what if someone is filthy rich? what if someone could afford to take 100'000 and burn them? should he stay short?
Then the risk/reward calculations change. There's a big difference between an established man dropping money he can easily afford, to a young guy doing it.
The first $100,00 or so is the hardest to make. You've got to grind for it. In my case it took about 8 years of work. Sure, in that time I traveled the world and dropped some money on things I didn't need, but overall I was pretty diligent with saving - and it still took me 8 years. Once you've got some capital, it gets so much easier after that. To me, LL is putting the average young guy, when you include recovery time almost 10 years behind financially. That's huge. When I was in my teens I would have said money doesn't matter - but money is power ... it's freedom. It matters.
It's a different story for someone who already has millions. For me, it's then still not worth it. I'm a "pro" athlete according to this website [not really, but the standards of what's a decent athletic recovery here are very, very low). So in my mind it wouldn't be worth it for an active person that's rich anyway - but it's nowhere near as bad as a young guy doing it.
In terms of money, strength, and time, I think LL is a good deal.
I can't think of a better way to spend $40k (25k for the surgery and accommodations, another 15k for plane tickets, scar removal, and misc stuff) than to go from being short to average in society, from feeling inferior to feeling comfortable in my own skin. I proved wrong anyone who says you can't buy happiness; LL bought quite a lot for me. I'm very happy with the return on my investment. What's the point of having money in the first place if not to buy the things you want in life?
I'm pretty much as strong as I was before the surgery. I can leg press as much as I could before, sprint as fast as before, and walk as long as before. My long-distance running endurance is the only physical attribute that really took much of a hit.
Although it was rough at the time due to being virtually immobile and in pain the whole time, I look back on my trip to Beijing fondly. I met some cool people there who I had a lot in common with, both Chinese and foreign, and I enjoyed my 5-month vacation from my life and all its responsibilities and cares. The cultural experience of living in a humble Chinese LL hospital is very different from anything you'd get as a tourist. It wasn't wasted time.
I'm glad you're happy with it. You preempted my reply, which would have been that you could have had a better experience by going to China as an English teacher for 6 months. I don't doubt that you took something meaningful away from it ... But I do think the same thing could have been achieved without all the negatives of LL.
If 40k was worth it for you, again great. Were you in good shape financially before LL? And re: recovery ... the only recovery I've seen that seems decent is ShyShy. No offence, but if you were really, really weak and slow before doing LL, I suppose it's possible to be just as weak and slow when you finish it. How much are you squatting? How fast can you run 100m?
That sounds reasonable, the follow up to that question is. If shorter guys are becoming average height and above what are your thoughts on naturally taller guys losing the height advantage they have in career, dating etc?
No different to how I feel about guys around me making more money, being buffer, being more charismatic, better looking, having bigger dcks, having better connections/education/more prestigious jobs. It's just reality.
If there was a pill to make you taller, I'd list it with the above traits. But I think LL is easily a net loss to most people - a net loss for people that are already vulnerable and can't afford it. Which makes me feel kind of sad.