I posted some literature on limb lengthening outcomes in this comment.
There is also more natural variation in limb proportions than you are allowing for. Just ask your bouldering friends for anecdata about ape index variation. I have taught many of my friends how to squat and deadlift. There is enormous natural variation in shin/femur ratios. It does not at all seem ridiculous to me that many men could add two inches to their femurs without going outside natural variation.
When I buy gis for jiu-jitsu, I have to buy separate sizes for tops and bottoms and hem the bottoms down. This is because compared to Caucasians my height, my hips start three inches lower. People do not realize that I’m disproportionate in this way by looking at me, and it took me decades to realize this about myself.
I said this to some friends recently:
...people on social media can tell [that shin-lengthening surgery looks weird] because these guys usually go viral after posting before/after photos, and so yeah you can convince yourself that the proportions look weird in that context, but if you saw these guys post surgery on the street you wouldn’t be like “hey everybody get that long-shinned freak!”
People subconsciously assess others’ appearance without consciously and explicitly pointing to particular traits. Just because they wouldn’t look at someone and say “long-shinned freak” doesn’t mean the long shins wouldn’t reduce their perceived attractiveness anyway. They’d look at the person and have a hunch that something is a little weird without being able to pin it down.
Take pictures of men, have women rate them for attractiveness. Choose pairs who got similar ratings. Extend their shins in Photoshop. Now have (other) women compare “man A” vs “man B with extended shins”, and other women compare “man A with extended shins” vs “man B”.
You are overconfident about this.
I posted some literature on limb lengthening outcomes in this comment.
There is also more natural variation in limb proportions than you are allowing for. Just ask your bouldering friends for anecdata about ape index variation. I have taught many of my friends how to squat and deadlift. There is enormous natural variation in shin/femur ratios. It does not at all seem ridiculous to me that many men could add two inches to their femurs without going outside natural variation.
When I buy gis for jiu-jitsu, I have to buy separate sizes for tops and bottoms and hem the bottoms down. This is because compared to Caucasians my height, my hips start three inches lower. People do not realize that I’m disproportionate in this way by looking at me, and it took me decades to realize this about myself.
I said this to some friends recently:
People subconsciously assess others’ appearance without consciously and explicitly pointing to particular traits. Just because they wouldn’t look at someone and say “long-shinned freak” doesn’t mean the long shins wouldn’t reduce their perceived attractiveness anyway. They’d look at the person and have a hunch that something is a little weird without being able to pin it down.
This could be verified experimentally.
Take pictures of men, have women rate them for attractiveness. Choose pairs who got similar ratings. Extend their shins in Photoshop. Now have (other) women compare “man A” vs “man B with extended shins”, and other women compare “man A with extended shins” vs “man B”.
Wait for the next round of ACX grants. :)