Chapter 16 The happy life of tall people

I was lying in bed when the radio station called, wanting to do a short interview about a study in the US to see if the conclusions from the study stood up.Say on the phone: "Isn't it right that tall people are happier than other people?" Whether it's sleepy or clear-headed, you have to say something meaningful on this topic in three minutes, or is it right? difficult.The media is like this, usually just want to know if, science is not "selling" like this.So I have to write something again. The staff involved in that study concluded that taller people felt that their lives were better and happier than shorter people.To this end, 454,000 adults were surveyed by telephone. The results showed that the happiness and happiness index of people above the average height was higher than that of those below the average height.The explanation for this phenomenon is as follows: Being tall implies that the person's income and education level are relatively high.If I were to answer whether the conclusions drawn by this study are correct, there are a few things to consider.First, you cannot dismiss the conclusions of a study of this size with a simple "no."Moreover, it is not the first time that similar views have been put on the table. It has been confirmed a long time ago that there is indeed a certain relationship between income and height.It's not hard to imagine that people with higher incomes are relatively happier than the unemployed (although the old adage that money doesn't make happiness has been disproved by a recent study).Of course, this needs to be discussed in detail, and the role played by evolution must not be forgotten.

Evolutionary research has pointed to a correlation between how tall someone is and how powerful they are (i.e., status).In contrast, tall people are more likely to gain dominance.Usually, leaders are tall, although there are exceptions.It is not difficult to understand this reality when looking at prehistory, the hundreds of thousands of years in which human behavior was formed.On average, taller people are also stronger, and have a relatively better chance of dominating their own race or enemies.Compared with other people, they are easier to obtain a higher status in the crowd.It didn't escape our great-great-great-grandmothers.When considering partners and fathers, they choose men with power.These people are better able to protect the family, give support, hunt for food, etc. than some softies.Plus, it's easier for them to make friends.Faced with a strong person, people are always willing to be friends with him, and do not want to be enemies with him.At least not without Facebook!Tall people are more often invited to collaborate or play than shorter people.Because a large part of happiness comes from being social, these tall people have a relatively better chance of achieving happiness.Yet another study pointed out that happiness is contagious.

The intrinsic link between height and aggression has not disappeared from human behavior, although several other factors—especially culture—have worked together to determine people's status during human evolution.Today, height remains a very important biological determinant, but many other factors also play a role.Think social skills, IQ and creativity, without which Nicolas Sarkozy would not be able to have such a high status (and such a beautiful wife! Again).So, don't fall into the trap of height determining happiness, despite its continuing influence.Also, you can't grow too tall.Being too much taller than the average height will be seen as an outlier, such as a genetic abnormality, and you will not be able to gain status, friends, and happiness very quickly.

"Tall people are better educated, right?" the man on the radio asked.The higher the status, the easier it is to accept new challenges, and the more active you are to find the motivation to raise your status to a higher level.And those "losers" just stagnate.Today, education is one of the greatest possibilities for status advancement, and just like that, the connection is made again.Tall, strong people are more likely to start a study and stay motivated all the way to a successful outcome. I was actually very careless when I said it just now, because I have been talking about human beings and men. What about women in this regard?Does all this apply to them too?Compared with men, the applicability is much smaller.Our great-great-great-grandmothers did look for powerful men, but they didn't need high status themselves.Women are naturally more social creatures than men.Contrary to men, they do not want to improve their own status, but pay more attention to the collective status in life, work and entertainment.Also, they can make friends faster than men.The fact that height doesn't matter that much for women is consistent with the study I mentioned at the beginning - the difference in happiness between tall and short women is much smaller than that of men.Participants in the experiment were asked to rate their quality of life on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing the best life imaginable.Men taller than 1.78 meters, that is, the average score of men above the average height is 6.55, and the average score of men below the average height is 6.41.The average height of a woman is 1.63 meters, the score above the average height is 6.64, and the score below is 6.55.It can be seen that the score difference of women is smaller than that of men.Interestingly, women also scored higher than men.A lower mean score among women and a higher mean score among men have the same score value.Either women are happier, or they rate their happiness higher.What is the difference between the two?

In addition to explaining through evolution, as I said, we still need to refine this phenomenon, so let's start.The data above shows that the differences in happiness are very small.From a scientific point of view, the difference between 6.55 and 6.41, and 6.64 and 6.55 is indeed very interesting, but you and I don't feel it!Can you feel the difference between 24 and 25 degrees Celsius water temperature?This difference exists in physics, but it doesn't exist in your bathtub.Therefore, we should not simply look at the surface of the fact that taller people are happier.The second refinement point has to do with averages.Everyone knows that a person can drown in a lake that averages half a meter deep.Like strength, height is only one of the factors that determine happiness.I won't list all those happy short people and unhappy tall people.A third refinement is that in a similar experiment, people also answered questions about happiness over the phone.As a result, they gave significantly higher scores on sunny days than on cloudy ones.

Finally, I temporarily take off the glasses of the theory of evolution, and speak a few words as an experienced person.Happiness is largely determined and measured by you.Who can measure your happiness?Only you know whether you are happy or not.Think your score is too low?Then change the yardstick, or compare yourself to those who are standing at the bottom of the happiness ladder.There will always be someone on the ladder above you compared to someone of the same status, but there will always be a lot of people below.Then lower your head and take a look, it must be beneficial.Oh, by the way, beware of fear of heights.