Are Females Smarter Than Males?

[...Kate]

Starboy, consider the implications of my statement another way.

Yes, women are different from men
And yes, men are different from other men,
and yes, people are different from other people.

and the point is ....

er, what's the goal? What's the plan?

Gotta playbook?

(What football game are you watching today? It's NFL today ... Indianpolis at Denver because Peyton Manning plays on that team ... and he is a god!!)

[Starboy]

The goal is for us to get on with life the best we can. But for me honesty is the best policy.

Starboy

[...Kate]

Well, my goal is to get and keep *your* job. LOL

Have you run across any studies that discuss the prescription drug use of the depressed full time housewives from the 60s,70s? I've anecdotally known a couple of them, and wonder how things would have been different for them if they had the opportunities I have had.

And, ... I spoke the truth when I said Peyton Manning *is* a god. The game starts about 2:15 p.m. est on CBS... take a look and see if you agree.

[Starboy]

Is there another football game? Isn't one a year enough?

Starboy

[Starboy]

Quote by: ...Kate Well, my goal is to get and keep *your* job. LOL

Your welcome to it. I'm pretty sure I can get another. But I am not sure you would actually like the job, but the pay is pretty good.

Starboy

[...Kate]

My husband said the same thing, almost exactly. Is that a function of your *jobs* or your shared *sex* characteristics? ;-)

[Chris]

Interesting topic for discussion, but I wouldn't worry about it myself. Men and women both have two HUGE groups of stupid people. on the one hand you have the Paris Hiltons, Ashlee Simpsons etc etc and onthe other hand you get the beefkake muscleheadz -both groups with very smooth brains.

I would say it is about even. (no I haven't read the thread) if you look at MENSA there will be about an equal amount of men as would be women.

I don't claim to be smart. I know there are MIT professors smarter than me. (is that the proper grammar?) And I also know that there is a lot of stupidity out there -at least in America. With mediums like MTV contributing greatly to the dumbing down of America its no wonder.

[Starboy]

Is that a function of your *jobs* or your shared *sex* characteristics? ;-)

I don't think so. There are some very brilliant females out there working in very much the same capacity. The interesting thing about evolution is that the selection occurs individual by individual but the traits selected for are then part of the species. Also the women of our species have more to do with selection than they think. After all for the most part it is the woman that chooses whom they will have sex with. They select the male traits that they find worthy of combining with their own genes (for most women it is done at an unconscious level). Now you may say that horny, aggressive, vain, dominating men trick or force women into having their babies. And sure, that can explain a lot. But for some time now most women have not conceived by rape. If you are looking for a culprit for the mess women find themselves in then women must accept their fair share of the blame. The men that women pick to father their babies then grow up to be like the men they chose to father their babies. Men are what women want. Stop complaining.

Starboy

[...Kate]

HI, Chris, ... thank you.

Good analysis, Starboy, ... until you threw in the slammer close

I refuse to say "not" to your ad homs, btw. I will say, afirmatively, that I love PeeWee's Big Adventure ... one of PeeWee's best lines ... "I know you are but what am I?"

[Starboy]

Kate you might want to add to your research list an author named Desmond Morris. He is a zoologist that includes humans among the animals he studies. There are three video/books that are very interesting. They are "The Naked Ape", "The Human Animal" and the "The Human Sexes". He has just written a new one that I am on the list to receive when it’s published called "The Naked Woman". I expect it to be very interesting.

Starboy

[Starboy]

Quote by: ...Kate I refuse to say "not" to your ad homs, btw. I will say, afirmatively, that I love PeeWee's Big Adventure ... one of PeeWee's best lines ... "I know you are but what am I?"

You are assuming that men are as picky as women. For a woman to have sex with a man is easy, just show up, but for a man to have sex with a woman is a whole different story. Sorry, woman have what they want.

Starboy

[Starboy]

For women to complain about the traits of men would be like a female peacock complaining at how the male peacocks do strut and are so vain with their huge showy feather displays but then they go and choose to have baby peacocks with the male with the biggest, most strutting and showing display that they can find. Sorry, do not blame us for what we are. Women have more control over men than they think. We are the way we are because that is the way the women like it.

