4 ms·

Hmm. It's also worth considering the possibility that the sex of the child could affect the appetite of the mother.

by Jesin 18y ago

superchink 18y ago
That's a much better hypothesis, in my opinion.
tlrobinson 18y ago
Exactly. Correlation does not imply causation. Whenever I hear about various things that supposedly make children smarter, like listening to Mozart as a baby, playing a musical instrument, or having a fish as a pet, I can't help but think in almost every case it has much more to do with the type of environment the child is raised in. There was a good "Bullshit!" episode (Penn and Teller) about exactly that.
- WilliamLP 18y ago
  Yes and it might be that smarter parents will play Mozart for a baby, and read to them, and have them learn a musical instrument. I'm not saying none of these things can possibly affect anything on their own, but just that you have to take extreme care with these kinds of statistics before making conclusions. And that kind of care seems to be lacking in articles like the parent.
tungstenfurnace 18y ago
Two more theories consistent with the data are: (1) neither affects either; (2) eating more calories creates more girls No. 2 might seem weird but consider the fact that using the brake pedal creates fewer car accidents despite the strong positive correlation of braking with accidents. Without testing between competing explanations, there is no science, only depleted research funds :-(
rms 18y ago
This study refers only to the moment of conception.
technoguyrob 18y ago
Of course, it might also be the case that between the 9 day trip from the Fallopian tubes to the uterus the mother's diet affects the fertility conditions of her uterus differently for XY and XX offspring (for example, making it 50% likely for an XX to implant itself but only 45% for an XY to implant).

4 ms·

Hmm. It's also worth considering the possibility that the sex of the child could affect the appetite of the mother.

by Jesin 18y ago

Hmm. It's also worth considering the possibility that the sex of the child could affect the appetite of the mother.

superchink 18y ago
That's a much better hypothesis, in my opinion.
tlrobinson 18y ago
Exactly. Correlation does not imply causation. Whenever I hear about various things that supposedly make children smarter, like listening to Mozart as a baby, playing a musical instrument, or having a fish as a pet, I can't help but think in almost every case it has much more to do with the type of environment the child is raised in. There was a good "Bullshit!" episode (Penn and Teller) about exactly that.
- WilliamLP 18y ago
  Yes and it might be that smarter parents will play Mozart for a baby, and read to them, and have them learn a musical instrument. I'm not saying none of these things can possibly affect anything on their own, but just that you have to take extreme care with these kinds of statistics before making conclusions. And that kind of care seems to be lacking in articles like the parent.
tungstenfurnace 18y ago
Two more theories consistent with the data are: (1) neither affects either; (2) eating more calories creates more girls No. 2 might seem weird but consider the fact that using the brake pedal creates fewer car accidents despite the strong positive correlation of braking with accidents. Without testing between competing explanations, there is no science, only depleted research funds :-(
rms 18y ago
This study refers only to the moment of conception.
technoguyrob 18y ago
Of course, it might also be the case that between the 9 day trip from the Fallopian tubes to the uterus the mother's diet affects the fertility conditions of her uterus differently for XY and XX offspring (for example, making it 50% likely for an XX to implant itself but only 45% for an XY to implant).