 11y ago
  I don't doubt that statistic is true for the US in general, but it's definitely possible to end up in some small micro-segment of the population where the average male height is much closer to 6' than 5'10" and where heights of 6'2"+ or even 6'4"+ are somewhat common. I believe that through some sequence of events I've found myself mostly existing in such a segment of the population. For instance, I'm the shortest male in my family (both sides), including at least one cousin who isn't even done growing yet.
  - hkmurakami 11y ago
    I recall my college years where I felt like I was around giants, both genders. (also 5"8')
  - kough 11y ago
    Ha, I'm 6'2" and I'm the shortest of three children. Always fun to see how people react when I tell them that: usually a combination of looking slightly over my head and then blanching.
- 77pt77 11y ago
  I was finding that comment very strange. He's not tall but not really short either.
vatotemking 11y ago
> I'm a short guy (5'8") For what its worth the avg height from where I'm from (Asia) is 5'6". You're a giant here.
- autotune 11y ago
  You mean there's a whole continent where I am considered average? This is great!
  - vatotemking 11y ago
    Well not the entire continent silly, just in SE Asia. 5'6" is for males, for females its somewhere between 5-5'2". There ya go. ;-)
ChrisDutrow 11y ago
I'm a short guy too (5'8" as well). Its mostly been a disadvantage in my life. From a strategic point of view, its important to understand what our strengths and weaknesses are. I refer to this as "playing the cards you're dealt." However, I think very often people focus on the ways that people are prejudiced against them (and their other disadvantages) in unhealthy ways: becoming demoralized, becoming angry, and using prejudice as an excuse to fail. To be successful, you just gotta knuckle down and do it. Its good to strategically recognize and respond to your individual disadvantages, but emotionally worrying about them is not good. Height, weight and race are feasible things to measure in a study, and thus find statistical variations. But there are a ton of factors that affect success, here are a few that I think make a big difference but are either harder to measure or not acknowledged as much: * Feelings of ambition * Ideas that you were exposed to when you were growing up * If your parents are savvy people * Your own feelings of entitlement * Emotional predisposition * Who your parents (and other family/friends) know * Social intelligence * Desire to be around people

by nilkn 11y ago

guard-of-terra 11y ago

"I suppose it might matter more if I were to seek the Presidency" Unless you want to do it in Russia :-/ We literally had garden gnome for "president" forced on us. No offense to capable short people here.

sndean 11y ago
I didn't realize Putin was 5'6"-5'7". Would've thought ~6'0". I guess his image manufacturing works pretty well.
chiaro 11y ago
Well good news is you can always surround yourself with shorter people like him.

Jtsummers 11y ago

You're not short, at least not in the US. You're not tall, either. Current average is 5'10", with a standard deviation of 4". You're very nearly average.

nilkn 11y ago
I don't doubt that statistic is true for the US in general, but it's definitely possible to end up in some small micro-segment of the population where the average male height is much closer to 6' than 5'10" and where heights of 6'2"+ or even 6'4"+ are somewhat common. I believe that through some sequence of events I've found myself mostly existing in such a segment of the population. For instance, I'm the shortest male in my family (both sides), including at least one cousin who isn't even done growing yet.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  I recall my college years where I felt like I was around giants, both genders. (also 5"8')
- kough 11y ago
  Ha, I'm 6'2" and I'm the shortest of three children. Always fun to see how people react when I tell them that: usually a combination of looking slightly over my head and then blanching.
77pt77 11y ago
I was finding that comment very strange. He's not tall but not really short either.

vatotemking 11y ago

> I'm a short guy (5'8") For what its worth the avg height from where I'm from (Asia) is 5'6". You're a giant here.

autotune 11y ago
You mean there's a whole continent where I am considered average? This is great!
- vatotemking 11y ago
  Well not the entire continent silly, just in SE Asia. 5'6" is for males, for females its somewhere between 5-5'2". There ya go. ;-)

ChrisDutrow 11y ago

I'm a short guy too (5'8" as well). Its mostly been a disadvantage in my life. From a strategic point of view, its important to understand what our strengths and weaknesses are. I refer to this as "playing the cards you're dealt." However, I think very often people focus on the ways that people are prejudiced against them (and their other disadvantages) in unhealthy ways: becoming demoralized, becoming angry, and using prejudice as an excuse to fail. To be successful, you just gotta knuckle down and do it. Its good to strategically recognize and respond to your individual disadvantages, but emotionally worrying about them is not good. Height, weight and race are feasible things to measure in a study, and thus find statistical variations. But there are a ton of factors that affect success, here are a few that I think make a big difference but are either harder to measure or not acknowledged as much: * Feelings of ambition * Ideas that you were exposed to when you were growing up * If your parents are savvy people * Your own feelings of entitlement * Emotional predisposition * Who your parents (and other family/friends) know * Social intelligence * Desire to be around people