5 ms·

>For example (this is just a theory, I have no evidence whatsoever here), the men who tend to advance politically and in their careers are usually the ones with

by ddxxdd 9y ago

>For example (this is just a theory, I have no evidence whatsoever here), the men who tend to advance politically and in their careers are usually the ones with the best social skills. They're the ones who are the best at making advantageous alliances and forming strong relationships with those outside their family. Perhaps women are not as good at that? If that is the case, then it might be wise to try to encourage women to improve that subset of social skills. Since we're on the topic of biological determinism, it's worth pointing out that women generally have higher levels of emotional intelligence than men. Estrogen is a hormone for emotional bonding. And for that matter, a disproportionate amount of clinical psychopaths are in positions of leadership. That probably entails a better explanation for why men are disproportionately in higher levels of management.

baron816 9y ago
> women generally have higher levels of emotional intelligence than men. Estrogen is a hormone for emotional bonding. I'm not saying women have poor social skills, just that they perhaps have a different set of social skills. Bonding emotionally with someone is important in a family setting. Less so for platonic relationships.
djanatan 9y ago
It's silly to say that something is "biological determinism" just because it points out differences between men and women. Almost all traits have a strong overlap between men and women, including mental/personality traits, but occupational choice tends to be driven by extremes at a personal level. In general, men and women are about equally good at math, but at the far right end of the bell curve, men outnumber women significantly. Steven Pinker cites in "Human Nature" that at 6'0, men outnumber women almost 2000 to 1. Height is one of the more substantial examples of sexual dimorphism, but study after study has found sexual dimorphism in mental traits as well. This doesn't mean people should be judged based on their group's characteristics (which would be biological determinism) but that group differences can be quite severe at the extremes. It's worth pointing out that men also tend to outnumber women significantly at the far left end of most bell curves. Data appears to show that for many traits, men have higher variability of traits, possibly caused by the differing sexual selection strategies of men and women. (There is much more diversity among mitochondrial DNA than Y-chromosomal DNA, which is just one piece of evidence among many that a smaller number of males produce a disproportionate amount of the offspring.)
- toasterlovin 9y ago
  > It's worth pointing out that men also tend to outnumber women significantly at the far left end of most bell curves. The lack of understanding around the implications of normal distributions is such a problem when discussing this topic. Another thing that most people miss is that, if you're zoomed way in on the very end of the right side, things are going to look very different than if you are zoomed out and looking at the entire curve.

by ddxxdd 9y ago

baron816 9y ago

> women generally have higher levels of emotional intelligence than men. Estrogen is a hormone for emotional bonding. I'm not saying women have poor social skills, just that they perhaps have a different set of social skills. Bonding emotionally with someone is important in a family setting. Less so for platonic relationships.

djanatan 9y ago

It's silly to say that something is "biological determinism" just because it points out differences between men and women. Almost all traits have a strong overlap between men and women, including mental/personality traits, but occupational choice tends to be driven by extremes at a personal level. In general, men and women are about equally good at math, but at the far right end of the bell curve, men outnumber women significantly. Steven Pinker cites in "Human Nature" that at 6'0, men outnumber women almost 2000 to 1. Height is one of the more substantial examples of sexual dimorphism, but study after study has found sexual dimorphism in mental traits as well. This doesn't mean people should be judged based on their group's characteristics (which would be biological determinism) but that group differences can be quite severe at the extremes. It's worth pointing out that men also tend to outnumber women significantly at the far left end of most bell curves. Data appears to show that for many traits, men have higher variability of traits, possibly caused by the differing sexual selection strategies of men and women. (There is much more diversity among mitochondrial DNA than Y-chromosomal DNA, which is just one piece of evidence among many that a smaller number of males produce a disproportionate amount of the offspring.)

toasterlovin 9y ago
> It's worth pointing out that men also tend to outnumber women significantly at the far left end of most bell curves. The lack of understanding around the implications of normal distributions is such a problem when discussing this topic. Another thing that most people miss is that, if you're zoomed way in on the very end of the right side, things are going to look very different than if you are zoomed out and looking at the entire curve.