KPJ wrote:
|Personally, I notice no greater difference in intelligence between the
|human sexes. There exists a number of behavioural differences, mainly due
|to social programming, but also from hormonal differences, and, finally,
|from DNA differences. The social programming makes the greatest difference.
It appears as if Samantha Atkins <samantha@objectent.com> wrote:
|
|DNA differences? I don't think so. Female and male brains are
|differentiated somewhat during fetal development due to the
|presence/absence of certain chemicals and hormones. That and sex
|hormone differences account for pretty much all of the non-societal
|difference. And no, the social programming apparently does not make the
|greatest difference. There are fairly wide-spread differences
|regardless of culture and period. And females raised as males, males
|raised as females, intersexed people and transsexual folks all bear
|evidence of social conditioning not being predominate.
I do think so, since females and males have different chromosomes. Some
diseases appear mainly in males due to DNA differences (males have one
copy, while females do have two copies). Since the intelligence and all
the other products of "the mind" (whatever it "is") is implemented by a
device built on orders from the DNA, I cannot understand why those "mind"
parts somehow should form an island, as it were, in the organism which
does not feel the impact from a DNA difference. It appears very improbable
that that should be the case. There're lots of data in one chromosome,
after all.
I do not wish to enter the arena of discussing the semantics of "gender"
versus "sex" in the contemporary American language, however.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:27 MDT