Starboy

[...Kate]

Actually, the word "complain" is generally not part of my social vocabulary. I choose *not* to use it to describe my own words or anyone else's. I, however, see it as a member of a class, ... of words that are used to minimize the thought behind a rational and supported statement.

I really like words, and I understand their power. That's one of the reasons I talk on a message board.

-Kate

[Starboy]

Fine then oh great and wise user of the word. What word would you use to describe your statements of disaffection for male behavior?

For me words are just metaphors that we use to communicate. The words exist because they are metaphors for what we have thought, felt or experienced. You may not like it, but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and a subtle but present disaffection for certain male traits is still a complaint.

Starboy

[...Kate]

I was discussing the thread topic, "are females smarter than males" which morphed into sub topics like "what differences exist" and "what differences don't"

Have you read George Lakoff ... in "Don't think of an elephant" (I understand) he discusses how the conservative politicians and their handlers have consciously wielded language to achieve very clear objectives, one of which is to marginalize liberal thinking and ideology. Lakof (I understand) asserts that "liberals" should take back the language, rewield it, so the language of the exchange will allow for some change, allow the pendulum to swing away from the ultra-conservative place we have found ourselves in.

I need to read the book so I can discuss it better. But the idea is similar on the male/female word choice ... treating an idea seriously ... I've actually spent some time considering whether to post on message boards as an androgynous person, just because that aspect of the exchange disappears (the potential for the attitude that a "male" poster might think, and might express, "you're a woman, so you would say that" or "because you are a woman, you say that with this attitude").

When I play an internet game on yahoo, I do use androgynous handles and use a "dog" icon (instead of a cat or a woman) ... at first because of the Obnoxious treatment my female persona got in the backgammon room, and then later, just because of the freedom it gives. I've never played as a man, because that would be "dishonest" ... and I kinda like being a woman, as it turns out, and being a "dog" gives me the "choice."

In this context, though, people get to know each other fairly well, and it makes less sense to play the "Pat" card (you know the reference, to Saturday Night Live?)

[Melvyn]

The question does offer some subquestions which I think are revealing in themselves. Are some females smarter than all males? Are some females smarter than some males? Is the average female smarter than the average male? These questions could be asked bought muscular strength. Our perception is that female are not as strong as males. Yet, it is clear that many females are stronger than many males. Therefore, is the question worth pondering? Is it worth pondering whether females are smarter or males are smarter. I think not. With a very few exceptions at least some females have successfully pursued nearly all human activities. Life expectancy shows they are biologically stronger. What else needs be said? If we men will stop playing superior, perhaps we might get women to treat us better.


Melvyn - Blogging at http://radio.weblogs.com/0137954/

[BloodEagle]

Melvyn,

I am sad to say that in my experience that is an unlikely event. I think both sexes though would arguethey should be treated better by their opposite.

[Logjam]

People who test such things will tell you that men and women are equally smart.....or dumb, depending on whether the glass is half full or half empty.

But I think that women do have unique mental talents.....we all know their other talents......

Women, I believe have much better intuition than do men. The talent even had a name: "female intuition". Women seem to know better what people are communicating by their body language, or looks; or a tiny hint of a smile, etc.

How many times, men; have you been at a party and your date says to you, "Did you see that!?"

"What?" You'll respond.

"Didn't you see how Gloria looked at Tom?"

"Whadya mean? She's just talking to the guy!"

"She's hot of the guy! I've got to tell so in so."

Then she'll turn to you and give you a little lecture: "You guys are all idiots! You have no idea what's going on!" And she'll be right.

You put a group of women together and tape their conversation they'll be saying, "he said that she said that she said and we said, etc, etc".. They will be talking about people interacting.

If you tape a bunch of men you'll likely here, "I just bought a neat chevy with a 357 that'll do 130 in the quarter mile. Another guy will discuss his latest video project, or his new job. In other words men talk about their actions. Interpersonal stuff is pretty much a mystery to men.

