www.lesswrong.com/posts/ytzrakjgcvCfLCCZp/contra-wentworth-on-physical-attractiv...
1 correction found
height (no currently known solution)
This is incorrect because there are known medical interventions that can increase adult height, most notably limb/stature-lengthening surgery.
Full reasoning
There is a currently known way to increase height: limb-lengthening surgery.
Authoritative medical sources explicitly describe procedures for increasing stature:
- Hospital for Special Surgery says: "Stature lengthening surgery is a procedure to increase your natural height by lengthening the bones in your legs," and notes that typical gains are about 3 inches, with additional tibia lengthening sometimes bringing the total to 5 to 6 inches.
- Mayo Clinic likewise states that "Some people with dwarfism choose to undergo surgery called extended limb lengthening."
- Cleveland Clinic describes limb lengthening surgery as a procedure that "can make an arm or leg bone longer."
So the issue is not that no solution is known; rather, the known solution is costly, invasive, risky, and not appropriate for everyone. But saying there is "no currently known solution" is factually wrong because such procedures are well-established and currently performed.
3 sources
- Stature Lengthening Surgery | Hospital for Special Surgery
"Stature lengthening surgery is a procedure to increase your natural height by lengthening the bones in your legs."
- Dwarfism - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic
"Some people with dwarfism choose to undergo surgery called extended limb lengthening."
- Limb Lengthening Surgery: Procedure, Process & Recovery
"Limb lengthening surgery is a procedure that can make an arm or leg bone longer."