What the Fuck Is This?

Whether this show was scripted or not, that short guy is a classic Garmin (short jester).

While the video itself is already stupid, here's some bonus retardation from the comments:  

"He just has a Napoleon complex. He's 5'5'' and he's trying to have the balls and confidence of a 7'5''.

YouTube comments are notoriously dumb, but I've seen people elsewhere with similar sentiments. What the fuck do they even mean? Confidence of a 7'5"?

"He's Asian and he's trying to have the balls and confidence of a white guy."

Sounds silly when I put it that way, doesn't it? I hate how positive traits are intrinsically linked with taller height.

Don't even get me started on the bullshit Napoleon Complex.

Fallacy of Relative Privation and Heightism

Copy/pasted from here:

If you live in a first-world country you have likely heard somebody say that an issue doesn't matter because it's nothing compared to those "poor kids in Africa".

That is called the "fallacy of relative privation."

It appears to be used a lot to argue against heightism. Somebody states that they have been discriminated for their height and explains what heightism is, somebody is quick to say "Are you comparing what you deal with for being short to racism? When were short people enslaved?"

That is the argument of "your issue doesn't matter because others have it worse" is what university professors call a fallacy and will fail you (or give you a bad mark) for using.

Yes, black people were enslaved and gay people have been stoned to death. That is not okay. Saying that there is heightism is not saying that that racism and homophobia don't exist.

Just because there are other forms of discrimination does not mean that there isn't heightism.

A very simple example: stealing $50 is bad and stealing $1000 is worse. That does not mean that it is fine for someone to steal $50 from you if they also stole $1000 from me.

As for my own thoughts on this:

Even in the rare occurrence that someone acknowledges heightism is real (but not that serious), what the fallacy of relative privation causes is a general reaction such as, "sit tight and don't worry, we'll get to you once we're done with the more severe issues."

The secret is that they'll never be done with the other problems, because racism, sexism, etc. can never be fully eradicated. It's like telling people not to steal. Some will always do it anyway.

The other catch is that an issue doesn't have to involve anything like lynching for people to care. For example, weight discrimination is considered a social issue by enough people, to the point where it has a university course.

While wage gaps and mental health are also taken seriously by society, heightism still isn't, despite involving those issues:

“Being short is probably as much, or more, of a handicap to corporate success as being a woman or an African American.”

"A 5-cm increase in height was associated with a 9% decrease in suicide risk."

The fallacy of relative privation is just another shutdown tactic, nothing more.

More Worrying About Height and Skin Color These Days

There was also an interesting comment from the graph's original thread:

"I think a lot of white people dont' feel comfortable being short and closer to "ethnic" height. whereas before, say the 1950's almost everyone was white (or black) in USA so being a 5'7 white male was no big deal, you were just a shorter guy. but now, the 5'7 white guy is the same height as Asian and Indian and Mexican guy, and this doesn't sit well with him."

"and on the flip side: Immigrants will want to be taller to fit into a white supremacists culture, and I have always said how Asians are especially guilty of this, they place being tall and white as some super awesome thing, while they may never be white, they can at least want to be tall and have taller children."

I don't know about the first paragraph, but I'll definitely agree with the second part. Straight from the Korean horse's mouth:

"But smaller is no longer considered better, thanks in part to the proliferation of Western models of beauty and success."

Note these graphs use percentages, rather than total number of searches, so these stats aren't rising because more people are using the Internet.

Garmin

People on reddit coined a term for self-deprecating short men: Garmin.

"What's your problem?! Why can't you relax and know your place? Why can't you be more like Garmin over here?" (Gestures to a narrow chested short guy wearing an oversized suit and suspenders, dancing a jig in a circle while spinning the propellor on his beanie).

"A Garmin is like a kid who goes to his dad's construction job on "take your kid to work day." His dad lets him wear a hard hat and a tool belt to make him feel like he's helping, and the kid really believes he's part of the crew that day. A Garmin who self deprecates is in the same situation because people pretend that he's part of the team because he's a good little boy."

"Being a Garmin is a really shitty thing to do, not only to your own self respect, but to other short men. When you make yourself a walking punchline for the entertainment of others, you reenforce the notion that short men in general are inferior and/or will entertain in the same way. It makes it harder for other short men to be taken seriously."

