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From: @hamlet.bitnet:tan@devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Greer H. Tan)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Logic and Language
Message-ID: <5733@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>
Date: 2 Nov 88 16:18:20 GMT
References: <5688@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> <5715@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>
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In article <5719@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> you write:
>I recently heard of a study (I heard this form a couple of sources,
>one of which was the SF Chronicle) where the brains of males and
>females were disected and compared.  They found that the bundle of
>fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain is consistantly
>and significantly thicker in females than in males.  Since the left
>brain supposedly controls the language and logical functions and the
>right side supposedly controls the emotions, they theorized that this
>greater connectivity enables women to combine the two realms of
>thought more than men.
>
How recent were these articles published?  How widely spread/ or rather
how visible was this discovery made?  It seems to me, a discovery like
this would really cause quite an uproar in society ... a biological
proof of the difference between men's and women's way of thought? ...
I mean ... that is what we've been trying to fight all along, right?  That
there is no intellectual difference between men and women other than
our biological functions ... a discovery like this seems to say, there
*is* a difference in the brains of men and women and therefore we *do*
think differently.

>The article also mentioned a study where men and women were placed in
>conferences where some negotiating took place.  Later, they were asked
>to summarize the outcome.  The men would remember that "Mr. X agreed
>to the proposal", whereas the women would convey that "Mr. X
>*reluctantly* agreed to the proposal".  Thus strengthening the
>proposition that women are not only aware of the logical facts of the
>meeting, but also of the emotions.
>
>Perhaps this explains why women express their emotions more readily
>than men do.  To express an emotion, which originates on the right
>side of the brain, some information would have to be passed to the
>left brain where a sentence can be formed.  This could also explain
>why women are more likely to act on their intuition (and the phrase "a
>woman's intuition").  For whatever reason, there is a stigma in our
>society against making decisions based on any information that isn't
>completely logical.  So when women voice concerns about emotional
>issues, they are offen dismissed as being illogical.
>
>These findings suggest that it is not the case that women are "alien
>to the world of logic", but that women can express both logical and
>non-logical ideas.  (Non-logical does not imply illogical.)  And men
>are less capable of expressing non-logical ideas.
>
>
>-Doris Karlson

What Doris says would be the logical conclusion and actually, I think it
explains a lot.  I've often been amazed at the consistency of thought and
action of the men that I know.  The more educated, the more consistent,
though this relationship (of consistency and education) doesn't apply
to women.  Does this mean that less educated men may have higher conductivity
between their left and right brain too?  Women on the other hand ... as
far as behavioral reaction in a situation ... really don't seem to differ
regardless of their educational background ... where, it seems that there
is a difference among men ... has anyone else found this to be true?  Does
this imply that perhaps it is the learning process that narrows the
communication between logic and emotion in men?

Society probably still needs to be convinced that women *can* think as
logically as men as well as think more non-logic than men (I mean,
that means that a woman's brain might have greater capabilities than
a man's ... is the world ready for that?)

Now this is what I wonder ... men dominated through history because
on the whole, they tend to be physically stronger and since primitive
time, their strength was the beginning of their reign.  However, brut
now-a-days is thought of more as the polar opposite of having brains,
so wouldn't it make more sense for society to believe that women have
more intelligence and men have more brawn?  I mean, I think most people
would be shocked to find out that Lou Feragno (sp?) or Arnold Schwartzneger
had a PhD in Quantum Physics or something, right?

-Greer Tan