Now, I am generalizing here, and that's always dangerous as you can always find an exception. But I still stand by my thesis. Which is, women are better at understanding interpersonal communication than are men.

[DoloresIbarruri]

Quote by: fedfem http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3112536.stm Here is an interesting article on a recent study. The responses and reasoning by some of the males are funny. I personally feel that it indicates an approach to equality of the sexes. A point made was that men are doing well in roles normally seen as female. What do you think?

This is a very interesting article. I wanted to make a comment regarding careers and women.

Things are very different in the two countries I live in. Spain has more female doctors than male doctors, and more female attorneys than male attorneys. Not the case in the U.S. at all, where males dominate medicine and law (two high paying professions), and yet if you ask people which country they would imagine to be more current in terms of gender equality, I'll bet most people would say the U.S., when that's clearly not the case.

In any case, I think women and men are capable of doing jobs just as well, but each brings unique talents to the table. (As a whole, that is. There are, of course, the exceptions to the rule). For example, I've know that the men I've been married to or lived with, tended to be far more experimental and want to try new things more than I. They'd get bored more easily doing the same thing daily, and seek interesting and new things.

I am more a creature of habit (and maybe women as a whole are as well?), and easily satisfied and entertained without having to try new things constantly. :)

As a result, I learn a great deal with guys, and with them, I live life to the fullest. With me, I think they learned to feel an internal peace and satisfaction they might not have learned by themselves. Different, but both important and equal.

[Logjam]

Quote by: DoloresIbarruri In any case, I think women and men are capable of doing jobs just as well, but each brings unique talents to the table. (As a whole, that is. There are, of course, the exceptions to the rule). For example, I've know that the men I've been married to or lived with, tended to be far more experimental and want to try new things more than I. They'd get bored more easily doing the same thing daily, and seek interesting and new things.

I'm a huge fan of women. But, as I've said earlier in these posts, I'm more enamored by women of my generation, than I am in modern women. I'm from the same generation that your father came from.

I enjoy being with women. I like man stuff too, having spend 30 years in the military, but with men I'm in a competitive mind set, and with women I'm in a nurturing one.

I was a high school teacher for years. I found men and women to have about equal ability. I do think women consentrate better/longer than do most men. Also, women tend to take instruction better. But their similarities greatly over shadowed their differences.

I was also an Army drill sergeant. I'd sometime work with a female platoon and then switch to a male one. They were VERY different.

In general women, in the army, were miserable, they just hated it. They didn't like the baggy uniforms or the field work. They wanted to put on makeup. They didn't like pitching granades or hand to hand combat. They weren't wild about sleeping in the bush. We had a hard time keeping the girls happy. When you entered their classroom they all had very long faces, and they seldom laughted or smiled.

However, they did study hard and in classwork they tended to do better than the men. They marched better (generally). They also shot rifles well, often times the high score shooter was a women. They took instruction measurably better than did the men. But we could not load them up with weight and send them on a forced march without putting them in extreme physical danger. Women don't process heat as well as men do. Women don't sweat nearly as much as do men. That makes a huge difference when you are pushing folks to the limit in hot weather. Women, however; were better at first aid.

Men, on the other hand, loved the military stuff. They liked the down and dirty grunt work. They got a kick out of pitching granades, shooting morters and machine guns. They looked forward to getting muddy and loved sleeping in the field. They shot well enough, some very well, and they made some effort in the classrooms, but they generally disliked classroom work. Men did learn to march, eventually.

In short, women were lousy grunt soldiers, but they made great nurses, classroom instructors and in some cases, technicians. But if you load a women up with a heavy load and send them out on a forced march some will die. Heat stroke. I had one girl die in my arms. Course you can lose some men too, but women fell out much faster and more of them were effected.

Since Basic Training was very scheduled and you knew exactly what people were doing all the time and each trooper did exactly the same thing, and you watched them constantly; you developed some good insight into the differences between men and women. They are different.

You know what our biggest problem was?.....We couldn't keep them from falling in love.