Why I don't think there's a genetic "high tail" of smart men
This is an attempt to explain why I've mostly ignored all David Friedman's (and Larry Summer's) arguments/claims that the reason there are more very-high level male scientists and engineers is that, while genetic/innate average intelligence does not differ between the sexes, the standard deviation of (genetic/innate) intelligence does differ, so that there are more very, very intelligent men than women (as well as more very, very unintelligent men). So the same average intelligence is the result of more "low tail" and "high tail" males, with females' abilities more centred around the average.
I have to say: it was pretty much an immediate gut instinct, and I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to drag out all the scientific knowledge and what I can only call, at this point in my life, intuitive evol-biol world view (which I'll note I spent a lot of time working on, and I am still fascinated by how long it took, how differently certain parts of the world look from that world view, and yet what a useful world view it is) - into something I can maybe explain in words to other people.
Note: I am quite happy to engage in intelligent, thoughtful discussion about this issue - it is, after all, possible I've overlooked something, and I welcome outside input. I am however not willing to engage in that discussion on rasfm, because I don't think David Friedman (or Gerry Quinn, or ...) are able to engage in anything other than aggressive attacks and trivial nit-picking, and I also don't think they're able to comprehend that I do, really truly, know more evolutionary biology and genetics than they do, and simply being a reasonably-well read amateur who admires his* own intellectual prowess is not enough to participate in the discussion on the terms they wish to.
I therefore reserve the right to screen anonymous comments and delete any comments that in my opinion harm the discussion I'd like to have. If this bothers you, tough. Find somewhere else to discuss it, or talk it over with someone else until you or they find a way to explain the point in a reasonable manner. If you don't have an LJ account, you're of course welcome to leave anonymous comments, but please sign your comments - I think this is to your benefit as much as mine.
I think most of the other interested participants on rasfm are already on my LJ flist, but feel free to point anyone I've missed over here. I also don't know how many people may be lurking on the argument there, but would be interested in participating in a more reasoned exploration of the question - again, feel free to point them over here.
Actually, now I've written all that, and that's before I've even got close to anything substantive, I think I might make it a series of posts. I'll tag them all "hightail" so you can follow. They will all, somehow, be about the issue in that first paragraph up there, although I don't promise that will always be obvious. If anyone raises interesting points or gets into good discussion in older posts, I'll make try to make notes in new posts, to reduce LJ's limitations as a USENET simulator.
So yes, I've decided that my time is better spent teaching y'all genetics and evolution, than rasfc/rasfm :-).
ETA * I was going to use gender-neutral language, but there doesn't seem much point based on my life experience. If your life experience includes women like this, replace the "his" with "zir" or "eir".
I have to say: it was pretty much an immediate gut instinct, and I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to drag out all the scientific knowledge and what I can only call, at this point in my life, intuitive evol-biol world view (which I'll note I spent a lot of time working on, and I am still fascinated by how long it took, how differently certain parts of the world look from that world view, and yet what a useful world view it is) - into something I can maybe explain in words to other people.
Note: I am quite happy to engage in intelligent, thoughtful discussion about this issue - it is, after all, possible I've overlooked something, and I welcome outside input. I am however not willing to engage in that discussion on rasfm, because I don't think David Friedman (or Gerry Quinn, or ...) are able to engage in anything other than aggressive attacks and trivial nit-picking, and I also don't think they're able to comprehend that I do, really truly, know more evolutionary biology and genetics than they do, and simply being a reasonably-well read amateur who admires his* own intellectual prowess is not enough to participate in the discussion on the terms they wish to.
I therefore reserve the right to screen anonymous comments and delete any comments that in my opinion harm the discussion I'd like to have. If this bothers you, tough. Find somewhere else to discuss it, or talk it over with someone else until you or they find a way to explain the point in a reasonable manner. If you don't have an LJ account, you're of course welcome to leave anonymous comments, but please sign your comments - I think this is to your benefit as much as mine.
I think most of the other interested participants on rasfm are already on my LJ flist, but feel free to point anyone I've missed over here. I also don't know how many people may be lurking on the argument there, but would be interested in participating in a more reasoned exploration of the question - again, feel free to point them over here.
Actually, now I've written all that, and that's before I've even got close to anything substantive, I think I might make it a series of posts. I'll tag them all "hightail" so you can follow. They will all, somehow, be about the issue in that first paragraph up there, although I don't promise that will always be obvious. If anyone raises interesting points or gets into good discussion in older posts, I'll make try to make notes in new posts, to reduce LJ's limitations as a USENET simulator.
So yes, I've decided that my time is better spent teaching y'all genetics and evolution, than rasfc/rasfm :-).
ETA * I was going to use gender-neutral language, but there doesn't seem much point based on my life experience. If your life experience includes women like this, replace the "his" with "zir" or "eir".