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someonesomewheredoin t1_iuetgzm wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in is there such a thing as "Big Boned?" by Dr-Logan

For those unaware, the whole "body type" thing came straight off pseudoscience (somatotype and constitutional psychology).

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fliguana t1_iuewi81 wrote

The quackery refers to the link between a body type and personality traits. Body types are real. Personality traits are also real.

Same with phrenology. It's quackery, but you can still have objectively pointy head, or short temper.

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orange_cactuses t1_iug1u9v wrote

Body types are real, especially when relating to skeletal structure. For ex. Some men have naturally wider shoulders by clavicle length not by muscularity.

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someonesomewheredoin t1_iug7h3b wrote

Anatomy differences are indeed real, the problem is when you start linking metabolism with anatomy without being able to back it up.

We're making steady progress in genomics, in not the so far future (maybe in 20, 30 years?), we'll be able to access it, through some sort of GWAS (genome-wide association study) and epigenetics studies -- until then, it's just some arbitrary and often subjective classification, with different meanings for different people.

I do believe that it's fine to use those terms on casual conversations, the problem comes with the random information that, usually, comes with it and sometimes can hinder people's progress (see my other comment as to why i think that, under this parent comment).

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