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Compare and contrast with "Neurosexism: the myth that men and women have different brains" (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00677-x https://www.natur
by stared 8y ago
Compare and contrast with "Neurosexism: the myth that men and women have different brains" (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00677-x https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00677-x, discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19316221 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19316221). Not to deny that gendered socialization makes differences (it does, as any activity). Still, I am puzzled by the dogmatic "there is no nature, there is only nurture; and don't dare to ask questions!" (maintained by some, including people I know personally).
Vide
- https://quillette.com/2019/03/11/science-denial-wont-end-sexism/ https://quillette.com/2019/03/11/science-denial-wont-end-sex... (discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19360744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19360744)
"Not a week goes by without yet another research study, popular science book, or mainstream news article promoting the idea that (a) any differences between men and women in the brain are purely socially constructed and (b) these differences have been exaggerated beyond any meaningful relevance. More recently, this argument has evolved to contend that (c) there are, in fact, no brain differences between the sexes at all. Eliot’s article appears to subscribe to a hodgepodge of all three perspectives, which not only contradict one another but are also factually incorrect."
- https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/23/kolmogorov-complicity-and-the-parable-of-lightning/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/23/kolmogorov-complicity-... (discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15539675 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15539675)
"Did Giordano Bruno die for his astronomical discoveries or his atheism? False dichotomy: you can’t have a mind that questions the stars but never thinks to question the Bible. The best you can do is have a Bruno who questions both, but is savvy enough to know which questions he can get away with saying out loud. And the real Bruno wasn’t that savvy."
And pretty much as a side note, while some social differences ARE due to sexism, some others are because of more gender equality (and people being able to choose what they prefer, regardless of their gender):
"As women have more equal opportunity, the more their preferences differ from men" http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6412/eaas9899 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6412/eaas9899 (discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18379943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18379943)
- DC-3 8y ago> there is no nature, there is only nurture; and don't dare to ask questions The entire post-modern left worldview is deeply rooted in the blank-state hypothesis. Very few people - across all political and academic spectra - have the scientific discipline to react rationally to criticism of the scaffolding supporting the lens through which they view the world.
- alexpetralia 8y agoWould you have any reading you could suggest on this? A lot of my thinking is informed by postmodernism (mostly from that essay by Larry Wall, the original author of Perl), but I realize it's such a broad term that there may be a lot of other ideas (especially ones I disagree with, like the blank-state hypothesis) tucked in there as well.
- DC-3 8y agoI'm sorry, I wouldn't be able to provide any specific reading on this. My comment above was rooted in two things. Firstly, my own observations from several years immersed in the massive internet culture war between left and right that seems to define and frame the politics of our time. Secondly, my understanding of postmodern thought which I have gained through university tuition. As such, my thoughts on these topics tend to be based in intuition not rigor, which is perhaps ironic (or even hypocritical) given that it is postmodernism which I am criticizing, but I feel that my point stands nonetheless.
- alexpetralia 8y agoHaha fair enough. Well I am always open to more perspectives on it - even intuitive ones - so thanks for that.
- cooooooffffeeee 8y agoThis is pseudo-academic posturing nonsense. The issue people take is attributing value to the differences between sexes, not the biological differences in themselves.