Ender's World by Orson Scott Card

Author:Orson Scott Card
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781937856267
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.

7. In short…

Breeding for size used to be important. People needed big, strong children to work the fields, fend off dangerous predators, and beat out the neighboring tribe for healthy spouses and the best land. But now, with the rise of geek and nerd as terms of not just affection but downright approbation, size isn’t nearly as essential. In fact, in a lot of respects it’s quite the opposite, not only inessential but destructive to the planet.

Shorter people have less impact on the environment—we require less food, less air, less water. A 10 percent reduction in height, worldwide, would lead to a commensurate reduction in everything from beef and pork consumption (and their attending methane problems) to highway congestion. And if we keep insisting that taller is better, we may eventually grow ourselves right out of living on the planet, and into six feet under—if we can still fit.

There are a lot of upsides to being small. Short people have a lower center of gravity, which creates greater stability overall. We make good gymnasts, jockeys, car racers, figure skaters—anything that requires speed coupled with dexterity and balance. We’re lower to the ground, which means we don’t have as far to rise when we fall.

We live longer. If you don’t want to bother struggling through all the scientific data I cited, just think about dogs. Small dogs live longer. Everybody knows that.

We’re beneficial to society as a whole. From Harriet Tub-man and Danny DeVito (five feet each) and Mae West (five feet, one inch) to Beethoven, Picasso, and James Madison (all under five feet, four inches), we are everywhere. We’re over-represented in the arts, in politics, in the sciences. We win our wars, both social and political, through cunning and cleverness rather than brute force, just as Ender does. And we happily claim him as one of our own.

While hunting around online for information on size, telomeres, and random DNA mutations, I happened upon various lists teenagers made to express why they felt good about being short. Here are just a few:

You can duck faster.

There’s less chance of being struck by lightning.

You’re always in the front of group pictures.

You can get up faster when you fall down.

You can fit into cool cars.

There’s less chance of being hit by a UFO.

And my personal favorite:

You can fit into places like a locker to hide from bullies. Granted you are also small enough to get stuffed in one, but that’s a chance I am willing to take.

There’s also this quote by boxer Joe Walcott, a quote so true it’s entered into the lexicon:

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

And that about sums it up.

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