Taller
2010 March 4
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about being tall.
Just as a follow-up, if you’re interested, here’s an interview from the Freakonomics blog with Arianne Cohen, author of The Tall Book. I haven’t gotten a chance to crack open the book yet, but it’s definitely on my reading list.
Some highlights from the interview:
- Most products–everything from clothing to bus seats to lawn mowers to couches–are designed to fit people in the 15th-85th percentile or 10th-90th percentile. Companies could profit greatly by meeting the needs of the 35% who don’t fit a size medium.
- There’s a lot of money to be made there.
- Some statistics:
- Tall people consistently make more money (to the tune of $789 more per inch per year)
- Tall people have slightly higher IQs (because the same childhood environments that produce healthy bodies also produce healthy brains)
- tall people live a bit longer (no one knows why)
- The Netherlands is tall heaven. It’s the world’s tallest country, where men average 6’0?, and women 5’7?. The fact that the Dutch are three inches taller (a huge margin in height research) is attributed to the country’s far superior childhood and prenatal environments. Height is a very sensitive indicator of nutritional and health well-being. Americans have a per capita income roughly $10,000 greater than the Dutch, but that extra income is not spent on well-being in America.
- Thank you mom and dad for feeding me well as I was growing up :)
Height is such a defining experience…
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Tall people have slightly higher IQs ?
Really? You think so?
I thought I was smarter than you. :)
We are both smart in our own unique ways :)