PARABLE OF THE PEAR …..or IF PEARS COULD SKI

The Core Concepts Manual unflatteringly likens our bodies to the shape of a pear. YUP! The female body tends to be like a pear with the stem up. The male body has the stem down…or rather the pear is upside down. Whether the pear is right side up or upside down the center of its mass is in the same place. [X marks the spot!] How far that center of mass is from the floor, table or slope depends on whether it is a boy pear or girl pear. The center of mass in this male pear [right picture] is 18% higher than on the female pear [left picture]. Therefore, if pears could ski, this female pear would have less leverage at the fulcrum point [where feet connect to ski] to pressure the front of a ski due to her CM being lower and closer to the fulcrum. Conversely, our male pear with the higher CM can bring greater pressure from the fulcrum to the front of the ski because his CM is further from the fulcrum. Just like the ol’ playground teeter-totter. The farther away a rider is from the fulcrum of the teeter- totter the more leverage the rider has. Conclusion: The lower CM compared to the higher CM has a harder time bringing pressure on the front of the ski making it thus harder to turn. So much for pears skiing!