What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[Ivan Seeking]

I really dislike this "feels like" thing. I'd rather they report the temp, RH, and wind. I can take it from there.

I don't mind it wrt temperature and humidity. That is a quantifiable value. What I hate is this language of "I feel like" when it comes to facts. For example, a person using this expression might say "I feel like physics is usually wrong". Well son, what you feel like doesn't really matter! Since when did your feelings determine the facts? It is an excuse to make a false claim in a debate or discussion without actually making a false claim. It is a common tactic with people who don't bother to get any facts.

 

[fresh_42]

What I hate is this language of "I feel like" when it comes to facts.

I hate the phrase "the hottest ... since ..." It sounds like someone climbing a mountain and telling the world about his new height with every step he takes. So incredibly empty of any information in times of constant global warming.

 

[WWGD]

Let alone that people experience temperature differently. " Feels like " is not general-enough.

 

[jack action]

There is this local diver who attempted a 20-25 m dive from a helicopter (Got canceled due to bad weather).

It was supposed to be a new world record for a woman diver; the actual record being 14 m. The current world record held by a man is 40 m.

Is the male-female distinction that important when considering how high they can jump from? I wouldn't even think it matters at all.

Don't get me wrong: 25 m is impressive on its own. Even 14 m for that matter. But why create a special category "Woman" just to say "I'm number one!" I would understand if you were considering a child doing it, but at one point women should realize they are not THAT limited compared to men. Having the category "Woman" sounds as irrelevant as the "blue eyes with brown hair" category.

I wish we would stop emphasizing so much how women cannot reach what men accomplish. It's like saying to every little girl that they are limited just because they are female: "Try doing the best a woman can do and don't expect more from us; we don't think you can do it anyway."

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There is this local diver who attempted a 20-25 m dive from a helicopter (Got canceled due to bad weather).

It was supposed to be a new world record for a woman diver; the actual record being 14 m. The current world record held by a man is 40 m.

Is the male-female distinction that important when considering how high they can jump from? I wouldn't even think it matters at all.

Don't get me wrong: 25 m is impressive on its own. Even 14 m for that matter. But why create a special category "Woman" just to say "I'm number one!" I would understand if you were considering a child doing it, but at one point women should realize they are not THAT limited compared to men. Having the category "Woman" sounds as irrelevant as the "blue eyes with brown hair" category.

I wish we would stop emphasizing so much how women cannot reach what men accomplish. It's like saying to every little girl that they are limited just because they are female: "Try doing the best a woman can do and don't expect more from us; we don't think you can do it anyway."

In something like this, your alternative would mean women don't get mentioned at all. And why is there such a difference? That's an interesting question. 14m is a long way from 40m.

 

[jack action]

In something like this, your alternative would mean women don't get mentioned at all.

That seems to mean women can never excel at anything unless someone lowers the bar.

I really hate that we reduce excellence to some competition, or group of competitions, with some arbitrary rules (usually preferring quantity over quality and short-term results over long-term results).

 

[WWGD]

In some sports like Soccer/Football, men have an advantage. A team of 15-year-old male teens beat the US national Women's team by a good margin.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That seems to mean women can never excel at anything unless someone lowers the bar.

You are acting like the difference is contrived. I don't know why the record for women is so much lower but it isn't due to personal bias. So I guess I don't understand your point.

I really hate that we reduce excellence to some competition, or group of competitions, with some arbitrary rules (usually preferring quantity over quality and short-term results over long-term results).

How would you like to see people recognized, specifically; who and how?

 

[gmax137]

Maybe Women are too smart to think jumping 40 meters out of a helicopter is a worthy passtime.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Maybe Women are too smart to think jumping 40 meters out of a helicopter is a worthy passtime.

I thought of that! Do men tend to be risk takers as compared to women? Could it be due to the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex in young men?

 

[WWGD]

I thought of that! Do men tend to be risk takers as compared to women? Could it be due to the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex in young men?

Likely Testosterone.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Likely Testosterone.

That too!

Over the years I have remembered a few things I did as a teenager or young man that make me shake in my boots today! I am lucky that neither I or anyone else was ever injured or killed because of me. Looking back, it is hard to imagine it was me! WHAT was I thinking?!?!?!

And at that point in life, Freud was right: It was almost all about sex. So, driven by hormones and lacking good judgement = young men.

