Friday, September 23, 2005

Men are Smarter

Prospect and Foreign Policy magazines have published this list of the world's top 100 living intellectuals. On the Prospect web site you can vote for your top five. Click here to vote. My selections were:

Benedict XVI …… pope
Freeman Dyson …… physicist
Francis Fukuyama ….. political scientist
Christopher Hitchens …… essayist
Bjorn Lonborg ….. environmental scientist (sceptic)

You could also nominate a bonus intellectual and I chose Harvard historian Harvey Mansfield, the expert on Machiavelli. I gave serious consideration to Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus, Michael Novak and Michael Crichton.

The list is dominated by the west (three fourths) and America (one third). Half the intellectuals live in the US. But women are under-represented at only 10%.

If one includes all the dead white men the gender difference is even more pronounced. In Human Accomplishment, Charles Murray presents an inventory of 4002 significant figures in the sciences, philosophy, literature, art and music. Only 88 are women (2%).


Of course the dearth of ancient women was primarily due to the exclusion of women from intellectual fields. But when one looks at the 20th century the numbers are not significantly changed. Thus women were awarded only 3.5% of the Nobel Prizes in the sciences and literature in the last century.

The question is how much of a role does intelligence play in these results? It has long been believed that the median IQs of men and women are equal. But in a paper to appear in the British Journal of Psychology in November, Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn said men's IQs are on average five points higher than those of women.

The study was based on IQ tests of over 100,000 people. The researchers discovered that there was no difference in boys’ and girls’ intelligence until the age of 14. But after that point a difference of almost exactly five IQ points emerges which seems to remain constant throughout adulthood. “The small male advantage in IQ is therefore likely to be of most significance for tasks of high complexity, such as complex problem solving in mathematics, engineering and physics, and in other areas of high spatial ability," Irwing said.

Furthermore the bell curve of the males has a broader standard deviation than the female bell curve. That means that there are more males than females in the tails of the distribution at very low IQ and at very high IQ.


The study showed that men outnumbered women in increasing numbers as intelligence levels rose. There were twice as many men with IQ scores of 125, typical for people with first-class degrees in Britain. When scores rose to 155, associated with genius, there were 5.5 men for every woman.

The two professors argue this is why men — who also have larger brains — are more likely to win Nobel prizes and other major academic distinctions.

Thus it has now been statistically demonstrated that men are smarter! But common sense is something else. At a recent press briefing in NOLA, reporters continued asking General Russell Honore the same question about the last storm, expecting a different answer (the definition of insanity). The General warned the mostly male reporters: “Don’t get stuck on stupid!”

When the next male reporter asked the very same question, Honore fired back: “You’re stuck on stupid,” said the General. Maybe it’s just reporters.

What say you, blogettes?



8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting segue.... from top intellectuals - to "stuck on stupid". :-)

David

10:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're stupid!!!

Jill

10:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is a different slant on the who is smarter idea. My daughter gets pushed aside by the men in her field...at times... it isn't a case of who is smarter but stepping on bodies on the way up.

Judy

9:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought you would like my answer to are men smarter. Did you get any other answers? I sure hope all the sisters got on your case. LOL

Jill

9:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have always KNOWN that men are smarter. Yet,there are some women who have contributed to our society.Golly,women such as Madame Currie and Margaret Thatcher and Hannah Rumpf. Captain Hannah Rumpf has the respect and admiration of not only her male superiors, but also her male subordinates because she is a confident lady who respects men and does not denigrate them. She never has expected to be handed a thing, she has earned all that she has accomplished.Something a feminist has no clue about.Women who whine that men get all the breaks have to have some excuse, I guess.
My dad was the smartest person I have ever known. And I am always in awe of the brilliant minds of my 3 brothers and 3 sons.
I'll bet real men are happy with the gifts Gad gave to women: caring and nurturing natures.
Unfortunately, today young girls have "attitudes" due to the feminist push for equality. My oldest son didn't marry til he was 32 yrs old. He had almost given up because he could not find a gal like mom. He finally found her. She had just completed to Masters' degrees and was applying to law schools (one was Harvard).After meeting my son; she gave up her plans for a career, and married my son. Now she is one SMART woman!
And remember, behind every great man, there is always a loving, caring, intuitive woman helping him and keeping him content.

12:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a mother of 3 sons and an adopted daughter, it has always been a no-brainer ( latter intended) to me that men are smarter by God's design.
I was heartsick when feminism actually took this country in the wrong direction. Now, the nurturing mother instincts God gave women has given way to women who want to be like men! And they think nothing of aborting babies in their wombs.

I get so darned upset re:equal rights for women. And I am appalled that women are actually given 'special rights' with affirmative action! To me if a gal can't earn it, she doesn't deserve it!
To me women should be teachers, secretaries and nurses and mothers. I wish we could go back to the 50's.
Yet,I do know some women who have contributed greatly to society because of their gifts from God and they were never feminists!
Margaret Thatcher for one and Hannah Rumpf is another.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishments in history are made possible by the love and scarifice of mothers tending to the needs of their children.
I could go on and on about this subject. I used to try to argue my position male vs female roles; but I usally was met with icy consternation, unless, I was discussing the subject with other believers. Then it was a no-brainer: God's plan! Men and women are different!

12:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In order, the first person I knew on the list was Eco, then Greer, Paglia, & Rushdie. I voted for Eco, Paglia, Dyson, and added Tom Robbins. I really know nothing of Pope Bendedict but voted for him anyway after reading the list twice. I keep trying to remind myself that John Paul II is dead, and that there is no John Paul III, so the name recognition eludes me.

Rori

1:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"And what is more important than intelligence?" asked the mind.
"Seeing and understanding with the heart", replied the soul.

7:59 PM  

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