"I think that this is what a lot of people miss. Not only do Garmins make a fool of themselves. They disgrace us all. It makes people think that heightism is okay because some clowns don't mind being harassed. "Hey! It's just a joke, bro! Why can't you be more like Garmin! You're so sensitive!"

"Garmins have reaffirmed our punchline status so many times, that people always feel free to degrade us just to "break the ice" in social situations, even when it is extremely inappropriate, and done in a disrespectful manner. Then, if we object to the treatment, everyone coalesces against us for not being like the Garmins that they have met in their lifetime. Another harmful effect of Garmins, is they supply the safety net where people can degrade us in ways that are harmful to our reputation, then, they can pass it off as "Oh..I was just joking. Calm down, little guy."

This behavior can be attributed to other forms of self-deprecation, especially when mocking a trait society already deems inferior. It just digs a deeper grave. Also click here for a study on self-deprecation.

Five Politicians Fail Surprise Math Test

Source: http://forums.school-survival.net/showthread.php?tid=35034

5 politicians of the Dutch government were unexpectedly forced to do the math test. The result is remarkable: all of them have failed. 

"We have made a real exam environment... The politicians were forced to fill in real example questions."

The bad score makes it clear again that the math test, which high school students are forced to have as a part of their exam, is flawed.
 
"Without preparation it is impossible to do this test. No wonder all of the politicians failed."
 
If you want to pass the test, you need to correctly answer at least half of the questions. Students on are required to do the test in order to get their diploma. The PvdA, VVD and the PVV (some Dutch political parties) are in favor of the test, which is intended to increase math skills.

When these politicians were teenagers, did they complete that test before graduating? If so, this shows how students only remember info to pass tests, rather than retaining and using that knowledge in adult life.

If 'math skills' were so important for most people, these politicians would've at least passed. It's almost like these tests should only be forced on those who require it for their profession. Not that this is a new revelation for those who hate school.

If most people absolutely need to read up on a subject to pass its test, that's akin to pulling out a calculator for your groceries. What's the point if we need a textbook to help us every time? Just buy the textbook and carry it around if it's so important.

It's all a waste of time, to stress out over some test that's required to graduate, only to fail that same test years later because none of it was useful on a personal level so you forget.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Basically, this is why many morons are loud, smug, and arrogant. They're so incompetent that they can't see themselves for what they are.

Nothing new there, but this is what the behavior's called.

Ad Depicting Short Man Being Picked Up Against His Will

This ad was posted on reddit:

It seems innocent at first, but there are some problems here:

• When short girls complain about being picked up against their will, everyone supports their qualms (like here and here). When it happens to men, it's "just jokes bro."
• Lots of big guys get off on picking up small men to feel powerful (as seen here). Let's not promote this behavior on television and make it seem like a joke.

This ad makes it seem like it's okay to pick men up without their consent. It doesn't matter if they're actors, you have to view this from a meta-perspective. It's similar to how girls on TV are shown slapping males and kicking them in the nuts, so some do it in everyday life thinking it's okay. Men getting their testicles crushed is a common comedy trope, so people think it's funny in real life. In the same vein, many ads promote the mockery of smaller males as harmless fun. At least the DQ ad isn't as bad as this one, right?

I was fortunately born a heavy and stocky short man, so I've never had someone think they can pick me up easily. Still, I've seen instances where lighter short guys get tossed around by random strangers, and that fucking sucks. If a small man defends himself verbally or physically, he seems oversensitive and bitter. If he stays quiet and allows himself to be ragdolled, he seems weak and submissive. It's a lose/lose situation.

People try so hard to defend these portrayals, like they're holding on to their last social punching bag. We can't make minorities, homosexuals, or women seem like suckers on TV anymore, so short men have to be the jesters. Even other short men advocate these portrayals, because they think it's better to be the group clown than not be in a group at all. Sad.

"It's Not School's Fault You Didn't Teach Yourself"

You can watch the video, but it doesn't really matter. He's basically ranting about how useless most subjects in school are. I thought it was annoying.

He also backpedaled on the title by saying kids should stay in school. What he meant was that the pointless subjects shouldn't stay in school, but the kids should. At least that's what he said in the comments.

So this was basically a glorified "schools need reform" video (which has been done to death), but good job being an edgy poseur by using "don't stay in school" as the title. Just another coward who's afraid of voicing an "extremist" opinion. Nice hair.

