The New York Times > Science > Gray Matter and Sexes: A Gray Area Scientifically

The New York Times > Science > Gray Matter and Sexes: A Gray Area Scientifically:

For Dr. Summers and others, the overwhelmingly male tails of the bell curve may be telling. Such results, taken together with assorted other neuro-curiosities like the comparatively greater number of boys with learning disorders, autism and attention deficit disorder, suggest to them that the male brain is a delicate object, inherently prone to extremes, both of incompetence and of genius.

Who is this guy! I love him. I've been pointing that out too - being born a male, that's no guarantee of success. We may see more males at the very top of success than females but we need to take into account all those males who fail utterly, those in jail, those with mental illnesses, those who die in war or crime. That is, there is selection bias in saying men have advantages over women. Only those who survived have it better than women.

One comparison is to polygamy (legally having more than one wife). Is it good for males or bad? The initial response is: sure, it's good for males because they can have a harem (salacious laughter). But look at it more closely. It's not the case that a polygamous society would instantaneously have more girls be born. No, there would still be a 1:1, male:female ratio (more accurately, it's 105:100 ratio in the US, at birth; and it declines every second after that). If some man has three wives that means there are two men out there unable to find a wife. On average it would be the same as a strictly monogamous society. But that's on average. It may still be better to be born a female in such a society. Why? Because it's safer. There's more insurance for a woman. She can always find a mate, even if she has to share him with other women. That's not the case with men. They have a higher chance of having multiple mates but also a higher chance of having no mates at all. In this society, males and females may average the same number of mates, but males have a larger Bell curve (compare high risk investment options).


(It should be pointed out that a society such as the US, where there are no legal penalties for having a mistress, is partially polygamous. A status-rich man can have as many women as he can provide status for.)