Category: Shrink Activism

Shrink Exercise: Giant Vegetable Hugging

March 28, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Hugging a giant vegetable initiates a light-hearted feeling of pleasure and relaxation, as well as the experience of being in the presence of a messenger from the future when the human species has become a lot smaller and the world is again a place of…

HPS Axis Pirouette

March 15, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

To soften the pressure of the increasingly dominant genetic profiles for greater human height, humanity at some point may opt to interfere in the cell signaling pathways that induce growth. One such pathway, the hypothalamic–pituitary axis, includes the secretion of growth hormone (GH) into the circulation and the subsequent stimulation of insulin-like…

Degrowth:Buddhist Economics

March 3, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Buddhist economics, a term coined by Fritz Schumacher, is the systematic study of how to gain given ends with minimum means, or as we at The Incredible Shrinking Man like to ask; How can we shrink towards abundance? In the view of its proponents, buddhist economics…

Abundance Fantasies:Evangelical Carrots

February 11, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

In our series on Abundance Fantasies we explore how we can activate our deeply rooted desire for abundance, codified within our language, our myths and religions, to initiate the desire to shrink. There’s an unmistakable relationship between fundamental human desire for abundance and how this desire…

Side-tunneling

January 28, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

The small have strategies to ensure that their genetic knowledge on how to be small is preserved. Since smaller size within a species often means the individual lacks the physical strength to power their way into the female’s heart they need to outsmart the strong.…

The Makhunik Ceiling

January 10, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

There are indications in local architecture, that 100 years ago the average resident of Makhunik in eastern Iran, measured just 100cm in height – some 50cm shorter than the average height at the time. Of the roughly 200 stone and clay houses that make up…

Idolatry of Giantism

January 1, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

“What I wish to emphasise is the duality of the human requirement when it comes to the question of size: there is no single answer. For his different purposes man needs many different structures, both small one and large ones, some exclusieve and some comprehensive.…

Deaf Fish

December 12, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

A recent study shows that every second farmed salmon we eat is deaf resulting of a deformity in the ear, caused by accelerated growth in aquaculture. The study’s lead author, Ms Tormey Reimer, says when they went looking for the cause of the deformity they…

Transient Dwarfism of Soil Fauna

November 30, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

It’s been well established that rising temperatures and CO2 levels in the environment tends to decrease animal size. But what about the keystone species and ecosystem engineers that make soil? Although there’s not been much contemporary research into this the fossil record allows us to…

Vechur A2 Milk

November 27, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

The Incredible Shrinking Man is not big on dairy because it promotes excess growth in the body. But we’ll make an exception for the milk of the tiny Vechur cow originating from the warm and humid climate of the state of Kerala in southern India. According…

From Model Organism to Spirit Animal

November 22, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Evolution is not just a process of change: it’s also a process of holding on to what works. When one species mutates into another, most of everything remains the same. We still are most of the animals we’ve been in the past, and we’re already…

Land Reclamation

November 5, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

It is certainly not a coincidence that the Dutch are known for their expertise in the process of land reclamation. They live surrounded by the sea and The Netherlands are a small country. Yet the most obvious reason for the Dutch desire to create new…

A Frog’s Patience

November 1, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Bigger males, both human and animal, are generally more successful in attracting and being selected by females. But not in all species. The Incredible Shrinking Man seeks inspiration from those few species where females favour the small, like Agalychnis callidryas, the Red-eyed tree frog. In…

Japanese Miniatures: Cat Maximisation

October 30, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Our series of Japanese Miniatures investigates the specific Japanese sensitivity for small as expressed in their love for things like bonsai, sushi, netsuke, and capsule hotels. Japan ‘knows’ things about shrinking that may help the human species embrace the desire for, or overcome hurdles to, becoming…

Cumulative Default Yielding Response

October 27, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

People continue to grow taller despite the fact that physical dominance is no longer an evident evolutionary advantage and is not very cost-effective. Archaic biological systems have been replaced by confused growth-obsessed cultural values. Despite the evidence that in Western societies being tall continues to be positively…

Kuhnian Shift

October 24, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

According to Thomas Kuhn when enough significant anomalies have accrued against a current paradigm, the scientific discipline is thrown into a state of crisis. During this crisis, new ideas, perhaps ones previously discarded, are tried. Eventually a new paradigm is formed, which gains its own new followers,…

Shrink Exercises: A01 to A07

October 15, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

There are BIG things one can do to embrace the idea of shrinking, like finding a short partner, hormone therapy, or gently curbing the excess growth of your children by feeding them growth suppressing foods. And there are SMALL things you can do to embrace…

Studio of Suspended Disbelief

October 9, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Whenever The Incredible Shrinking Man is invited to participate in a public event, such as an exhibition, festival or symposium, we simply pack up the research studio and relocate the investigation to the new space. There we continue reading, writing, discussing and creating new material…

Trans-species Psychology

September 23, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Trans-species psychology re-embeds humans within the larger matrix of the animal kingdom by erasing the notion that humans are substantively cognitively and emotionally different from other species. According to the ecologist/psychologist Gay A. Bradshaw, there is a common model of brain, mind and behaviour for humans and…

Beyond Phlebotinum

September 12, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Phlebotinum is the versatile substance or incomprehensible technology that causes an effect needed by a plot in a work of fiction. Phlebotinum basically does everything, except solve specific limits and dangers required by the plot. Without it, the story would grind to an abrupt halt.…