 

[WWGD]

I too, at one point somehow intuitited, realized, I had used my nine lives. I calmed down , somewhat , after that in terms of arguably -stupid risk taking.

 

[jtbell]

Yesterday while I was driving along, once again I noticed that the recessed manhole covers in city streets seem to be cunningly placed off-center in the driving lane, so that my car's wheels always pass over them, ka-thunk, ka-thunk!

I wonder if the designers of streets and underground utility lines are specifically trained to achieve this outcome. Why not place the manholes in the middle of the lane?

 

[jack action]

How would you like to see people recognized, specifically; who and how?

I don't know but I find it bizarre that somehow we cannot think of any competition where women excel as well as men or even surpass them.

Are competitions designed by men, for men, really the only worthy yardstick to evaluate and compare human beings?

Maybe Women are too smart to think jumping 40 meters out of a helicopter is a worthy passtime.

I thought of something like that too. But what would be the point of a "Woman World Record"? "Congratulations! You are almost as stupid as a man"?

You are acting like the difference is contrived. I don't know why the record for women is so much lower but it isn't due to personal bias. So I guess I don't understand your point.

I just thought of some competition where gender shouldn't matter: Chess. Yet:

Judit Polgár, generally considered the strongest female player of all time, was at one time the eighth highest rated player in the world, and remains the only woman to have ever been rated in the world's top ten. Three women, Maia Chiburdanidze, Polgár, and Hou Yifan, have been ranked in the world's top 100 players.

The point I was trying to raise, to answer your question, was this one:

Some women players believe the major reason is due to cultural expectations and bias. Jennifer Shahade, a FIDE Woman Grandmaster and the women's program director at the United States Chess Federation (USCF), said there is a large drop-off of girls at the USCF around the ages of 12 and 13, which she attributes to the lack of a social network for girls that age in chess. Polgár said that society and some parents may weaken the desire of young female chess players to improve, and that women were often held back by lower ambition by choosing to compete in all-women tournaments rather than open tournaments.

In a 2007 study at the University of Padua, male and female players of similar ability were matched up with each other on online games. When the players were unaware of their opponent's sex, female players won slightly under half their games. When female players were told their opponent was male, they played less aggressively, and they won about one in four games. However, when female players were told their opponent was female, even though they were actually male, they were as aggressive as the male players and won about one in two games. The researchers argued that gender stereotypes may have led female players to lower their self-esteem and self-confidence when they know they are playing male players, causing them to play defensively which worsened their performance.

This leads me to believe that separating women from men is not necessarily a helpful thing to do for women. You are just producing people with low self-esteem and performing less, which in turn reaffirms the initial hypothesis that women need to be separated from men "for their own good".

 

[WWGD]

Women tend to do better than men in Gymnastics. And on average female models outearn male models.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yesterday while I was driving along, once again I noticed that the recessed manhole covers in city streets seem to be cunningly placed off-center in the driving lane, so that my car's wheels always pass over them, ka-thunk, ka-thunk!

I wonder if the designers of streets and underground utility lines are specifically trained to achieve this outcome. Why not place the manholes in the middle of the lane?

They have been everywhere I've lived, until now. There is a local Hwy like that.

A old friend of mine from either Iran or Pakistan [not sure which friend] said they have triangular manhole covers in his home country.
'
Guess what the teenagers like to do.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Women tend to do better than men in Gymnastics.

And shooting guns.

A big part of sports is not getting psyched out by your opponent or losing confidence. Perhaps this is a fundamental strength that men have over women - they are more competitive.

When I hear women complain about making less in the workplace, I often wonder if competitiveness and confidence is the problem there too. Employers will abuse men just as readily as women if they can get away with it. If you don't ask for a raise, you probably aren't going to get one. And if you aren't willing to walk, you may not get as much of a raise.

 

[BillTre]

I don't know but I find it bizarre that somehow we cannot think of any competition where women excel as well as men or even surpass them.

This is a really complex issue.

First, I would look at this as a population of individuals with population stats. However, some individuals may not follow the statistical trend.
Its my understanding that until puberty boys and girls are about the same physically. Then changes happen, first to girls, perhaps giving them a temporary physical advantage. Then to the boys, which get bigger, are more aggressive (good for many sports).
Women are (generally smaller lighter etc.) able to other things (not normally associated with men) better.

