Males vs. Females: What Do Each Do Better?

[Archon]

i think men are on average better than women in pretty much everything. But in some areas, including intelligence, looks, virtue, women have a few that really excell, even though the average is still low.

The average is still low? Where do you get this idea? The only thing I would be certain of saying women are worse then men at, on average, is feats of strength. If you consider almost anything else, men and women are too close together in abilities for generalizations like this to apply.

i think women can't compete with men only in things like survival in the wilderness or war.

You might be surprised. Men are probably somewhat better adapted to living the wild, but women can certainly "compete." As for war: that's really nothing to be proud of.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Well, women do have more color choices in clothing, accessories, makeup, hair color, and such, and are usually the ones decorating their homes (I think), so it may be that they just develop a better eye for color.

The question is: does a woman's better sense of color arise from more sophisticated color perception genes, which would lead to them wanting to control the color in their lives more than men, or is their color sense developed as a side-feature of a more developed genetic proclivity to decoration than men have?

 

[wolram]

The question is: does a woman's better sense of color arise from more sophisticated color perception genes, which would lead to them wanting to control the color in their lives more than men, or is their color sense developed as a side-feature of a more developed genetic proclivity to decoration than men have?

It probabaly goes back to the hunter gatherer days, men hunted women gathered, recognizing certain plant patterns and colours would be an aid
to survival, now their skills are used for decoration, tip do not go with a
woman when she wants a new lipstick.

 

[yu_wing_sin]

I know that the proportion of well-known male physicists is far more than female's... If you see the Nobel physics prize winners, you will clearly know that... So this makes me doubt that, whether male has higher power.

 

[honestrosewater]

The question is: does a woman's better sense of color arise from more sophisticated color perception genes, which would lead to them wanting to control the color in their lives more than men, or is their color sense developed as a side-feature of a more developed genetic proclivity to decoration than men have?

I did a little searching earlier and found a few interesting snippets but nothing solid. There was more information on monkeys whose vision is different than ours.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8284146&query_hl=2
(preschoolers) "No significant difference between visual fields was found for either task."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10476313&dopt=Citation
(80 years olds) "A gender-related difference, in favor of women, occurred in naming five of the mixed colors. Women also used more varied color names than men."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12194876&dopt=Abstract
"An intensely debated issue concerning visual-experience-dependent neural plasticity is whether experience is required only to maintain function or whether information from experience is used actively, relieving the necessity to hard-wire all connections and allowing adaptive adjustments. Here, an active role for experience is demonstrated in circuits for color vision."

Okay, I selectively quoted to support my previous post, but at least I'm admitting to it. The first one actually said:
"A two-factor (sex x visual field) analysis of variance with repeated measures on the visual-field factor showed a significant difference between the sexes on the color-naming task only."

http://www.cis.rit.edu/mcsl/research/PDFs/ColorCurve.pdf, but I only scanned through it. I think the gene you want is called the photopigment gene, but my quick searches didn't turn up anything.

 

[Entropy]

When will people learn... Men and women are both equally inferior to me.

 

[wolram]

When will people learn... Men and women are both equally inferior to me.

PFs first non man, woman Entropy what are you
some thing escaped from area 51 may be

 

[wolram]

http://www.doctorhugo.org/brain4.html

What kind of brain do you have? There really are big differences between the male and female brain, says Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University. In his new book, the Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain (published by Penguin) Baron-Cohen shows that, indisputably, on average male and female minds are of a slightly different character. Men tend to be better at analysing systems (better systemisers), while women tend to be better at reading the emotions of other people (better empathisers). Baron-Cohen shows that this distinction arises from biology, not culture.

Cell numbers: men have 4% more brain cells than women, and about 100 grams more of brain tissue. Many women have asked me why men need more brain tissue in order to get the same things done.

Cellular connections: even though a man seems to have more brain cells, it is reported that women have more dendritic connections between brain cells.

Corpus collosum size: it is reported that a woman's brain has a larger corpus collusum, which means women can transfer data between the right and left hemisphere faster than men. Men tend to be more left brained, while women have greater access to both sides.

Language: for men, language is most often just in the dominant hemisphere (usually the left side), but a larger number of women seem to be able to use both sides for language. This gives them a distinct advantage. If a woman has a stroke in the left front side of the brain, she may still retain some language from the right front side. Men who have the same left sided damage are less likely to recover as fully.

