Neuroscientist claims no innate difference between male and female brains (xpost from /r/cogsci)

insickness · 2014-04-05T21:29:52+00:00

How about this for an innate difference between males and females: 90% of men are attracted to women and 90% of women are attracted to men. Everyone has conceded that homosexuality is not a choice, yet somehow straight people's sexuality is social construct? As a man, your predilection to want to stick your dick in pussy is a social construct? There are millions upon millions of species on this planet born with innate gender-specific behaviors--wanting to fuck the opposite sex--but somehow human beings are the exception to this? Think about how absurd that is.

noblepaladin · 2014-04-05T20:43:45+00:00

Doesn't matter. There are a lot of things that affect behavior other than the brain (ex: testosterone). I've never assume that they were the same or that they were different, I simply don't care.

At the end of the day, all that matters is how people actually behave. Are you going to marry a slut because you figured out that it that there is some weird brain chemical that she has that makes her a slut? Some serial killers have fucked up brains that release chemicals that cause anger, aggression, paranoia, etc. You can argue that it is not his fault for having a defective brain, there is an argument there. But does that mean we should just let him free with his defective brain?

When I meet a woman, she's old already. She's had 18+ years of social and cultural stimulation that I had no control over. I can only evaluate the results. I don't disagree with the professor that stuff like treating a girl like a princess would probably stunt her development. But if that already happened to all the women already, what the fuck does knowing that do for us or for the women?

2comment · 2014-04-05T22:02:53+00:00

The fact that male brains are 10% heavier while female brains have more densely packed neurons should be enough of a difference.

This 3 page article by webmd, while not the best, should be a good enough resource to get started: http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains-differ

Females and males maintain unique brain characteristics throughout life. Male brains, for instance, are about 10% larger than female brains. But bigger doesn't necessarily mean smarter.

Disparities in how certain brain substances are distributed may be more revealing. Notably, male brains contain about 6.5 times more gray matter -- sometimes called 'thinking matter" -- than women. Female brains have more than 9.5 times as much white matter, the stuff that connects various parts of the brain, than male brains. That's not all. "The frontal area of the cortex and the temporal area of the cortex are more precisely organized in women, and are bigger in volume," Geary tells WebMD. This difference in form may explain a lasting functional advantage that females seem to have over males: dominant language skills.

And that men have better spatial skills....

Some people in academia are just nuts.

IDefyAxioms · 2014-04-05T21:47:23+00:00

“You can’t pick up a brain and say ‘that’s a girls brain, or that’s a boys brain’ in the same way you can with the skeleton. They look the same.”

...Yes you can. Neuroscientists that aren't full of shit have shown this.

You can find more articles here, though I recommend staying away from any articles from The Guardian. They serve to attack the research on the basis that people use it to support "Tired old generalisations" (article linked to by a Guardian article). So because science seems to back up socially unacceptable ideas, it is bad science.

mr_throwz · 2014-04-06T00:12:02+00:00

This might tip you off that her science is bunk:

Prof Gina Rippon’s will be speaking at ScienceGrrls’s ‘Fighting the Neurotrash’ at Southbank Centre’s WOW – Women of the World Festival on Saturday.

There's been some bunk science, all of it presented by feminist scientists, that male and female brains are identical. But our brains are not identical as unbiased research has shown - over and over and over. Our brains are structured slightly different, develop at different rates, and are wired differently to boot.

If our brains were identical, then how is it that a gay man's brain is more like a woman's and a lesbian's brain is more like a man's? This has been shown in science.

This science is just bunk, and she is an unethical scientist, allowing her political ideology to influence her work.

rico_montoya · 2014-04-06T05:25:21+00:00

“You can’t pick up a brain and say ‘that’s a girls brain, or that’s a boys brain’ in the same way you can with the skeleton. They look the same.

Failed BIO 101.

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Why author absolutely has no idea what the fuck author has written:

Source how hormones affect the CNS circuitry

TL;DR: Author of study does not understand basic science

stemgang · 2014-04-06T09:37:07+00:00

"Up is down. Black is white." If a PhD says it with big words, people will believe anything.

cthulhucumsicle · 2014-04-06T14:54:44+00:00

Fuckin crap.

Note that no parent could ever be so obtuse as to think that children do not come with innate differences. Much new subtle than gender are the incredible array of obviously often inherent personality traits.

grelknar · 2014-04-05T20:03:38+00:00

Looks like her CV is here

Prof Rippon’s [sic] will be speaking at ScienceGrrls’s ‘Fighting the Neurotrash’ at Southbank Centre’s WOW – Women of the World Festival on Saturday.

Is that the normal venue to announce scientific results?

Anyway seems to me it may be fair to go on about "the drip, drip, drip of the gendered environment" but it's a bit unfair to do that while leaving out the drip, drip, drip of hormonal influences and the like.

Title	Neuroscientist claims no innate difference between male and female brains (xpost from /r/cogsci)
Author	grelknar
Upvotes	2
Comments	12
Date	April 5, 2014 8:00 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/22ak0p/neuroscientist_claims_no_innate_difference/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/neuroscientist-claims-no-innate-difference-between.230505 https://theredarchive.com/post/230505

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