Me and my buddy just had a crazy thought. It started by sitting under the stars and talking about constellations, somehow we got onto the topic of gravity. If you think about it someone is upside down compared to where you are, if you could cut out the middle of the earth and look thru they would be upside down, but gravity allows them to stay planted. Shits intense right. Then we started thinking maybe gravity has a say in what we look like, since it has a say in everything we do. We started thinking about Asia lol, since they are on the opposite side of the planet from us. Maybe they have more gravitational pull then the U.S does, thus them resulting being shorter, and having slant eyes. They have more land mass then we do. I don't know we're baked and thought that we might have just discovered some crazy science shit.
I can't speak for the effect of gravity on the evolution of homo sapiens specifically, however it's scientific fact that gravity is a significant factor in the evolution of life in general. If the force of gravity on Earth were any different than what it already is, life on Earth would NOT have evolved as it has. So it's certain geographic differences lead to physical differences in the human species, but i'm not sure if certain areas have different gravitational effects though lol.
Me either man, was just thinking tho you know how your brain wonders when you think of something so much greater then yourself such as our Planet
how bout this for trippy -- think about the size of the universe, then think: what is the universe? answer: collection of all matter and energy in physical existence. that includes you. You are the universe, as much as everything else. And idk if you've heard this before but the atoms and molecules that exist within us (carbon, nitrogen, etc) were created only from STARS. Stars had to die for us to exist.
The gravity is the same on the other side of the globe, lol. Height has to do with genetics.... Pretty mind-blowing theory, lol . . . . . . . .
Gravity decreases with altitude Where is the gravitational acceleration at height above sea level. is the Earth's mean radius. is the standard gravitational acceleration. Effect of Gravity Measured on Earth by NASA's GRACE mission: (more red = less gravity and more violet = more gravity, if it isn't clear)
But altitude isn't very uniform. I could understand how people in mountainous areas would be shorter in general, but the land mass that China rests on has lots of variation in altitude. I think it has to do more to do with diet as well. Certain foods will only grow in certain environments. People in areas with less oxygen need bigger hearts. So many factors, but the effect of gravity from sea level to 15,000ft isn't as much of a factor as the type of food that can be grown at sea level to 15,000ft and what types of bodies are made to handle those conditions. The OP just made it sound like the gravity on the other side of the globe is so much more intense that it is actually keeping people from reaching a certain height threshold. Go to Asia, see if the gravity feels that much different.
I'm not saying it directly affects the evolution of height/size within homo sapiens into different "races" NECESSARILY. I'm SURE gravity was a factor in our evolution some how, though. Life is pretty fragile to environmental changes lol, so JUSSAYIN
Yeah, if Asia was its own isolated island with a consistent altitude then I'd find it to be very believable. But I agree, gravity has had some sort of affect on the genetic code, however it may be.