Sime Body Type

Tony writes, "it seems that Gens are often described as being somewhat
bigger thna Simes (the noted example being Rissa and Sergei Keon), but
I'm not sure if this  is intentional on
the part of our Esteemed Authors or not.  Then there's the question of
_how much_ dimorphism takes place (are male Simes, on the average,
larger than female Gens, or not?)"

        Simes are _thinner_ than Gens, but, especially in the
Householdings and later under the Tecton, average just as tall.  The
reason so many junct Simes never achieve the height they ought to is
plain and simple malnutrition.  Changeover occurs right at the
adolescent growth spurt, when humans grow several inches taller in a
couple of years.  Juncts tend not to eat properly at that time, and so
interfere with their natural growth.  Jean

>I suppose one could use the concept to refer to Sime/Gen dimorphism
>(where Simes have a different _shape_ than Gens), but I'm not sure that
>the ifferent sizes apply.
>Tony Z

JL here: Tony is correct, however Simes are SKINNY and Gens while not fat,
develope much more bulky musculature and carry more body fat.  Probably male
Gens carry more body fat than male Ancients but less than female Ancients.  I
really don't know - haven't found any Ancients alive to compare with.  Yet.
JL



Live Long and Prosper,

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Creator of the Sime~Gen Universe

Jacqueline writes, "Probably male Gens carry more body fat than male
Ancients"

        Not likely.  As Gens metabolize food like Ancients, but produce
selyn at the same time, they would have a higher metabolism and
therefore less body fat than Ancients.
        Having reduced my own body fat from over 30% to 23.5% in the past
four years through a regimen of diet and exercise, I also know that
before Unity Gens would have a lower percentage of body fat simply
because people have to _work_ so much harder in a non-technological
society.  Up until this century, laborers were able to eat huge meals,
thousands of calories, fat-laden meat, pies, cakes, etc., and only build
muscle because of the hours of hard work they did every day.  Now only
athletes and people who consciously work at exercise have that metabolic
rate, because machines do all the work for us.
        I know I appeared a hypocrite to some people at WorldCon, as I
was explaining my low-fat diet, and then we all went out to eat and I
ordered extra soup and dessert.  Well, A) I was on vacation, and B) my
basal metabolism is now over 1500 calories per day--I burn that much
sleeping!  And I don't sleep much.  But it took me four long, hard years
to reach this state, and the sad thing about it is that if I stop
exercising my metabolism will go back down again, although it takes six
months.
        Nevertheless, six months of inactivity can undo years and years
of hard work.  That's why high school athletes and cheerleaders graduate
and get that sudden weight gain when they take normal jobs and stop the
daily hard exercise.
        Our bodies were designed to be active.  Simes and Gens are our
descendents, so Gens, at least, should operate by essentially the same
biological rules.  More active than we are, on the average, _and_
producing extra energy in the form of selyn, they should have less body
fat than we do, not more.  Jean

Jean wrote:
        Simes are _thinner_ than Gens, but, especially in the
Householdings and later under the Tecton, average just as tall.  The
reason so many junct Simes never achieve the height they ought to is
plain and simple malnutrition.  Changeover occurs right at the
adolescent growth spurt, when humans grow several inches taller in a
couple of years.  Juncts tend not to eat properly at that time, and so
interfere with their natural growth.  Jean

JL: This is of course exactly correct.  At that point in history, the secret
of Sime nutritional "needs" is only barely suspected in some householdings.
Real data isn't available.

However, even later when these factors are taken care of, Simes still are
ectomorphic and carry a bare minimum of body-fat.  They don't develop muscle
bulk.  And of course, selective breeding for centuries creates certain
superficial resemblances among surviving sub-mutations.  This slight tendency
disappears as the Modern Tecton disjuncts the Territories and is utterly gone
by the time the Territory borders are dissolved (Mairis Farris's time).


Live Long and Prosper,

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Creator of the Sime~Gen Universe