What I really want to discuss are the comments saying "it's not school's fault you didn't teach yourself laws, taxes, etc." I've seen this not only in the YouTube comments (which are notoriously dumb), but also on reddit (which I also think is dumb but many believe otherwise).

Here's my problem with their point...

WHY ARE WE IN SCHOOL IF WE HAVE TO TEACH OURSELVES THE IMPORTANT SHIT ANYWAY?

Sure... Some adults will use what they memorize in school, but since school is supposed to cater towards everyone in a general manner (hence why they shove us into the same mold), how about teaching what everyone needs to know?

I actually found the video above from school-survival.net, and this quote sums up the pro-school comments perfectly:

"I guess you just proved my point that school is wasting my time; it's supposed to be a tool to help us in life, but it won't teach us anything that everybody needs to know. Instead, we memorize and regurgitate facts we'll forget and never use."

Compilation of Badass Tall People

All comments taken from this thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/tall/comments/15asm3/rant_against_napoleon_complex_short_guys/

This seems lengthy, but trust me, these stories are hilarious.

6'4 Guy: "Walking out of a bathroom in school a kid bumped into me and started to pick a fight. i stood up straight and looked down at him(he was about 5'2"). he tried to punch me in the stomach but i grabbed his fist, twisted it behind him, and shoved him against the wall. i let him go and walked away, not even saying a word. later that day i got pulled from class to talk to the principal. he asked what happened and i told him. he is also a tall guy, about 6'3", so i guess he understood what was going on. he just told me next time someone tried to pick a fight, try not to slam their head against a concrete wall before he patted me on the back and sent me back to class." Tall principal with favoritism for tall kids. Nice.

6'1 Girl: "For sure. I've even had shorter guys try and "play" fight me, and then start throwing "light" punches, but you can tell that they're putting force into it, like they're trying to out-alpha me or something. It's fucking bizarre." Ohohoho, now us short guys are not only picking fights with tall men, but tall women as well!

6'0 Girl: "A group of guys in high school referred to me exclusively as "tall scary girl" and I'm often made to feel like a "monster" or a "giant" because of my height--but ONLY from shorter men. Its not like I've never been the subject of catty comments from other women or taller men but they've never been derogatory about my height." Comments from short men seem meaner because short men are portrayed as malicious. Proof? These anecdotes. Even play fighting has some sinister agenda.

6'6 Guy: "Last time someone hit me in a bar. I grabbed him in a bearhug holding his arms at his sides as I tried to kiss him with the rest of the bar laughing. Thinking back and hearing his screams as I did this still bring a smile to my face." If a short man did this, he'd be labeled a power-hungry Napoleon. Guaranteed.

6'3 Guy: "In high school, it was my dean that was after me. He used to hit me hard with detentions for minor shit. He even called my dad into his office to meet with us because I bought a soda from the teacher's lounge *gasp. My dad is a bit scary and I thought he was going to be PISSED for being inconvenienced, but as soon as we walk out of the office, he turns to me and says "He must have Napoleon complex." Because tall authority figures are never assholes.

6'2 Girl: "The meanest comments I've ever heard directed at my size are from short men." Meanest comments I've heard about my height were from fuckers like these.

Tallest kid in school: "I had one idiot in junior high decide that he wanted to screw with me. I didn't even know him, but we happened to be in the same PE class. One afternoon when they had us running in circles out on the track, he decides he wants to try to spit on me. I just flipped him off and ignored him. We get back in the locker room later on, and out of nowhere he tries to garrotte me with a t-shirt. I can honestly say that I don't remember what happened immediately after that. Once my latent berserkr genes turned back off, and I regained some conscious control, I remember holding him up against the wall, about four inches off the ground. Yeah, he didn't try that again." Leave the berserker rage to Wolverine, tough guy.

6'6 Guy: "I've had multiple tussles with "Napoleans" - my most memorable was at a club here in Toronto that I was run by a crew that I had close connections with. One night a smoking hot girl was eyeing me all night and it wasn't until 4-5am that I realized a short little guy with her was her boyfriend. I new all the security at the club and let them know this dude was about to pop. Sure enough he makes his way over in a fit of rage. As he's about to start yelling at me I palmed his face like a basketball and shoved him right into the arms of the head of security who confiscated all of his goodies and proceeded to hand them to me while I partied with his girl the rest of the night. Short man was quickly escorted out and apparently ran into a few walls on the way out, also got banned from the club at the same time. It was a good night." My, us silly short men! What weak little jerks we are! Tall men are the saviors of us all. Please breed all the wimmenz!

