11 ms·

Great article and hits on what I think is the main difference between men and women: men seem to be far more likely to become obsessive and devote massive amoun

by xienze 9y ago

Great article and hits on what I think is the main difference between men and women: men seem to be far more likely to become obsessive and devote massive amounts of time to hobbies and study. I mean if you're not popular and girls aren't interested in you, what else are you going to do? And spending years being obsessed with computers is naturally going to lead you down a path towards a degree and job in computers, hence more men in computing (as an example).

dogma1138 9y ago
I'm not sure being unpopular or not being the object of attention for girls has anything to do with this. Hobbies on the other hand was a pretty good spot. Nearly every male I know has hobbies that are either directly related to tech or engineering or of not are mechanical engineering or crafting related (e.g. metal working, cars etc.). I know on a very personal level 6 females in tech, including my current partner the most "engineering" related hobby I can think of any of them doing is building Legos. I know this could be anecdotal but I don't think I can name a single female I know that would actually sacrifice a weekend to on a technical side project.
- xienze 9y ago
  > I'm not sure being unpopular or not being the object of attention for girls has anything to do with this. Sure it does. I know if I was popular in school I wouldn't have spent so many Friday nights locked away programming and subsequently honing my craft.
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    I managed both.
    - ergo14 9y ago
      We believe you wink.
- tptacek 9y ago
  A. I can name several of them in my subfield. B. The leap you and McArdle make from nerding out on weekends to career excellence is nowhere evident in practice. C. That's a pretty offensive generalization you're making, and you'd have been better off without your last sentence.
- _pferreir_ 9y ago
  Not sure why this guy is being downvoted. It's a valid description of what seems to be his own personal experience.
- Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
  You really don't know any women that do the traditionally more feminine crafts like sewing? If metal working is related to an engineering hobby, then sewing most definitely is as well. Having experience in both, the parallels are uncanny; they both require designing a project, procuring materials, preparing those materials and the machines for the required operations, performing the tasks skillfully, and iterating to improve as you do more projects. This seems like it could be a case where the feminine version of what is being considered has a tendency to be dismissed. I have no issue with considering that this may be more prevalent in one sex or the other, but there's also a lot of room for people to overlook what does occur. Cooking is a good example of something that is highly technical and often requires a great investment of personal time, yet appears to have much better gender equality. Perhaps this is due to traditional cultural reasons, or perhaps it really is distinct from e.g. programming.
Boothroid 9y ago
I was very popular with girls for about 2 years between 14-16, but was still hugely geeky. The idea that there are lonely men out there that think 'I can't get girls, I'll become a geek instead!' Laughable.
- fiblye 9y ago
  And then you became unpopular with girls suddenly? Because you became more or less geeky, or what? And what does being "very popular" at 14 have to do with adults being lonely? I have no clue what your intention was with that post.
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    I think I became uglier as I grew up. My point was that my popularity with girls was independent of my geekiness. They fancied me in spite of my geekiness because I was beautiful (for about 2 years, I lament their loss). Not getting girls didn't make me any more or less geeky, just less happy.
rabboRubble 9y ago
Wow. Apparently my grandmother's lifetime of quilt making, she made 1 for each of her children and grandchildren, doesn't count as a hobby. Each quilt taking 1 to 2 years to complete. Only her husband's shop work and his steam engine restoration efforts were as a hobby. Everything she did was merely... a what? What is the appropriate word for what she did?
needlessly2 9y ago
i've always noticed that there are more loner guys than loner girls.
nikdaheratik 9y ago
I don't think that really meshes with the early history of computing which had a much higher proportion of women but also required alot of dedication and an obsessive attention to detail to get it to do anything. Her point about the culture around alot of tech and SW development making it less appealing for women (and probably some kinds of men) was pretty insightful though.

by xienze 9y ago

dogma1138 9y ago

I'm not sure being unpopular or not being the object of attention for girls has anything to do with this. Hobbies on the other hand was a pretty good spot. Nearly every male I know has hobbies that are either directly related to tech or engineering or of not are mechanical engineering or crafting related (e.g. metal working, cars etc.). I know on a very personal level 6 females in tech, including my current partner the most "engineering" related hobby I can think of any of them doing is building Legos. I know this could be anecdotal but I don't think I can name a single female I know that would actually sacrifice a weekend to on a technical side project.

xienze 9y ago
> I'm not sure being unpopular or not being the object of attention for girls has anything to do with this. Sure it does. I know if I was popular in school I wouldn't have spent so many Friday nights locked away programming and subsequently honing my craft.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  I managed both.
  - ergo14 9y ago
    We believe you wink.
tptacek 9y ago
A. I can name several of them in my subfield. B. The leap you and McArdle make from nerding out on weekends to career excellence is nowhere evident in practice. C. That's a pretty offensive generalization you're making, and you'd have been better off without your last sentence.
_pferreir_ 9y ago
Not sure why this guy is being downvoted. It's a valid description of what seems to be his own personal experience.
Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
You really don't know any women that do the traditionally more feminine crafts like sewing? If metal working is related to an engineering hobby, then sewing most definitely is as well. Having experience in both, the parallels are uncanny; they both require designing a project, procuring materials, preparing those materials and the machines for the required operations, performing the tasks skillfully, and iterating to improve as you do more projects. This seems like it could be a case where the feminine version of what is being considered has a tendency to be dismissed. I have no issue with considering that this may be more prevalent in one sex or the other, but there's also a lot of room for people to overlook what does occur. Cooking is a good example of something that is highly technical and often requires a great investment of personal time, yet appears to have much better gender equality. Perhaps this is due to traditional cultural reasons, or perhaps it really is distinct from e.g. programming.

Boothroid 9y ago

I was very popular with girls for about 2 years between 14-16, but was still hugely geeky. The idea that there are lonely men out there that think 'I can't get girls, I'll become a geek instead!' Laughable.

fiblye 9y ago
And then you became unpopular with girls suddenly? Because you became more or less geeky, or what? And what does being "very popular" at 14 have to do with adults being lonely? I have no clue what your intention was with that post.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  I think I became uglier as I grew up. My point was that my popularity with girls was independent of my geekiness. They fancied me in spite of my geekiness because I was beautiful (for about 2 years, I lament their loss). Not getting girls didn't make me any more or less geeky, just less happy.

rabboRubble 9y ago

Wow. Apparently my grandmother's lifetime of quilt making, she made 1 for each of her children and grandchildren, doesn't count as a hobby. Each quilt taking 1 to 2 years to complete. Only her husband's shop work and his steam engine restoration efforts were as a hobby. Everything she did was merely... a what? What is the appropriate word for what she did?

needlessly2 9y ago

i've always noticed that there are more loner guys than loner girls.

nikdaheratik 9y ago

I don't think that really meshes with the early history of computing which had a much higher proportion of women but also required alot of dedication and an obsessive attention to detail to get it to do anything. Her point about the culture around alot of tech and SW development making it less appealing for women (and probably some kinds of men) was pretty insightful though.