Talk:List of tallest people

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Bao Xishun

The wiki article of Bao Xishun ([[1]]) mentions his height to be 2.47 metres (8 ft 1 in). In "People that are tallest (6 ft 3 in and over)" it's said to be 2.36 m (7 ft 9 in). Both heights are mentioned in different sources on the Internet. Which one is correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mimimei (talk • contribs) 09:38, May 2, 2010 (UTC)

Missing heights

Ralph Sampson is not mentioned at all here, even though he was 7'4". Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol have different descriptions that mean the same thing, and it doesn't mention that Victor Wembanyama is the tallest French player despite saying so for other players. ILikeCalzones (talk) 05:21, 8 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done Please provide citations. Peaceray (talk) 20:31, 8 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria

How do we start to crate a standard for criteria for this list? There seems to be a lot of random basketball players added at the bottom in the 7'3" area. There exists a page for basketball players.Halbared (talk) 19:56, 13 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Edit warring

@Halbared, Justegypt, and PenultimateStride: please discuss the disputed changes on this talk page instead of edit warring and accusing others of vandalism. ObserveOwl (talk) 13:48, 16 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Justegypt

The source you provided (a newspaper) for Mohamed Shehata's height does not say that he is 251 cm tall. It instead says he is 248cm tall. You must provide substantial sources for the height you put him as (251). Otherwise, it is unverified and disputable. Please stop repeatedly editing the page unless you can properly source your claims. Mohamed Shehata claiming to be 251 cm tall is not a cite-worthy source. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 23:56, 16 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It has been more than 3 years since the article said that his height is 248 centimeters, and in a video with Joe Hattab about a year ago, Shehata explained that he has become much taller since the first video with Joe. He explained this in a shot when he straightened the fold of his jalabiya (the traditional Egyptian robe) to prove that he had become taller. He said that Guinness promised him that it would come back to measure him again, so his height probably exceeded that of Sultan al-Turki, and he is just waiting for this to be officially documented. I explained that His new height has not been officially recorded yet, so this cannot be called a (dispute) Justegypt (talk) 00:07, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

" I explained that His new height has not been officially recorded yet, so this cannot be called a (dispute)"

that is exactly why it can be called a dispute. He does not have a verified height measurement. Furthermore, in the video you provided, he does not appear 248/251cm tall to me. Unless there is an official, verified height measurement, his height is thus disputable and unverified. He can claim to be 3 cm taller from 3 years ago, but that is a claim, not necessarily fact.

Furthermore, in 2021 (the same year the article you are claiming as a source was published in), Guiness states that the combined height of Mohamed and his sister is 414.4cm. If he was truly 248 cm in 2021, that would mean that his sister is 166.4 cm tall, which is not possible. Thus, the claim of 248cm in the source you provided is extremely disputable and questionable. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 00:15, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is definitely a mistake from Guinness because logically if you distribute this measurement between the brother and sister each of them will be 200 cm and this is impossible and if you make one of them more than 200 cm the other will be less than 200 cm so this is most likely a mistake while writing the article and I will contact Guinness to correct it and as for his new height not being officially documented this is still not called a (dispute) and if your problem is really in not documenting his height officially why didn't you put it in pink? Why did you remove it completely? Shehata is in the right place and will not be remove Justegypt (talk) 00:24, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"This is definitely a mistake from Guinness"

No. Guinness is a very reputable source regarding height measurement and the world's tallest people. This is not a mistake. You are continuously re-editing the Wikipedia article with questionable claims and content with improper sourcing. I am removing it completely, because it belongs in a different section. The 'Men' and 'Women' section should be for verified claims, whereas claims like the Shehatas belong in the unverified and disputed section. When Guinness remeasures him, or Shehata provides proof of his height, then it is valid for him to be in that section. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 00:30, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You completely ignore (logic) in calculating the height of the brothers and say that Guinness is a reputable source as if I said otherwise. Just because Guinness is a reputable source does not necessarily mean that they cannot make mistakes while writing an article on their website. LOL It is illogical for the height of the brothers to be 414 cm. This is impossible. Didn't you watch Joe Hattab's video? If you remove it, I will restore it and I am ready to do this daily. Justegypt (talk) 00:34, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@ObserveOwl

What can I do about Justegypt's edits? He continuously adds unreputable claims to the main article and states that he will "remove" any changes to it and will do so daily. I am new to Wikipedia. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 00:40, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You are ignoring my response because you cannot find an argument to respond with, and this is why I will remove any modification you make to Shahata. Justegypt (talk) 00:49, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Just discuss with them until there's some sort of compromise. Constantly reverting each other's edits makes the page unstable.

