The physical growth of a person, as well as the volume of the brain, is far from an indicator of his abilities and capabilities. The trouble is that if a small woman, like Yanina Zheymo (famous from the film "Cinderella"), is lovingly called "miniature", literature and folk dialects have not saved up any respectful and affectionate names for a short man. The many offensive nicknames common in common parlance hurt male pride.
Boy on ovalchik
Some time ago, the anecdotal creativity, which had died out, enthusiastically exaggerated the topic: "What is the actual growth of Putin and Medvedev?" The attack behind the podium, from which Dmitry Anatolyevich spoke, was certainly outlined with a red oval line in documentary photographs and "phototoads".
Yes, it so happened thatthe first persons of the state of the Russian beginning of the XXI century - low growth. So what? The boy with a finger, known to everyone from an old fairy tale, was quite quick-witted and, in terms of quick wits, gave odds to his tall brothers. It seems that if there was then the slightest prospect of nanotechnology, he would have invented Skolkovo! So why study Medvedev's height in cm, if you can evaluate his political weight, contribution to the promotion of domestic science, culture, improving the life of citizens and many other, especially important parameters of a statesman?
I stood on the shoulders of giants
These words the great Isaac Newton said about his predecessors, whose works helped him discover the basic laws of dynamics. The first and foremost of them was a man of small stature - Robert Hooke. The one whose name bears the famous Law of Elasticity. Such a respectful memory "just like that" does not remain in science and history.
The low growth of Putin and Medvedev does not prevent them from being giants, on whose shoulders, remembering the expression of P. A. Stolypin, Great Russia will stand in an era of great upheavals. Strength of mind, diplomatic intuition, the ability to rally people loyal to the Fatherland around oneself - behind these qualities the question of the physical growth of the heads of state is lost.
Visual effects
We see the first persons of the country mainly in TV shows, in the photo of professional reporters. It is worth taking a closer look, and it begins to seem: Medvedev's "relative" growth seems to change from frame to frame. Optical effects canit is not just beneficial to emphasize the dignity of appearance, but to make an individual person visually tall in comparison with the environment (this is facilitated by a simple law of perspective, well-chosen angles).
Possibilities of video technology even without "Photoshop" are very high. There is a known case when the illuminator, to whom the hero of the program was unsympathetic, made a curly-haired person visually bumpy-bald just by setting the light. There are also examples that are closer to ordinary people: our document photos do not always correspond to what we observe in the mirror immediately before shooting!
Personal photographers of the first persons, perhaps, were ordered to most often demonstrate the growth of Dmitry Medvedev, the second person in the Kremlin tandem, the same as that of the country's charismatic leader.
Acceleration waves
At the end of the last century, scientists started talking seriously about the phenomenon of adolescent acceleration: boys and girls achieved significantly greater growth than people in previous generations. The subsequent analysis of historical data made it possible to put forward a hypothesis: periods of "growth" and "shortness" replace each other throughout the development of mankind. Therefore, the one and a half meter tall leaders - Alexander the Great and Charlemagne - did not seem so short compared to their, in the mass stocky, contemporaries.
The growth of Medvedev (like Putin, a representative of the post-war generation) in the crowd of people looks small against the background of younger accelerators. By offsetting this effect,reporters try to show the Tandem most often together, or choose angles with enlarged figures of the President and the Prime Minister, make half-length portraits.
So who's taller?
It's hard to tell how tall Putin and Medvedev are when they're side by side. Frequent observation of reports leads to the conclusion: about equal.
Putin has a denser figure: the broad shoulders of an athlete, a low-set head, which, in comparison with the slender Medvedev (whose shoulder line is also lowered, and his head and neck are more elongated vertically), makes Vladimir Vladimirovich more proportionate folded, and therefore visually high. In fact, Medvedev's height, according to various sources, ranges from 162 to 172 cm (average 167 cm), Putin (officially recognized) - 170 cm.
Different shoe heel heights, combined with daily shrinkage of the spinal discs (up to 3 cm in any adult he althy male), give the effect of approximate height equality. It can be argued that Putin, on average, is only slightly superior (by 3-5 cm) to his "tandem partner". Moreover, both of them turn out to be low only against the background of the general acceleration of the people and the stereotypes of perception that have taken root in connection with this (for example, the growth of A. S. Pushkin, traditionally considered small for us, was 164 cm).
Psychology of small stature
Dmitry Medvedev's height is often presented as a reason for his too hasty approval of dubious "great" projects. Such, for example, ill-considered experiments with the time zones of the country. Indeed, psychologists note the desire for self-assertion at any cost as a characteristic feature of small men.
Slightly infantile facial expressions, modest civilized gestures against the background of the brutal equanimity of Putin, a confident security officer, reinforce the impression of some "frivolity" of Dmitry Anatolyevich.
However, Medvedev's growth, of course, cannot be the reason for any "uncontrolled tyranny". Latent "complexes" of the head of state, with a well-established decision-making structure, even if they exist, do not affect the results of government. Most likely, the reason for the miscalculations is the mistakes of analysts, the suppression of real statistics, thoughtless bureaucracy in the field, in the end, the eternal Russian "fools and roads." How far an emperor or president rises above his people is the latest factor in determining our overall success.