6'4 Guy: "The last time I got in a bar 'fight', I was pretty drunk and didn't immediately notice the short (5'4"ish) guy that was punching me in the chest (I was pretty drunk). I reached out and picked him up by the scruff of his jacket, from behind, like a mother cat, lifted him off the floor, spinning him around in the process. I set him back on his feet and gave a not-so-gentle shove between the shoulder blades. He just kept walking and the bouncer, who was just stepping up to intervene, just about killed himself laughing." Response from some other tall guy: "Yeah when I first read the story I was thinking "damn, shoulda knocked him the fuck out". But this would be way better, especially with people under 6'. Literally picking them up and laughing at them really shows them who's boss - you don't care about their shit."

"I lifted the short guy off the floor and spun him around."

Really? Really? Is this from a cartoon?

Imagine if these people were listing all the mean things blacks or gays did, and used these anecdotes to paint those groups in a bad light. Their confirmation bias would be lambasted by the politically correct. Hating on short men though? Well received by everyone (even though most of it sounds dramatized at best and fake at worst). Short men may be labeled with the Napoleon Complex, but it seems like some people on the opposite end of the spectrum are the ones on a power trip.

High Heels and Nature

She feels weird. Why? Her height was 4'11 which makes this even funnier.

Guys like this claim, and I quote, "If enough women have said it, then it must be nature. Not nurture."

He was responding to some video where girls were spewing complaints like "I want him to be taller than me when I'm in my heels" and "I'm taller than him... do we look funny?"

I'm pretty sure most girls don't like being taller in heels, but guess what? High heels do not grow from trees, majority be damned.

The 'majority' have been proven to be retarded time and time again.

Take the whole 'hating Jews' thing for example. Read this if you don't believe how the idea of "nature" can be twisted. Here's an excerpt:

"The cumulative effect of so many comparisons with the world of nature, one might think, would be to make the elimination of Jews a natural and expected occurrence. Their extermination is presented as being part of the natural order of things..."

Before someone claims I'm saying short men are treated like Jews, I'm simply comparing the mentality, not the scale. Then again, Korea tried to exterminate short people, but that's a different matter from high heels.

Point is, people often confuse nurture with nature, even when they're so sure it's the latter.

I just think it's funny how people these days can stomach interracial couples and homosexual couples, but not short man/tall girl couples. Did human nature suddenly change when it comes to interracial and gay couples? Is a short man and taller woman really more unnatural than a homosexual couple, especially when the women is often only taller because of footwear? If we're using caveman talk, a gay couple can't even naturally breed. Not to mention, I think it's funny how a girl's biological need for fashion/being taller overrides how high heels are bad for the body and hinders maneuverability. That makes sense from a survival standpoint.

Whole thing stinks of societal influence. Why else would interracial rates rise over the years? Maybe because they've become more accepted and promoted by society.

The Importance of (Literally) Looking Down On Someone

This article was from the end of 2014:

Roven added that Affleck’s height was also a factor.

"We also wanted a guy with big stature. Ben is 6’ 4". Henry [Cavill] is a 6’1". We wanted Batman to tower over Superman. Not hugely, not like a basketball player. Superman needed to ‘look up’ to Batman. We wanted that dynamic and Ben could do that, easily," he said.

Aside from how Batman is shorter than Superman in the comics, I find it silly how Superman has to be towered over even though he can melt people with his eyes.

Here are some more comments on the Superman vs. Batman height dynamic:

"Superman is the superior, stronger hero, so he should be taller."

"I completely agree. A mere mortal, looking down upon a God, is ironic and artsy at the same time."

This mentality extends to politics as well:

It's no wonder why taller candidates tend to win elections. In fact, ever since elections went from radio to television, you'd have to look outside of North America to find a recent short leader. As tolerant as many Trump haters may proclaim themselves to be, they have one thing in common with him: "The bias towards tallness and against shortness is one of society's most blatant and forgiven prejudices." - John Kenneth Galbraith.

