I can&#x27;t tell if this is a Swiftian modest proposal or an earnest but ridiculously impractical idea, but this bit got me:<p>&gt; Liao has calculated that reducing the average US height by just 8 percent (15 cm) would mean a corresponding mass reduction of 23 percent for men and 25 percent for women, and a 15-18 percent reduction of metabolic rate. The effect of this downscaling “is not linear,” he says. “It’s exponential.”<p>Face palm.