Here is, I think, an interesting example:
I had a roommate who ended up being a national collegiate champ in the rings in gymnastics. I also liked gymnastics, so good match. I like going to their matches. There was also a women's gymnastic team. The men's and women's events were different and build to show off what each group could do best.
The men could not compete successfully in the women's events and visa versa.
Both due floor routines (tumbling), but different aspects are emphasized in the tricks performed and how they are scored.
Maybe vaulting is the competition that would be most similar.

Other events are only performed by one sex:
rings (male, strength)
uneven parallel bars (women, timing)
parallel bars (men, lots of arm power moves)
balance beam (women, balance, flexibility)

Male events emphasize strength, whereas women's events emphasize flexibility (although, they both are good at both).
Women gymnasts are usually smaller lighter and closer to the ground. This advantage makes it possible for Simone Biles to do things that the guys could not.

There are also issues of:

• are women (as a population) as motivated to do these things as guys are?
• If they aren't (for whatever reason), then you are also comparing records from a smaller population. Really outstanding performances (or performers) would be less likely to occur in the under represented group (women).

 

[WWGD]

And shooting guns.

A big part of sports is not getting psyched out by your opponent or loosing confidence. Perhaps this is a fundamental strength that men have over women - they are more competitive.

When I hear women complain about making less in the workplace, I often wonder if competitiveness and confidence is the problem there too. Employers will abuse men just as readily as women if they can get away with it. If you don't ask for a raise, you probably aren't going to get one. And if you aren't willing to walk, you may not get as much of a raise.

There's also the fact that women go into STEM tracks , the highest-paying ones on average, at a significantly lower rate than men. Not sure why.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There's also the fact that women go into STEM tracks , the highest-paying ones on average, at a significantly lower rate than men. Not sure why.

In many ways, women are outperforming men in the workplace. But if you are willing to work for less, any employer is willing to pay less.

 

[Ibix]

In many ways, women are outperforming men in the workplace. But if you are willing to work for less, any employer is willing to pay less.

There's a phenomenon a lot of women report that men don't listen to them. It usually manifests itself in terms of a woman proposing an idea in a meeting and everybody going "uh huh", then a man proposing the same idea and everbody saying it's great. But it would also be kind of hard to sell yourself in a promotion/pay negotiation if the boss isn't really hearing what you say.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There's a phenomenon a lot of women report that men don't listen to them. It usually manifests itself in terms of a woman proposing an idea in a meeting and everybody going "uh huh", then a man proposing the same idea and everbody saying it's great. But it would also be kind of hard to sell yourself in a promotion/pay negotiation if the boss isn't really hearing what you say.

So they say... While this was probably true 30 years ago, I think in the US that is mostly ancient history. I struggle for recognition of my work at times too. If I don't stand up for myself, I get walked on. That has nothing to do with gender.

We had a young female engineer, 25 years old at the time, who often took over meetings with a bunch of gray-hair men. She asserted herself and people listened. She ended up being my assistant and I had the pleasure of working closely with her for two years. Everyone thought highly of her. But she didn't get recognition just because she was often right. She had to fight for it just like any man.

People try to take credit for my work too.

PS. I fell in love with my assistant but I was a good dog. She could tell and we had a wonderful personal and working relationship. I looked forward to working with her every day.

 

[gmax137]

Back in the 1980s a female coworker, project manager, was in her conference room with our various engineers waiting for the clients. When the Koreans got there, one of them asked her to fetch coffee for him. "Yeah, right," she said "now let's get started..."

I know we in the US had problems but other cultures we much worse.

 

[WWGD]

I thought it was accepted overall, that in a place with 18 tables, 17 empty ( me in the other one), you don't sit right next to the only occupied table.

 

[WWGD]

There's a city called Sharm-El-Sheikh.

I want to sell Shake N Bake in Sharm el Sheikh.

 

[fresh_42]

There's a city called Sharm-El-Sheikh.

I want to sell Shake N Bake in Sharm el Sheikh.

Believe me, you won't want.

 

[WWGD]

Believe me, you won't want.

They don't like Shake and Bake there?

 

[berkeman]

I thought it was accepted overall, that in a place with 18 tables, 17 empty ( me in the other one), you don't sit right next to the only occupied table.

Was there only one waiter/waitress there at the time?

 

[fresh_42]

They don't like Shake and Bake there?

Let me put it this way:

I would not willingly deprive myself of various personal liberties. There are far too many beautiful places on Earth that I haven't seen yet and where I don't have to.