Of course, she was lying and having fun manipulating. You are doing much the same. Enjoy the games of fifth grade girls.
That's... a terrible piece of rhetoric... :(
I don't see how I can explain that what you are saying appears to be founded in stereotype and a lack of understanding. So, I guess the argument is over, except to say:
Don't overthink things, and don't oversimplify. Your point #3, for example, is based on so little fact and on so much on prejudice.
I actually think what you could have done is observed the somewhat socially inept computer geek stereotype; and extrapolated the direct opposite as "how girls are". There is a lot of commonality between male and female phsyc - and many differences.
At a young age both those extremes are amplified.
the topics might be about cars, cattle raising, household electricity, operation of a commercial pizza oven, cardiology, roasting pastrami, trading foreign currencies, computing, etc.
I encourage you to work with teenage boys and try to engage with them on topics like these. Nowadays it is not at all common to find a kid who has such interests; computer games, girls, sports and food (i.e. "gossip") are much more common.
will be able to so not concentrate and, thus, on average will be removing their genes from the gene pool
Essentially you are saying that... girls who do technical careers won't be as able (or be suited) to procreate and so future women will be genetically pre-disposed to motherhood?
Do you have any idea how genetics works, for a start? I'd love to read your work on isolating the genes related to good motherhood and proficiency in technical topics and your research into how they interrelate within the population... ;)
Why? The usual explanation is that the boys know that they are small versions of men, that men take competency in their careers very seriously, that they, the boys, do not have such competency, feel vulnerable and out of control from the lack of competency, and, thus, as part of growing up into such competency are eager to soak up everything that is relevant they can. That's the standard explanation. Although you didn't 'get it' the first time I explained it, didn't work it out for yourself, I believe you can understand this point.
Standard explanation? Really? Find me a kid that, at age 15, is concerned about his competency in relation to a future career. Now, I could agree they would be concerned about competency in areas their social peers are strong; say football.
In fact; I will make it easier. Find me some peer reviewed material that identifies this as a standard explanation
For whatever reasons, you are straining to disagree with what I wrote.
It's really not hard :) although we seem to have gotten off track from the main topic, which I thought was your theory of little girls being pre-disposed to sharing & caring and not interested in technical topics because of genetics.
You REALLY don't get it and strain to misconstrue and misunderstand.
"That's... a terrible piece of rhetoric... :("
Huh?
You wrote:
"I don't see how I can explain that what you are saying appears to be founded in stereotype and a lack of understanding."
No: The crucial point is that I have and am presenting a lot of "understanding". Neglecting what I'm saying will bring large risks in dealing with human females, especially in the US now.
"Stereotype" argues neither for nor against anything; broadly some stereotypes are accurate and some are not. I argued everything based on simple facts, observations, and references and never mentioned anything about stereotypes; e.g., I never claimed that something was true because many people believe it is true.
"Your point #3, for example, is based on so little fact and on so much on prejudice."
By "#3" apparently you mean my
"{Girls are] (3) eager to get praise, acceptance, and approval from others from work that "helps people" in the sense I explained (essentially volunteer work to help suffering people), e.g., one of the daughters of Bush 43 went to Ethiopia,"
I will omit the many, overwhelmingly strong examples from my own life.
"Well, I would have kids and stay at home and take care of them. As they grew up, I would love to work more with the catholic church, because that means a lot to me."
So, what is Jim Simons doing? Uh, he's a bright guy, quite a good mathematician, e.g., as in the Chern-Simons result in differential geometry and useful in theoretical physics, and the most successful hedge fund manager in all of history and commonly paid himself $2 billion a year. Can get his story in his autobiographical lecture he recently gave at MIT at
The guy who introduced him is I. Singer of Atiyah-Singer index result, one of the best results of 20th century math; Singer was an informal Ph.D. advisor for Simons!
So there in the audience was his pretty wife, maybe half his age, and running their charitable foundation.