Limbic size: bonding/nesting instincts - current research has demonstrated that females, on average, have a larger deep limbic system than males. This gives females several advantages and disadvantages. Due to the larger deep limbic brain women are more in touch with their feelings, they are generally better able to express their feelings than men. They have an increased ability to bond and be connected to others (which is why women are the primary caretakers for children - there is no society on Earth where men are primary caretakers for children). Females have a more acute sense of smell, which is likely to have developed from an evolutionary need for the mother to recognize her young. Having a larger deep limbic system leaves a female somewhat more susceptible to depression, especially at times of significant hormonal changes such as the onset of puberty, before menses, after the birth of a child and at menopause. Women attempt suicide three times more than men. Yet, men kill themselves three times more than women, in part, because they use more violent means of killing themselves (women tend to use overdoses with pills while men tend to either shoot or hang themselves) and men are generally less connected to others than are women. Disconnection from others increases the risk of completed suicides.

 

[wolram]

Every time i look at a woman now i will be thinking how big is her Corpus collosum

 

[honestrosewater]

PFs first non man, woman Entropy what are you
some thing escaped from area 51 may be

Yes, what chaos Entropy's causing! <groan>

 

[wolram]

Yes, what chaos Entropy's causing! <groan>

 

[zoobyshoe]

Okay, I selectively quoted to support my previous post, but at least I'm admitting to it.

Yes, I'll knock a thousand years off your stay in purgatory for admitting it.

So it sounds like women are really just better at naming a wider variety of colors, and we can suspect this is in service of the "decoration" proclivity.

In a lot of primitive societies men are just as decorated as women, if not more. Somehow, this has been generally suppressed in men in a lot of cultures, but it's making a comeback with the tattoos and piercings.

 

[honestrosewater]

Yes, I'll knock a thousand years off your stay in purgatory for admitting it.

Wow, zoobies possesses papal powers too! Your kind never ceases to amaze me.

I don't remember if it was here or somewhere else, but someone mentioned women, being the gatherers more than hunters, having to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous berries and such, based largely on color. Passing this knowledge along to their female kin through language would have been beneficial. But that's just a shot on the dark.

 

[zoobyshoe]

That was Wolram on the previous page of this thread.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Wow, zoobies possesses papal powers too! Your kind never ceases to amaze me.

Yeah, indulgences, and I got a guy coming over to paint the ceiling of the zoobie brushshelter.

 

[wolram]

Wow, zoobies possesses papal powers too! Your kind never ceases to amaze me.

I don't remember if it was here or somewhere else, but someone mentioned women, being the gatherers more than hunters, having to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous berries and such, based largely on color. Passing this knowledge along to their female kin through language would have been beneficial. But that's just a shot on the dark.

I thought i was the only one that shot in the dark now i am a real
no body

 

[honestrosewater]

I thought i was the only one that shot in the dark now i am a real
no body

I meant it was a shot in the dark coming from me, i.e., I don't have enough knowledge on the matter for it to be any more than a wild guess. I thought it was a good idea - that's why I stole it. I love you, woolie!

 

[wolram]

I meant it was a shot in the dark coming from me, i.e., I don't have enough knowledge on the matter for it to be any more than a wild guess. I thought it was a good idea - that's why I stole it. I love you, woolie!

Well two can shoot better in the dark than one I retract my
and take a fever pill.

 

[heman]

What do males do better than females, and females do better males?
Excluding giving birth.

The only things i can think of, I do not see many female builders or formula one
racing drivers.

I also haven't seen women as formula racing drivers but i think they are better drivers than men(i am not pointing to speed!)

 

[wolram]

I also haven't seen women as formula racing drivers but i think they are better drivers than men(i am not pointing to speed!)

Hmm, like the one that drove from heathrow AP in first gear, thinking it was an
auto, do not be fooled by olo, the brakes may be ok but usually the clutch is
gone.

 

[Moonbear]

Every time i look at a woman now i will be thinking how big is her Corpus collosum

I wouldn't recommend trying that as a compliment on any woman outside of PF though; the average, non-anatomically-literate person might not take that the right way.

 

[wolram]

I wouldn't recommend trying that as a compliment on any woman outside of PF though; the average, non-anatomically-literate person might not take that the right way.

Well as you are a PFer, i bet yours is huge