Going off topic
So today in Econometrics our prof informed us that she was terribly upset with how far behind schedule she had let us get, so we were going to rush through chapter 5. We started the class learning about how when the sample size is large enough even samples and variables that are not normally distributed begin to act as though they are normally distributed. Wages, for example, are not normally distributed. PC ownership is not normally distributed. Then someone asked births of males or females; this is definitely not normally distributed, but it resulted in a very long animated talk about how many boys are born versus how many girls are born. Our professor has apparently spent some time studying birth rates, because she had a lot to say and for the most part it was extremely interesting.
A couple of times she paused and said “What am I saying?” and seemed to think about going back to large sample econometric models, but she would change her mind and go on about gender birth rates instead. I think perhaps she enjoyed talking about something that we could follow, instead of having half of the class stare at her blankly. I certainly wasn't going to complain, and gender birth rates allowed for more of the entertaining antics that made me enjoy the labor econ class that i took from the same woman.
We had boy sperm and girl sperm drawn on the board at one point. Boy sperm are the sprinters while girl sperm are the marathon runners, bringing along picnic lunches and provisions. (Even as sperm we like to take stuff with us!)
Apparently boys are “very fragile” (her words not mine) and they tend to die off in less than perfect conditions, so more boys are generally born to healthy younger women and more girls are born to older and less healthy women. Boys are also born a little more often than girls because they are more likely to die at young ages so it evens out by about age 18, again boys are “fragile.” However, girls are born more often in tougher living conditions. So boys are fragile and girls are tough.
Isn’t it nice to know that you are tough?
A couple of times she paused and said “What am I saying?” and seemed to think about going back to large sample econometric models, but she would change her mind and go on about gender birth rates instead. I think perhaps she enjoyed talking about something that we could follow, instead of having half of the class stare at her blankly. I certainly wasn't going to complain, and gender birth rates allowed for more of the entertaining antics that made me enjoy the labor econ class that i took from the same woman.
We had boy sperm and girl sperm drawn on the board at one point. Boy sperm are the sprinters while girl sperm are the marathon runners, bringing along picnic lunches and provisions. (Even as sperm we like to take stuff with us!)
Apparently boys are “very fragile” (her words not mine) and they tend to die off in less than perfect conditions, so more boys are generally born to healthy younger women and more girls are born to older and less healthy women. Boys are also born a little more often than girls because they are more likely to die at young ages so it evens out by about age 18, again boys are “fragile.” However, girls are born more often in tougher living conditions. So boys are fragile and girls are tough.
Isn’t it nice to know that you are tough?