So in other words, it’s not that the strongest can’t also be the tallest (etc), but that someone getting that lucky twice more or less never happens. And if you need multiple factors to be good at something, getting pretty lucky on several factors is more likely than getting extremely lucky on one and pretty lucky on the rest.
To put it more simply, there’s no causal reason why the tallest shouldn’t also be the strongest—it’s just unlikely in practice for anyone to be both at the same time, because both traits (super-height and super-strength) are rare and (sufficiently) independent.
So in other words, it’s not that the strongest can’t also be the tallest (etc), but that someone getting that lucky twice more or less never happens. And if you need multiple factors to be good at something, getting pretty lucky on several factors is more likely than getting extremely lucky on one and pretty lucky on the rest.
I enjoyed this post—very clear.
^^ but not, alas, as clear as your one paragraph summary! Thanks!
Should the first “pretty” there be “very”, or am I misunderstanding the point?
To put it more simply, there’s no causal reason why the tallest shouldn’t also be the strongest—it’s just unlikely in practice for anyone to be both at the same time, because both traits (super-height and super-strength) are rare and (sufficiently) independent.