Melinda Gates? Is there any doubt in your mind that she is the one getting Bill to devote his time to charity? They have three kids; with the family wealth, they face some special challenges; they could use a lot of attention from both parents; all this emphasis on charity is too much time away from attention on their kids. So, at least Melinda is so interested in "helping people" that she is essentially neglecting her own children. Why? She wants praise, acceptance, and approval from the public even if she neglects her children and even her husband and has him neglect his business (Microsoft needs him to return to the CEO slot). She's determined to save the world super big time. This ain't a small thing.
Laura Bush? Sure: Devoting her time to charity. And, as I mentioned, one of her daughters is in Ethiopia doing the same. Instead, Laura should be devoting her time to her husband, to getting the daughter in Ethiopia a good husband, and being a good grandmother for the children of her married daughter. So, again, save the world super big time and neglect own husband and children. This ain't a small thing.
That women want to pursue volunteer work, i.e., charity work, that "helps people" is a rock solid part of a large fraction of women, especially Christian women of Western European descent in the US, especially if they have the financial means, and too often even if they do not.
Here we can use Hollywood: Part of what they have to do is present believable images. Well, in the girl's movie Samantha: An American Girl Holiday the mother devotes her time to charity and is in a woman's club also crucial for her work in charity. Seeing this, the grandmother asks if she can help.
The husband? He's clueless and uninvolved in charity. He is, however, very interested in the adoption in the story while his wife mostly is not. So, she's more interested in saving the world than being a parent (and the adopted daughters very much need some good mothering), and he is more interested in being a parent than she is. Again, it ain't a small thing.
Even the series of Legally Blond of chick-flicks has her give up her law job, shoot her law career in the knees, leave the town of her new boyfriend, and rush off to a staff job in Congress to help society by saving puppies used for testing cosmetics. She is so focused on helping society that she has her boyfriend, for the second time, bust his law career to join her in DC. So his role is to follow her from city to city as she runs around helping society, largely ignoring him, and being wildly irresponsible financially. Seen that, too often.
The leadership of the American Red Cross -- women who want to "help people".
It's as plain as the difference between boys with short hair and girls with long hair. If you can't see this, then you are obtuse about society and women.
Again, this urge to "help people" is commonly stronger than paid career, and even marriage, parenting, and financial responsibility. It ain't small, and you fail to see any of it.
For this point about women, there is no "prejudice" at all: Any man who fails to get it on this point is just oblivious and at high risk of making big mistakes about women.
You wrote:
"I actually think what you could have done is observed the somewhat socially inept computer geek stereotype; and extrapolated the direct opposite as 'how girls are'."
You are attacking the messenger, not the message. And, the short answer is, you are wildly wrong. That's not even close to what happened.
I wrote:
" ... the topics might be about cars, cattle raising, household electricity, operation of a commercial pizza oven, cardiology, roasting pastrami, trading foreign currencies, computing, etc."
and you responded:
"I encourage you to work with teenage boys and try to engage with them on topics like these. Nowadays it is not at all common to find a kid who has such interests; computer games, girls, sports and food (i.e. 'gossip') are much more common."
Here you are showing that you are getting a D- in basic reading comprehension. You totally misunderstood the statement. Totally.
Again, and I won't take the time to count the times, I repeated that boys get interested in the technical topics that are "around them" and appear to be important and wrote:
"Sorry, but boys have strong desires to master any technical topics around them that appear important."
So, then, sure, my:
" ... the topics might be about cars, cattle raising, household electricity, operation of a commercial pizza oven, cardiology, roasting pastrami, trading foreign currencies, computing, etc."
is rock solidly correct.
So, your:
"I encourage you to work with teenage boys and try to engage with them on topics like these."
What? You didn't read what I wrote. You are confused.
Again, if you will read, of course, nearly no teenage boys will be interested in
"roasting pastrami"
because that topic is not "around them". But if their father runs a deli, then that topic will be "around them" and will be fully obviously important to the family finances, and, thus, the boy will likely be very interested in it. E.g., if the boy is working in his father's deli to get money for his first car so he can take out his girlfriend, then he can be very interested in
"roasting pastrami".
His sister? If his mother works in the deli, maybe his sister will be interested in the part of the deli the mother works in. If the mother doesn't work in the deli, then the sister likely won't care at all about
"roasting pastrami".
