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Notes -
I think height is one of the factors in how we define status: generally taller people are seen as more physically attractive, and physical attractiveness is pretty strongly linked to "moral status". In a world in which height wasn't used to judge people, the entire David-vs-Goliath story is just two dudes deciding to fight and one of them winning: the story depends on the underlying assumption that of course the taller guy was going to win and the smaller guy was the literal underdog. Plenty of historically examples of tall (presumably attractive) guys ending up in leadership positions, although not exclusively so, exist.
That said, overall physical attractiveness is, like intelligence, rather multifaceted and hard to measure on a singular scale. But measuring physical attractiveness is pretty controversial too: "Hot or Not" was always a controversial site (and quite a long time ago now, launching in 2000), and making lists of "hottest" people is déclasé, especially lists of non-public-figures.
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