I overheard a woman marveling at the fact that a tiny seed can end up growing into a mighty redwood. Presumably mighty because of its size. I wondered to myself if she ever sat back and truly appreciated how amazing it is that a human embryo grows into the most intelligent creature to ever walk the Earth.
I got the feeling she didn’t. Women, am I right?
Size matters.
This is where most people, when wondering to themselves, will call it a day and stop wondering. They have wandered the safe wondering territory and then they head back to reality ready and eager to deal with life on its own terms.
I wondered one too many wonders. A common problem for me, it seems. I wondered what life would be like if humans grew like trees. We start out the same size as babies but keep growing straight up like trees do.
Now I got you wondering, haven’t I?
The first thing you’re probably wondering about is proportion. Do we all shoot up to redwood/300-feet-tall status or are we more modest in our growth? You could even make the argument for humans continuing to grow at the same rate we do as when we are children. Of course, this line of wondering grinds to halt when you realize that if you double in size every year for 80 years, you’ll soon have problems getting enough oxygen in the inky blackness of space. Either that, or you have to imagine a race of giant hunchbacks crawling around the planet.
Let’s just make 300 feet the ceiling in this wondering.
You’d have to wonder, given the PC world we live in, if different races would grow to different heights just like tree species. I’m definitely going to leave you to wonder about that on your own. I hope you appreciate how many funny and terribly racists things I’m leaving on the table here.
Dwarves could be shrubs. Just saying… no judgment here.
I would imagine that dating older men would be far more hazardous to younger women. Hazardous to their vaginas, to be more specific. How this would change the culture is really Grade A wondering material. How this would change the porn industry is really Grade Z stuff, but it probably won’t stop you from doing a little wondering in that direction.
If you’re waiting for me to say something like “getting wood” or “laying the lumber,” you’re obviously thinking of trees and not people. I never asked you to imagine tree people. Just normal people but enormous in scale.
Hopefully, there are some of you indignant that I’m even having to mention the role of sex in this new world we’re wondering about and you’ve already started to wonder about the toll that this new size will have on our limited resources. I like to pretend that my audience isn’t made up entirely of deviants and cretins, so wonderings like that are perfectly in line with my desired demographic. Wonder on, smart person!
But you do also have to wonder how awesome it would be if you’re a 45-year-old man and you’re whipping out a 34-foot erection. And the truth is, I do sort of picture it having tree-like qualities.
Damn it, you can see why I shouldn’t be allowed to wonder to myself and then wonder out loud. I have this relatively interesting premise and all I can seem to attract are readers who envision giant tree people lumbering around tearing apart the vaginas of slutty younger girls trying to get free drinks (in a world where drinks must certainly be highly prized) or ahead at the company that makes shirts in one thousand sizes.
One last try at a reasonably intelligent observation about a planet populated with 300-foot-tall humans…
Seating! Chair sizes would vary wildly. How could you be expected to operate a restaurant?
And would people yell “Timber!” every time someone tripped?
What? No! Of course not! They’re not fucking tree people. What don’t you understand about this? Stop with the fucking tree people.
Ever wonder why you suck at wondering? Leave the damned wondering to experts like myself. Just look at the mess you’ve made of this.
Happy? Giant fucking tree people when all I asked you to wonder about is people larger than normal.
It’s a wonder I even bother.