So, the boy is interested in career competency as illustrated by his father, and his sister isn't.
My point is general: Again, again, again, again, again, the boys will be very interested in WHATEVER technical topics that are around them and appear to be important from their family, community, etc.
Got it now? Need it explained seven more times?
Your D- in reading comprehension makes this exchange hopeless.
Again, and I won't take the time to count the times, I repeated that boys get interested in the technical topics that are "around them" and appear to be important and wrote:
I read it.
You are totally wrong. (how many times do I have to say that ;))
Hence my suggestion for you to try and observe this apparent phenomena. Bottom line is; you will struggle to.
I grew up with my Dad in the RAF; but have absolutely zero interest in planes. I could cite similar examples ad-infinitum. I honestly challenge you to find teenage boys that have an absorbing interest in the technical aspects of their dad's job - sure, you will fine some, but a minority.
It's as plain as the difference between boys with short hair and girls with long hair. If you can't see this, then you are obtuse about society and women.
Is this also down to genetics (random irony; I have longer hair than most of the girls I know :))? Or do you think it might be to do with social/historical situation?
Even the series of Legally Blond of chick-flicks...
Seriously? You are using a film to demonstrate your point? Seeing as that film series is a classic example of female stereotype it probably says much that you see a general point in it.
Neglecting what I'm saying will bring large risks in dealing with human females, especially in the US now.
I think I am doing ok :) but thanks for the concern.
Basically; your claims about women being genetically pre-disposed against technical topics (and towards "caring/sharing" careers) is, despite the bluster on other tangential topics and terrible examples, complete crap and not something you could begin to support with reasonable evidence.
To return to the original point: the barriers to women in technology are almost all social and psychological, not genetic.
And all the guff about women being like this and that seems representative of reading some pop psychology without going any further (I recommend reading something good on social interaction, one that looks at the similarities in gender groups)
That's... a terrible piece of rhetoric... :(
I don't see how I can explain that what you are saying appears to be founded in stereotype and a lack of understanding. So, I guess the argument is over, except to say:
Don't overthink things, and don't oversimplify. Your point #3, for example, is based on so little fact and on so much on prejudice.
I actually think what you could have done is observed the somewhat socially inept computer geek stereotype; and extrapolated the direct opposite as "how girls are". There is a lot of commonality between male and female phsyc - and many differences.
At a young age both those extremes are amplified.
the topics might be about cars, cattle raising, household electricity, operation of a commercial pizza oven, cardiology, roasting pastrami, trading foreign currencies, computing, etc.
I encourage you to work with teenage boys and try to engage with them on topics like these. Nowadays it is not at all common to find a kid who has such interests; computer games, girls, sports and food (i.e. "gossip") are much more common.
will be able to so not concentrate and, thus, on average will be removing their genes from the gene pool
Essentially you are saying that... girls who do technical careers won't be as able (or be suited) to procreate and so future women will be genetically pre-disposed to motherhood?
Do you have any idea how genetics works, for a start? I'd love to read your work on isolating the genes related to good motherhood and proficiency in technical topics and your research into how they interrelate within the population... ;)
Why? The usual explanation is that the boys know that they are small versions of men, that men take competency in their careers very seriously, that they, the boys, do not have such competency, feel vulnerable and out of control from the lack of competency, and, thus, as part of growing up into such competency are eager to soak up everything that is relevant they can. That's the standard explanation. Although you didn't 'get it' the first time I explained it, didn't work it out for yourself, I believe you can understand this point.
Standard explanation? Really? Find me a kid that, at age 15, is concerned about his competency in relation to a future career. Now, I could agree they would be concerned about competency in areas their social peers are strong; say football.
In fact; I will make it easier. Find me some peer reviewed material that identifies this as a standard explanation
For whatever reasons, you are straining to disagree with what I wrote.
It's really not hard :) although we seem to have gotten off track from the main topic, which I thought was your theory of little girls being pre-disposed to sharing & caring and not interested in technical topics because of genetics.
reply