Speaking of politics, height discrimination has now been noticed by the mainstream media, in this article about Donald Trump's size obsession. I wonder how Donald Trump's haters would react to this, as discriminating based on size is now considered a trait synonymous with Trump himself.

What's interesting is how many women preach this "looking up to" mentality, despite the fact that women are shorter on average, and many complain about not being taken as seriously as men. Remember, this society tells us to ignore "evolutionary instinct" when a film has a female leader that's 5'3 and 110 lbs. If you don't take her as seriously as a tall and broad-shouldered male hero, you're considered prejudiced, and any "instinctive" excuse is shut down. When it comes to male height however, everyone loves this stuff. I guess we're all conveniently size blind when it comes to political correctness.

People always talk about how much of a barrier it is to be a leader as a racial minority or a woman. When it comes to stature:

http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/article/viewFile/246/218 ("One business expert has suggested that an additional four inches in height “makes much more difference in terms of success in a business career than any paper qualifications you have” and that it would be better to be “5 ft. 10 and a graduate of N.Y.U.’s business school than 5 ft. 6 and a Harvard Business School graduate.” Another commentator concluded that “being short is probably as much, or more, of a handicap to corporate success as being a woman or an African American.”") and http://www.jonathanrauch.com/jrauch_articles/height_discrimination_short_guys_finish_last/

Related: "The Johnson Treatment."

This article and the comments section also sums up politics nowadays: https://www.mediaite.com/online/is-marco-rubio-too-short-for-the-presidency-mediaite-examines-this-growing-concern/

Short Asian Food Critic Kills Himself

In the hours before his death, he also wrote: 'I have concluded that in the realm of dating and relationships the primary characteristics required for men are as follows.
'Height: above 5ft10; Race: huge bias towards caucasian and black; Wealth: or other manifestation of power. - Death of Wilkes McDermid

Damn shame about this man. He wasn't blind to the obvious biases regarding height and skin color, but the conclusions he arrived at caused him to kill himself.

Wilkes thought Asian men and short men are left behind due to "natural selection/Darwinism," so by offing himself, he was "speeding up nature's work." He said this in his last blog post. If his mentality were factual, we would've been wiped out during the caveman days when this stuff might have mattered, not in modern society full of couch potatoes. As big and bad as they were, even dinosaurs went extinct.

I'm guessing he never saw the studies on tribal cultures where they don't select for height. He only saw the studies conducted on post-industrial society, which you simply cannot use to prove anything biologically. Yes, modern women do select for height, but if tribal women don't, then this isn't natural evolution. It's social eugenics where those with low status are being wiped out. Still depressing, but less dire.

When these suicides happen, what irks me most is the victim blaming, like what you see here. It's basically a forum for a bunch of Asian men to pretend like they're "alpha." They just make me laugh, acting like badasses by trash talking some dead guy. I've skimmed that place before, and most of them are lightweights who lift light weights. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but at least be an actual tough guy if you're going to shit on a suicide victim.

I see lots of short men and Asians trying to prove they're 'one of the good ones' by attacking their fellow men. "See? I may be short and Asian, but at least I'm better than this guy who killed himself!" Unfortunately, when it comes to women, most men have a dog eat dog mentality. Many guys would stab a brother in the back for some girl.

I'm sure some jackass with a just-world fallacy would call Wilkes an entitled misogynist, and claim it was his bad personality that deterred women. I highly doubt that was the case, as he had many friends and supporters judging by Facebook and Instagram. Women just didn't find him physically attractive, and that's fine, but people need to stop pretending like there's someone for everyone. I've been told that before and it's clearly bullshit. Wilkes realized it was bullshit as well. It was crystal clear before he died. I think all he wanted to prove was that personality only goes so far in a superficial world, so people shouldn't point fingers at him when he died. Sadly, it didn't work.

Others will also claim "he should've sought professional help," as if therapists have magical powers. Many try to discredit this suicide by saying he killed himself because he couldn't get laid, when he was simply seeking intimacy. If this was about sex, Wilkes could've hired a prostitute, but he said that solves nothing. I also like when tall guys come in just to say "stop whining." Sad state of affairs. Lots of wannabe tough guys who think zipping their mouths makes them cool.

Google has found me the visage of a true hero.

