At the same time when somebody says that there are biological differences, they don't necessarily mean that girls are less like to be very bright. It might also mean that girls might not have the same drive to succeed in their jobs or that their priorities are different, biologically different...
It seems, with more careful study, the differences are much less innate, and much more cultural. I see no benefit in ascribing a trait to gender difference. What does it help? The harm is obvious though. I'm not saying there are no individual differences - of course there are, but we need to probe them out, as opposed to limit them beforehand.
It helps with having realistic expectations. It seems almost impossible for example to have a family and to be a tenure-track professor.
As I said above I largely agree with you. I would definitely watch my language and encourage girls as much as possible. But I am not sure what I would do when they would actually have to choose careers and would ask for my opinion. Well, probably nobody will be asking for my opinion :)
It can be done if you're willing to put the baby up for "adoption" with the nanny :) In any case, who am I to limit my kid? I'm just the mother! You're probably right, our opinion will be about as welcome as a poopy diaper if we don't play our cards juuust right.
My other point, though, is that US culture is still firmly rooted in stereotype, so we need to be extra-vigilant. Deck is stacked. This is where people would say affirmative action is the way to go, but IMHO that just entrenches the stereotypes more in the neanderthals. It's a hard slog, and pretty much up to the family to try to reshuffle. Boy, that was a lot of metaphors!
that males are more often outliers - they more often score really horribly and at genius level than females, who tend to bunch their scores more. --------------- Isn't this precisely what Lawrence Summers said -- before loosing his presidency as a result?
That is indeed what he said, and was derided for it by many, who were then in turn derided as PC morons refusing to accept basic fact. Turns out he was wrong after all, and the PC morons were right :) Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day!
Mmm, not sure how he was "wrong". According to information leaked to the press, Summers listed 3 possible reasons for why there are more men than women in high-end science jobs: lack of a desire to stay longer at the job; "greater male variance" theory; outright sexual discrimination and social conditioning. He was only "wrong" in that he didn't predict that in 3 years a study would come out casting doubt on "greater male variance" theory.
p.s. also -- this is only one study. To be verified and confirmed by other studies. Also, I am curious to see some peer review -- from a first reading my impression is that it was not a blind analysis.
Yes, the second bit he turned out to be wrong about. The rest are indeed perfectly valid facts, this was theory. I wonder if he would have gotten kicked out if he skipped that bit. Probably yes. I still tend to think of knee-jerk PCers as morons. It's just a difference between born different and made different.
"Independent" is a party. It's different from "Unenrolled" which is what you register as if you want to vote in whichever primary you want in MA. If you're registered as "Independent" you can't vote in any primaries.
I don't like comparing siblings or children in general. Especially, telling the one that the other has better achievements or behavior. It sounds very unpolite to me. We don't say to adults things like this.
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At the same time when somebody says that there are biological differences, they don't necessarily mean that girls are less like to be very bright. It might also mean that girls might not have the same drive to succeed in their jobs or that their priorities are different, biologically different...
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As I said above I largely agree with you. I would definitely watch my language and encourage girls as much as possible. But I am not sure what I would do when they would actually have to choose careers and would ask for my opinion. Well, probably nobody will be asking for my opinion :)
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My other point, though, is that US culture is still firmly rooted in stereotype, so we need to be extra-vigilant. Deck is stacked. This is where people would say affirmative action is the way to go, but IMHO that just entrenches the stereotypes more in the neanderthals. It's a hard slog, and pretty much up to the family to try to reshuffle. Boy, that was a lot of metaphors!
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Isn't this precisely what Lawrence Summers said -- before loosing his presidency as a result?
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He was only "wrong" in that he didn't predict that in 3 years a study would come out casting doubt on "greater male variance" theory.
p.s. also -- this is only one study. To be verified and confirmed by other studies. Also, I am curious to see some peer review -- from a first reading my impression is that it was not a blind analysis.
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I think it's called "Independent." ;)
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