Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Comments
The problem with gender based evolutionary psychology is that the findings are often used inappropriately to explain away sexism. That's by far the larger problem. For example it is quite possible that there are gender differences that draw one sex towards STEM professions and the other to more people oriented professions but it is undeniable that there is sexism in the work place in science and tech that drives women away. We need to move towards removing that sexism as much and fast as is possible. I have no problem with discussing sex based differences as an intellectual pursuit but as a matter of public policy the best approach is to start with the assumption that the brain is an evolutionary blank slate and to work to create an open and safe work environment for any gender. That's why there's some push back to the findings in evolutionary psychology from progressives.
by ocean-kat on Sat, 12/01/2018 - 11:41pm
The brain is not an evolutionary blank slate - the brain is an evolutionarily evolved slate. A human brain's set of initial post-birth or in-utero responses are different than a monkey's or pig's or whale's or hyena's or rabbit's. From the moment (or perhaps immediately prior through some mechanism) when sex differentiation is made, brain & body functions will also be different. How much difference in which ways is a matter of observation & testing to determine, taking into account social & environmental factors to not misidentify those factors for physical/genetic. That these interactions between the 3 (or more) are quite complex shouldn't be waved away, but yes, we see studies of twins that show in separated twins in different environments lots of similarities *over certain periods*, and then seemingly some breaks in similarities in other times/conditions. Likewise, male & female development, perception, preferences are developed through much more than sheer social conditioning. We can see some of this in population statistics & probability - not 100%, but strong enough correlations to draw some conclusions (which will need to be revisited as we get more data from more diverse populations, find new theories & evidence over time, etc.)
That we recognize more and more the great deal of sexual harassment & unequal treatment of women doesn't mean we can't also simultaneously examine scientific differences between the sexes (including greater examination and appreciation of the spectrum between sexes that underlines more & more LGBT awareness, while not exaggerating this data due to the "availability conundrum" found in new trends).
There are certainly differences that *statistically speaking* draw one sex more frequently towards Engineering & Technology than the other sex. The lumping together of different fields under STEM is unfortunate, as women are quite drawn to many kinds of Science as well as Mathematics. Even 35 years ago, women were also frequently going into database fields, while less drawn to general programming, hacking, graphics, networking, mainframe or mobile development, et al., though use of computer technology such as with office productivity, project, marketing or design & multimedia software was not any kind of barrier. There *have been* discovered certain social factors that influenced this to some degree, as in the likelihood that 11-year-old boys would get a PC for Xmas while a similar-aged girl would receive something less technical, but a) this will likely not come close to explaining all the difference, and b) some provided girls with plenty of technological equipment without it increase their affinity to these fields/hobbies/activities.
by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 12/02/2018 - 7:19am