4 ms·

Is there some sort of evidence behind this statement or is it just the usual "x is sexist/racist/ageist/etc." based on a photo and the assumption that there's s

Is there some sort of evidence behind this statement or is it just the usual "x is sexist/racist/ageist/etc." based on a photo and the assumption that there's some sort of agenda behind selection when there's any sort of clear majority that's male and/or white? I'm asking honestly because I can't tell any more.

danbruc 13y ago
Most likely the statement was not meant to be taken to seriously but falls a bit short of being funny.
- newnewnew 13y ago
  You don't believe that there is some sort of institutional sexism in mathematics, manifested here in a very skewed gender ratio?
  - DigitalJack 13y ago
    I don't. What I do believe is that differences exist between men and women beyond genitalia.
    - newnewnew 13y ago
      You don't think that's a quite outdated, even reactionary way of thinking?
      - cema 13y ago
        Reactionary to what?
        Jach 13y ago
        http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/03/reactionary-philosophy-in-an-enormous-planet-sized-nutshell/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/03/reactionary-philosophy-...
        jere 13y ago
        Apparently, I didn't know what reactionary meant. In case I'm not the only one, I'll link to the wikipedia page and hope it does a better job explaining the term than the 15,000 word article posted by Jach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary
      - camelite 13y ago
        The statement would have been true millenia ago and will probably remain true beyond all our lifetimes. So not necessarily.
    - lucian1900 13y ago
      Mere belief is dangerous. Do you have proof? Until you do, don't assume the set of things women are inherently suitable for/interested in/able to do is not the same as for men.
      - stonemetal 13y ago
        http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains-differ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains... Male and female brains have been known to be physically different for quite a while. How much of an impact this has on thought process I don't know.
      - B-Con 13y ago
        We've been watching subtle differences unfold for decades. The PC movement was aghast that anyone dare think that men/women had any differences at all. That's been chipped away at for decades now. The proof is now on those who think that they are the exact same, despite mounds of suggestions that there are indeed some notable differences. We don't know the full extent of the differences, but this is not one of those cases where you get to push up your glasses and say "Well, without 100% proof you shouldn't believe it." Every time someone mentions that they think there's a difference between males and females, someone pushes up their glasses and asks "source?", as if the 6th layer of comments on a news aggregater is the place to rehash decades of complicated studies and biology. Accept that the position that there are some differences is a reasonable one and move on, even if you disagree. We don't know how much of it is mental, but we don't know much about "mental" at all right now. We're guessing based on what we do know. Just as long as we all don't let our guesses about the unknowns of science cloud our judgment in specific, concrete situations, we'll be perfectly fine. And merely believing that some differences do exist won't itself cause that.
        dragonwriter 13y ago
        > Accept that the position that there are some differences is a reasonable one and move on, even if you disagree. Accepting that there are some differences does not lift the burden of persuasion off those who assert the existence of a particular difference, in the same way that accepting the idea that there are some murderers in the world doesn't lift the burden of persuasion off those who insist that a particular person is a murderer.

danbruc 13y ago

Most likely the statement was not meant to be taken to seriously but falls a bit short of being funny.

newnewnew 13y ago
You don't believe that there is some sort of institutional sexism in mathematics, manifested here in a very skewed gender ratio?
- DigitalJack 13y ago
  I don't. What I do believe is that differences exist between men and women beyond genitalia.
  - newnewnew 13y ago
    You don't think that's a quite outdated, even reactionary way of thinking?
    - cema 13y ago
      Reactionary to what?
      - Jach 13y ago
        http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/03/reactionary-philosophy-in-an-enormous-planet-sized-nutshell/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/03/reactionary-philosophy-...
      - jere 13y ago
        Apparently, I didn't know what reactionary meant. In case I'm not the only one, I'll link to the wikipedia page and hope it does a better job explaining the term than the 15,000 word article posted by Jach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary
    - camelite 13y ago
      The statement would have been true millenia ago and will probably remain true beyond all our lifetimes. So not necessarily.
  - lucian1900 13y ago
    Mere belief is dangerous. Do you have proof? Until you do, don't assume the set of things women are inherently suitable for/interested in/able to do is not the same as for men.
    - stonemetal 13y ago
      http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains-differ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains... Male and female brains have been known to be physically different for quite a while. How much of an impact this has on thought process I don't know.
    - B-Con 13y ago
      We've been watching subtle differences unfold for decades. The PC movement was aghast that anyone dare think that men/women had any differences at all. That's been chipped away at for decades now. The proof is now on those who think that they are the exact same, despite mounds of suggestions that there are indeed some notable differences. We don't know the full extent of the differences, but this is not one of those cases where you get to push up your glasses and say "Well, without 100% proof you shouldn't believe it." Every time someone mentions that they think there's a difference between males and females, someone pushes up their glasses and asks "source?", as if the 6th layer of comments on a news aggregater is the place to rehash decades of complicated studies and biology. Accept that the position that there are some differences is a reasonable one and move on, even if you disagree. We don't know how much of it is mental, but we don't know much about "mental" at all right now. We're guessing based on what we do know. Just as long as we all don't let our guesses about the unknowns of science cloud our judgment in specific, concrete situations, we'll be perfectly fine. And merely believing that some differences do exist won't itself cause that.
      - dragonwriter 13y ago
        > Accept that the position that there are some differences is a reasonable one and move on, even if you disagree. Accepting that there are some differences does not lift the burden of persuasion off those who assert the existence of a particular difference, in the same way that accepting the idea that there are some murderers in the world doesn't lift the burden of persuasion off those who insist that a particular person is a murderer.