# How big are we? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335 "2007-11-14T03:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/1 "2007-11-14T03:52:43Z")
Really. I used to lose sleep thinking about this when I was a kid. Now I’m regressing, so, scientifically, just how big are we. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/2 "2007-11-14T04:02:36Z")
Somewhere around 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, presumably. Unless we’re female. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/3 "2007-11-14T04:10:34Z")
Generally, bigger than a breadbox. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/4 "2007-11-14T04:14:14Z")
1,000 m/kg squared of potential crammed inside a sack of meat generally somewhere between 2 - 150 kg. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/5 "2007-11-14T04:16:42Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Somewhere around 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, presumably. Unless we’re female. [/QUOTE] Well yeah, if you happen to live in the Dinaric Alps. [chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) But world wide we come up somewhat short of that lofty altitude. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/6 "2007-11-14T04:17:03Z")
Oh come on. Please to be defining “big” and “we”? Unless this is a misplaced MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/7 "2007-11-14T04:18:22Z")
Bigger than the Beatles! …well, we’re definitely bigger than Jebus… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/8 "2007-11-14T04:18:47Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Well yeah, if you happen to live in the Dinaric Alps. [chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) But world wide we come up somewhat short of that lofty altitude. [/QUOTE] Good answer, and with a citation! That’s very (wait for it…) big of you! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/9 "2007-11-14T04:20:42Z")
Big enough. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/10 "2007-11-14T04:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=emilyforce] Oh come on. Please to be defining “big” and “we”? Unless this is a misplaced MPSIMS? [/QUOTE] Right. I should have said “relatively”. Like on a celestial scale. It seems odd to me that we should be so infinitesimal, and yet so important. But I didn’t want to get Uncle Albert involved. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/11 "2007-11-14T04:28:54Z")
The universe revolves around me. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/12 "2007-11-14T04:32:25Z")
If you were to scale the human body up to the size of the known universe… … my WAG is that you still wouldn’t be able to compare a human, let alone the earth, to a quark in one of the atoms in one of the cells of that universe-sized human. But I’m no cosmologist or mathematician… anyone want to do the math? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/13 "2007-11-14T04:34:51Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] If you were to scale the human body up to the size of the known universe… … my WAG is that you still wouldn’t be able to compare a human, let alone the earth, to a quark in one of the atoms in one of the cells of that universe-sized human. But I’m no cosmologist or mathematician… anyone want to do the math? [/QUOTE] That’s what I mean. Why the spoiler mask? ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/14 "2007-11-14T04:38:20Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] …so, scientifically, just how big are we. …Right. I should have said “relatively”. Like on a celestial scale. It seems odd to me that we should be so infinitesimal, and yet so important. But I didn’t want to get Uncle Albert involved. [/QUOTE] Elsie Partridge says _Shame!_ And, we’re not. What, do \*you \*want to do the math? Please feel free! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/15 "2007-11-14T04:38:34Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Right. I should have said “relatively”. Like on a celestial scale. It seems odd to me that we should be so infinitesimal, and yet so important. But I didn’t want to get Uncle Albert involved. [/QUOTE] [Moderating] You’re going to have to qualify the question a good deal more than that if you want this to stay in GQ. Are you simply asking how big humans are relative to the scale of the entire Universe? Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/16 "2007-11-14T04:47:42Z")
We still are big. The thread got small. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/17 "2007-11-14T04:54:40Z")
It’s 149,597,892 kilometers from the Earth to the Sun. At an average walking speed, it would take you about 3413 years to walk to the Sun. Is this the kind of thing you’re looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/18 "2007-11-14T04:55:31Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Well yeah, if you happen to live in the Dinaric Alps. [chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) But world wide we come up somewhat short of that lofty altitude. [/QUOTE] Begone, midget. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/19 "2007-11-14T05:11:33Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] It seems odd to me that we should be so infinitesimal, and yet so important. [/QUOTE] Important to who? Infinitesmial to who? Some of us are important to others of us, but size is relative. I’m small compared to my husband, he is small compared to an NFL linebacker… ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335/20 "2007-11-14T05:47:01Z")
What **Cyn** said. Who are we important to, other than ourselves? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-are-we/426335.md?page=2)