StudlyCaps wrote:
It's impossible to separate the socialized behaviors of people from their biologically inspired ones, and even if we could, I don't know why we should.
So what are you suggesting? Combating gender discrimination by repressing science?
StudlyCaps wrote:
If Octacone or simeonz were joking, then I'm sorry for taking it too literally, mea culpa.
I wasn't joking.
StudlyCaps wrote:
So in this vein, I'd say that the comments I mentioned in my last post, which are very much "we don't want girls joining our club" are much more influential in keeping women away from recreational programming, and from our communities, than any biological factors.
StudlyCaps wrote:
However, without context they are definitely anti-woman, saying it is good that women don't join us because of negative stereotypes.
My English skills are deficient, and my writing is vague and verbose, but even I could not have failed to deliver my thoughts so miserably.
First, if you google for a while, you will find that contemporary science holds that men have greater tendency for tunnel vision, which means task focus, which almost paradoxically benefits engineering. I have known women that excel in science that can wipe the floor with me. They are perfectly able to tackle scientific and engineering problems. This is why I think that it is due to hormonal differences. Hormones do not determine a person's mental capacity, but the way in which it is allocated. What most women experience is dislike for the technical subjects. Men also, but less so than women. There is also fault in our education, that it presents the academic subjects in a very narrow-minded way, which repels the practical and rational mind. This particularly discourages women, which prefer to explore wide than narrow.
What I am concerned with, is how society plans to make sure that all genders, ethnic groups, social classes, etc, will stay competitive in the quartiary job segment (i.e. science and engineering). Otherwise, certain parts of the population will lose their social status as the technological revolution continues to produce automation. Back on our topic, if we fail to explore the gender differences and motivate women further into engineering occupations, we could recess into men-dominated society. And believe it or not, balanced societies provide benefits to both genders. Scientific understanding provides us with insight on these matters, because we cannot answer all questions intuitively.
Even if the conversation has been rude, the topic itself is worthwhile and relevant. Women and men have a lot of baggage to deal with and a lot of issues to tackle in their mutual future. This applies more to men's issues than women's, as men are generally the more dysfunctional gender. (I am not trying to be graceful.) However, this does not mean that there aren't problems that apply deferentially to women. And such issues, when socially relevant, need to be addressed calmly. Although not on this forum, admittedly.