@Justegypt: you have been warned against repeatedly reverting others' edits one, two, three times, and you appear not to stop: [2] [3] Even if you are right, do not continue reverting, just discuss here. If this persists, this issue might be taken to the admins' edit warring noticeboard. ObserveOwl (talk) 05:30, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand how I am supposed to find a compromise here - the user is making unsubstantiated and great claims like saying that a youtube video of a man self-proclaiming his own height is more trustworthy than Guinness (which is the top source for this subject matter). There's a section for this on the article for claims like these, but the user does not acknowledge my reasoning whatsoever. I find it hard to find compromise with someone who rejects the idea of compromise and refuses to hear out any other opinion. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 06:18, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You can request a third opinion. I could provide one, but I have been pretty busy in real life, and it would be helpful if you both provided links to the sources on this discussion. ObserveOwl (talk) 07:57, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

First, I added another source (a newspaper), so your statement that the only source is a YouTube video is a "lie." Second, I did not say that the Guinness Book of Records is an unreliable source, but rather I said that there is an error in their article on their website (the place where they said that the height of the two brothers is 414 cm is an "article" and not a record number on the records page, so I do not rule out the error). Logically, the height of the two brothers cannot be 414 cm. This is impossible, and you are ignoring this as well. Justegypt (talk) 11:34, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Once again, your source made a questionable and unproven claim of his height that can be disputed when referencing the official/verified measurement by Guinness. And yes, a YouTube video of someone claiming to be a certain height is not a citable source. Following that line of logic, what is to stop me from making a YouTube video of myself claiming to be 100 feet tall and putting myself on this list?

You did question the reliability of Guinness by saying that a YouTube video is more trustworthy than the official measurements of Guinness. You claim there to be an error with Guinness, but provide no proof of there being one. You state that a man self-proclaiming his and his sister's height is more reliable than the verified measurement of Guinness.

"Logically, the height of the two brothers cannot be 414 cm." Or perhaps, they are exaggerating their height for attention? Or for another reason? This has happened historically with people of significant stature, as you can see on the main article with other people. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 21:46, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Response to third opinion request:

Guinness is the most reliable source here, and we should default to its measurement (248 cm). A YouTube video is not a valid source for a record list—otherwise, anyone could claim a world record that way. As for the newspaper, I can't evaluate its reliability because you haven’t provided a link. If it’s a high-quality source, it might warrant a brief mention in the notes section, but it wouldn’t override Guinness. Please provide the full text you're trying to insert and a link so we can assess its credibility. Also, if you haven’t already, you might want to review Wikipedia’s policy on edit warring.
Manuductive (talk) 09:31, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The issue appears to be that Guiness does not provide his height, only the combined height of him and his sister. The newspaper source seems to be this one by Sada El-Balad, which claims the 248 cm measurement. ObserveOwl (talk) 10:15, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

My two cents is to include Shehata in the list at 248 with a note describing that there might be a dispute about it, that the height of him and his sister combined was recorded in Guinness at a combined 414.4 cm which is a discrepancy with the Sada El-Balad report, which I think puts them at a combined 488. Regarding Sada El-Balad--is the other editor contending that the media outlet itself is not generally reliable? Like I noted, there is a bit of discrepancy between the figures presented there versus the aggregate height presented in Guinness, but maybe they just grew after the Guinness measurements were taken. I posted a topic requesting comments at Reliable Source Noticeboard WP:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard#Sada_El-Balad_(صدى_البلد)_--_an_Egyptian_media_outlet Manuductive (talk) 12:55, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

After thinking about it more and reading @ActivelyDisinterested's comment at RSN[4] I am strongly inclined to change my vote to throwing out the Sada El-Balad source. If Guinness wasn't able to furnish a specific number, then there must be a reason. The source being in Egypt, the same nation as Mr. Shehata, whereas this a global list, seems to play against including it. Manuductive (talk) 14:13, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good piece of work.Halbared (talk) 15:25, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your input and response! DjangoLeFandango (talk) 16:35, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Muhammad Hussein Heikal

In the source provided for Muhammad Hussein Heikal where he is claimed to be 260cm tall, Heikal makes it clear that he does not believe in measuring one's height.

"A while ago, his name reappeared again after he refused to join the Guinness World Records as the third tallest man in the world, announcing that the reason for his refusal was that a man cannot be measured, and no matter what the status of any encyclopedia is, he refuses this matter.

Furthermore, with Heikal being 71, it is unreasonable to think that he could have grown since 2004, as his height was claimed to be 218.4 cm or 230 cm then. I believe that he should be moved to the 'Disputed and unverified claims' section for this reason. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 00:04, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Justegypt

Can you please provide another source for Heikal's claim of being 260 centimeters tall? One newspaper is not enough to list him as the tallest person in the world, especially considering his listed height has varied considerably over the past 20+ years. It is extremely, extremely unlikely a man in his 70s grew 30+ centimeters in the past 20 years. DjangoLeFandango (talk) 21:48, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

lol Justegypt (talk) 20:13, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@ObserveOwl @Manuductive

I hate to engage in reverting his editing again, because I don't want to get into trouble for edit warring, but this user is not engaging in any dialogue about Heikal's inclusion on the list. Heikal's height is illogical (because it implies that he grew 20+ centimeters from age 50 to 71) and any time I try to remove him off this list, JustEgypt reverts it. Do I bring in a third opinion again? DjangoLeFandango (talk) 22:01, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Third opinion is requested when the two parties have already discussed extensively enough about the issue. On this section, there hasn't been much discussion, so a request now may be premature. However, Manuductive or any other editor is welcome to provide input, of course.

I recommend reading Wikipedia:Responding to a failure to discuss. ObserveOwl (talk) 22:10, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I did reach out to an admin, Peaceray, but have not received a response.Halbared (talk) 22:20, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Halbared,
It looks like @ObserveOwl started a case at ANI[5]. Manuductive (talk) 23:49, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(I pinged Halbared on AN3 using {{silent ping}}.) ObserveOwl (talk) 23:58, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]