 

To end this, I found something odd about the comments here (click on "best rated" if you take a look). Apparently, when a short Asian man dies in London, they're more concerned about discussing guard rails. The one comment specifically about Wilkes just invalidates everything he wrote, basically saying "eh, there are men like you who are in relationships. Sucks you thought this way." It'd be like saying, "Oprah is rich and famous so let's not discuss racism." I guess it helps them sleep at night, but still very strange. Are Londoners usually this cold? They couldn't give less of a shit.

Personally, I genuinely care, as I know exactly where his dark thoughts were coming from. The odds of someone preferring a short Asian guy are not great. RIP Wilkes McDermid. Life sucks and then you die.

 

Bonus lulzy comments.

 

P.S. Read my thoughts on suicide.

Schools Churn Out Workers Who Are Trained to Do 1925 Labor

Article quoted from here

A hundred and fifty years ago, adults were incensed about child labor. Low-wage kids were taking jobs away from hard-working adults.

Sure, there was some moral outrage at seven-year olds losing fingers and being abused at work, but the economic rationale was paramount. Factory owners insisted that losing child workers would be catastrophic to their industries and fought hard to keep the kids at work--they said they couldn't afford to hire adults. It wasn't until 1918 that nationwide compulsory education was in place.

Part of the rationale to sell this major transformation to industrialists was that educated kids would actually become more compliant and productive workers. Our current system of teaching kids to sit in straight rows and obey instructions isn't a coincidence--it was an investment in our economic future. The plan: trade short-term child labor wages for longer-term productivity by giving kids a head start in doing what they're told.

Large-scale education was never about teaching kids or creating scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system.
Of course, it worked. Several generations of productive, fully employed workers followed. But now?

Nobel-prize winning economist Michael Spence makes this really clear: there are tradable jobs (making things that could be made somewhere else, like building cars, designing chairs and answering the phone) and non-tradable jobs (like mowing the lawn or cooking burgers). Is there any question that the first kind of job is worth keeping in our economy?

Alas, Spence reports that from 1990 to 2008, the US economy added only 600,000 tradable jobs.

If you do a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, they will find someone cheaper than you to do it. And yet our schools are churning out kids who are stuck looking for jobs where the boss tells them exactly what to do.

Do you see the disconnect here? Every year, we churn out millions of of workers who are trained to do 1925 labor.

The bargain (take kids out of work so we can teach them to become better factory workers) has set us on a race to the bottom. Some argue we ought to become the cheaper, easier country for sourcing cheap, compliant workers who do what they're told. We will lose that race whether we win it or not. The bottom is not a good place to be, even if you're capable of getting there.

As we get ready for the 93rd year of universal public education, here’s the question every parent and taxpayer needs to wrestle with: Are we going to applaud, push or even permit our schools (including most of the private ones) to continue the safe but ultimately doomed strategy of churning out predictable, testable and mediocre factory-workers?

As long as we embrace (or even accept) standardized testing, fear of science, little attempt at teaching leadership and most of all, the bureaucratic imperative to turn education into a factory itself, we’re in big trouble.

The post-industrial revolution is here. Do you care enough to teach your kids to take advantage of it?

Blame-shifting In Heightism

Quoted from here:

Always look at heightism as a problem from the perspective of the people who practice and perpetuate the prejudice. Not from the perspective of the people who are negatively affected by it. 

In other words, think "why did John say that Steve wasn't even 5'6" 'on a good day' - does he mean that 5'6" is better than 5'4"'? 

Do not think "why did Steve get offended when John said that he wasn't 5'6" 'on a good day'? Is Steve sensitive about his height?"

$285mil Project to "Improve" Vietnamese’s Average Height

Here's the article and a couple of points:

• "Improve" is the key word. Taller is better, right?
• What a serious and worthy use of 285 million dollars.

Yet people think men who talk about heightism are the ones with mental problems.

Multiple countries have this unhealthy fetish for tall height, and these people are the ones who are fucked in the head. When you would even consider spending so much on this, you're almost objectively nuts.

Alternate headline: "Government Spends $285mil to Lighten People's Skin Color." Sounds crazy and dumb, doesn't it?

