Dispute over body weight
presents issue to take sides on

Assignment: Memphis, by Lydel Sims
Editor’s note:  Lydel Sims wrote an amusing column in the Memphis paper for many years, and once featured this interview with my Dad, a good example of his wit and wisdom

“It’s amazing,” the man told me, “what a group of retired men will argue about.”

I don’t know about that.  Some people might think amazing means foolish or frivolous -- even scandalous. But what this fellow and his friends had been arguing about wasn’t any of those things.  Deep is more like it.

“We were discussing,” he explained, “which side of the human body weighs the most.”

Before you snort, try answering the question. Which side, in fact, does weigh more?  The right, or the left? And how do you know the answer isn’t significant?  Did you take quarks seriously before the scientists started poking around amongst them?

All right, then.

Eager to get to the bottom (the side?) of the matter, I called the office of Dr. E. William Rosenberg, acting dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences.

He was at a meeting, but I left the message.  Later, his office called back.

Dean Rosenberg wasn’t sure, but he thought perhaps the right side weighed more in the case of a right-handed person, and vice versa, of course, for southpaws. He hadn’t commented on ambidexterity.  But then I hadn’t asked. And he suggested that I consult Dr. Harry Wilcox, who, as they say at medical college, is in anatomy.

“I don’t know if anybody ever split anybody down the middle to find out,” Dr. Wilcox confessed when I posed the question.  I said yes, but did he have an opinion?  Would the right side of a right-hander weigh more?

At this point the professor introduced a new element into the equation: compensation.

The upper half of a right-hander might well weigh more, Dr. Wilcox conceded, but one must consider the lower area of the body as well.  Would there not be a compensatory shift of the center of gravity down there to keep the individual from listing rightward?  Would that perhaps not result in additional weight in the lower left portion, thereby balancing the scales?

Would he say, then, that each side weighed the same?

Not necessarily.  One side or the other probably weighs just a little bit more, for one reason or another, but it is doubtful that there is any identifiable consistency in the fluctuations.
That left us both pondering.

Then, I asked, didn’t the continuing mystery arouse his curiosity?  Would he be prepared to perform experiments to find an answer?

“Sure,” he said cheerfully.  “If there are any volunteers.”

It was a statement of fact, but it almost sounded like a question.  Nay, even an invitation.  I thanked him somewhat nervously and said goodbye.  It may well be that, important as they are, some questions are best left for speculation and debate.

Copyright, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, July 21, 1977. Used with permission.
(http://www.commercialappeal.com)

Celebrating the life of Dr. Wilcox:

• His obituary
• Article by Dr. Neumann and Dr. Eng

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 18:1, February 2010. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.