Some sex differences that look biological are really cultural

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9762790

by divia • 19 years ago

29 13 19 years ago

economist.com

alaskamiller• 19 years ago

Should have called it: VIDEO GAMES CHANGES BOTH MALE AND FEMALE PERCEPTIVENESS

nostrademons• 19 years ago

Or KILLING VIRTUAL PEOPLE IS GOOD FOR YOU ;-)

Alex3917• 19 years ago

If males are driven to playing fast twitch games because of their biology, then are the subsequent physiological adaptations considered biological or cultural?

mhartl3• 19 years ago

This is basically the "you throw like a girl" phenomenon. With a sister who played NCAA Division I varsity softball, I can assure you that girls can learn to "throw like a boy", and then some. And yet, many more girls than boys "throw like a girl" (hence the stereotype). The reason is simple: throwing well takes practice, and boys throw more than girls.

But why do boys throw more? Boys and girls have different preferences, and many of these preferences have biological as well as cultural roots. (Indeed, are there any cultures where athletic prowess is more valued in women than in men?) And so we're right back on the African savannah, where men who liked to throw learned to throw well, and thus killed more game.

It seems that, even with a "cultural" explanation, you can't escape nature.

vlad2• 19 years ago

I saw this topic come up somewhere else, and here are what the most sensible conclusions seemed to be.

The question of male to female biological differences can be answered better when you compare the best male athletes versus those of the female. There are clearly huge differences in physical abilities, and it's not because more men play sports than women.

Girls develop faster than boys in K-12, so a girl who played a sport can definitely get a college scholarship and play better baseball than the average male. However, I don't see how that proves it's in any way cultural. Sounds like genetics to me.

mhartl3• 19 years ago

You're absolutely right, though I think we're talking about slightly different things. Continuing with my example, men throw better than women mainly because men throw more than women; men throw faster than women because men are stronger than women. You could say that they are "second-order" and "first-order" biological effects, respectively.

steve2• 19 years ago

No one is arguing that the bell curves don't overlap.

vlad2• 19 years ago

"That has several implications.... one is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects."

I doubt this study demonstrated that the 3D game has to be violent.

Logically, 3D game which involve aiming and tracking mechanisms help raise situational awareness in ways two-dimensional puzzle games cannot--it's very likely that non-violent 3D aiming and moving games, if they existed, would also work.

steve2• 19 years ago

Inflammatory article that makes many misleading statements.

downvoted. twice.

ahsonwardak• 19 years ago

Agreed. For me, the worst piece of writing is:

That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects.

Ummm... seems like a really rash conclusion based on scientific article.

mattm2• 19 years ago

The study mentioned by the article failed to take any biological recordings from the participants. My guess would be that playing the violent video games causes a rise in testosterone. Since women have less, a rise in their testosterone levels would impact them more hence the evening out of the test scores. Just my theory.

Some sex differences that look biological are really cultural

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