They can try to spin this into some shit about "health" (even though height is more about overall calories than actual nutrition anyway), but the truth eventually comes out, like it does here:

She said that young people consider height a mark of beauty, and it is one of the top considerations for teenage girls looking for boyfriends and even friends.

There are also height restrictions which prevent small people from taking part in beauty contests or becoming air hostesses.

Older people associate height less with beauty and more with nutritional status - and an indication that their children are healthy and strong.

"My mother is very short, but I'm not too bad as I have been given highly nutritious food and plenty of milk," said one woman.

Another man was more direct. "I want to be 10cm taller. I think tall people are beautiful," he said.

Notice the ignorance in thinking milk made them taller. That's the average heightist for you.

Funny thing is that many Vietnamese girls these days love South Korean guys who look like this. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but c'mon, do these guys seem strong? Asians only care about height. It's even more mental than the West, because at least the "alpha males" here (I dislike this concept by the way) have to be big framed, muscular, and broad shouldered.

The biggest irony here is that compared to the rest of the world, Vietnam has shorter people on average. By claiming tallness to be superior, they are outright stating Vietnamese people to be inferior on average. Even if Vietnam gets 2 centimeters out of this, what does that mean exactly? Vietnamese are now slightly less inferior compared to, say, Europeans? Congratulations.

Psst... Don't let this ruin the height fantasy, but short men live longer on average.

Korean Doctor's Dream to End Heightism

“My dream is to open growth clinics in North Korea,” Dr. Park said, “so that, once we unify, children from both sides will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder, not with one side a head taller than the other.” - Source

Yeah, that will teach a great moral lesson about tolerating differences. While we're at it, might as well end racism by making everyone the same color.

Instead of growth clinics, how about teaching kids not to put such emphasis on height? Or better yet, the adults of society can tone down their boners for tall men. It doesn't take a doctor to do this.

"But smaller is no longer considered better, thanks in part to the proliferation of Western models of beauty and success. On TV, all young pop idols are tall. Given our society’s strong tendency to fit into the group and follow the trend, being short is a problem. Short kids are ostracized.”

Being short isn't a problem. Assholes treating short people like shit is the problem. This isn't rocket science.

To Be a Hero, You Have to Be a Deviant

“To be a hero, you have to learn to be a deviant, because you’re always going against the conformity of the group.”

Read the full article: The Systemic Crushing of Young Nonconformists and Anti-Authoritarians.

Halo Effect

"Someone who is perceived as attractive, due in part to physical traits, may be more likely to be perceived as kind or intelligent. The role of attractiveness in producing the halo effect has been illustrated through a number of studies."

An example of this is how tall men receive "gentle giant" while short men get "short man syndrome," despite the fact that this experiment shows short men are the least likely to be aggressive:

The University of Central Lancashire research for the BBC found taller men were more likely to lose their temper. Men of different heights duelled with wooden sticks but one of the subjects deliberately provoked the other by rapping them across the knuckles. Heart monitors revealed it was the taller men who flew off the handle more quickly and hit back.

After all, in this culture the ideal man is described as "tall, dark, and handsome."

I also once found out that virgin males are the least likely to commit crime (sources here and here). Despite this, we all know how undesirable men are often portrayed as creeps and predators. This is ignoring how most criminals are not virgins.

One of the interesting side effects I've noticed from the halo effect is that certain members of these groups tend to try extra hard to please, because they know they have a bad rep right off the bat. They will be more docile, and it'll take more abuse before they eventually lash back. Unfortunately based on the stats I've posted, these groups are already more passive on average, yet it doesn't seem to be helping much. This is because society does not hate based on a fair ratio. A group with an unattractive trait could do less but they will be judged more harshly.

Undesirable groups should be taught they did nothing heinous characterwise, because, and I quote: ''Unattractive children who are unpopular may wrongly attribute their lack of popularity to some flaw in their character or personality,'' she says. Such an error, she believes, could result in lasting and painful scars. - Source

Others should be made aware of our human biases and preconceived notions. Can you believe many people don't even know what the halo effect even is? Once someone does, hopefully they may start catching themselves judging too quickly, even if it's after the fact.

6'6 Guy Gets A Date Just Because He's 6'6

"I can't believe it actually happened. Wow. A man who is 6'6... that's all she knew. She had absolutely no idea what he otherwise looked like, what his personality was beyond a few posts consisting of a sentence or two, or what kind of stability he had in his life. The length of his bones were absolutely all that mattered in this case."

