guest post on "why women are not great scientists"; and why there are more male idiots

an article in the january 22nd-28th 2005 issue of "the economist" reports that larry summers of harvard university has said the reason why women are not as good in science as men is simply because of the differences in the male and female brain structure. summers says that men are better able to systemize about the world and women better at empathizing about or with the world...

some clues have emerged from autism, a developmental disorder, that produces "an extreme male brain." autism is up to 4 times more common in boys than it is in girls, and is thought to be the result of high levels of testosterone in the womb. those who have it tend to be more capable doing puzzles and pattern-related tasks over verbal communication. they tend to be better at math.

on the other hand, in "letters to a young conservative," dinesh d'souza writes the reason why men have more geniuses (and more idiots) than women is because the male brain operates on more of a bell curve, while the female brain operates on a stable line putting more women at average.

this, d'souza says, is why women have less geniuses than men; and why men have more idiots than women.

hat tip to my son, hollan m., guest blogger