I used to think height doesn't automatically get you women. It's more of a huge advantage, like giving a medieval warrior a gun. If that warrior fails to pull the trigger, it doesn't mean he never held the upper hand, he just failed to use it.

However, now I believe many women would welcome a man just for his height alone. Convicted 6'7 murderer Joran van der Sloot received fan mail and was married in prison. There was this talk show lady who asked if some dude was single, simply because she heard he was 6'2 (she never saw him).

To those who say height doesn't matter, has any 5'0 man ever gotten a free date simply by stating he's 5'0? If personality matters so much more, no asshole would ever get laid. Tall serial killers and rapists would all be kissless virgins.

More Thoughts On Self-Deprecation

I've noticed that whenever someone criticizes self-deprecation, another person tries to say "why are you taking yourself so seriously? Make fun of yourself!"

Here's the thing. I'm not asking people to act like I'm king when I walk into a room. I simply refuse to be a court jester. I'm not taking myself too seriously. I just don't see what's so funny about my genetics.

It's so awkward when I see Asian guys calling themselves chinks and making fun of their own dicks (non-Asians also think so). It's equally weird when short men act like clowns to fit in, even if it means their only role in the group is to act as a punching bag.

I know for a fact Bruce Lee didn't make fun of his own height or ethnicity. Bruce was the antithesis of self-deprecation, because it's better to demand respect than grovel for acceptance.

I think it's all bullshit. If I goof up on something, let's all have a laugh, but making fun of how I was born is retarded. If people want cheap humor that bad, they can go find it online. If you want to read a longer post on self-deprecating, you can find one here along with the science behind it.

Upset By How Easily Women Are Sexualized

"I can’t express how upset it makes me that shyness in women is sexualized, anger in women is sexualized, ignorance/ lack of intelligence is sexualized, intelligence is sexualized- being a woman is being sexualized for everything you feel or do."

I find it funny when women complain about how easy it is to be sexualized. Perhaps it's because I've been called "ugly" by girls and my own mother.

There are men who will never be more than "just friends" unless they're exceptional. Shorts guys, ugly guys, whatever. Any flaw in their character will be used as an excuse to avoid them. I wish men could be shy, dumb, and angry yet still easily desired for it.

I guess this is a case of grass being greener on the other side... Or maybe some people have run out of things to complain about. There's a reason why only shy boys are told to "be moar konfidunt" when it comes to sex/dating. Meanwhile, confident women are sexy and shy women are sexy. What blasphemy.

"Boo!!! You like me too easily! Booooo!"

"Awareness Reduces Racial Bias"

http://archive.is/5zgVU

No, I'm not saying heightism has the history of racism. For some reason I always have to add this disclaimer.

The main point is here:

"After being made aware of their racial biases in referee calls through widespread media exposure, individual National Basketball Association referees became unbiased, suggesting that raising awareness of even subtle forms of racism can bring about meaningful change."

Many people advocate shutting our mouths instead of raising awareness about height discrimination. That is not the way to go. The main difference is that people these days are taught racism is wrong, so they more willingly absorb the awareness. When it comes to height prejudice, they must also be taught that it's hurtful and not productive for society.

Pavlov's Dog and Heightism

"In his initial experiments, Pavlov rang a bell and then gave the dog food; after a few repetitions, the dogs started to salivate in response to the bell. Pavlov called the bell the conditioned (or conditional) stimulus (CS) because its effects depend on its association with food."

Replace the bell with "tall men" and the food with "positive traits." I've heard lines like "for a short man, you have the confidence of a 7-footer." Of course people are the dogs.

Now, some may say humans are more sophisticated than dogs, so I can't compare the two.

My problem with that is how people use the opposite argument when it fits their narrative. They'll say something along the lines of "despite our laws and technology, we're still primitive animals at heart, so that's why we prefer tall men."

Okay, fine. So what makes you think your desires and needs are beyond brainwashing?

If humans are ultimately primitive (like dogs), then we're also susceptible to conditioning. If we're so civilized, then we should be able to overcome height bias, just like we do with racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.

Just something to think about. I for one believe it's conditioning, because tribal cultures don't have height biases, and many strong short men are still slighted in favor of weaker tall ones. It's all about social status.