

Some sex differences that look biological are really cultural - divia
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9762790

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mhartl
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.

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vlad
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.

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mhartl
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.

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mattm
Men throw _better_ (whatever the definition - I'm assuming you mean
accurately) and faster than women because our muscles are stronger. You can
take a boy and a girl who have never thrown anything and the boy would throw
better than the girl.

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mhartl
My contention is that throwing well is a skill, dominated by practice, while
throwing fast is an ability, dominated by talent. Girls who practice a lot can
throw better than almost any boy, but they can't begin to compete in terms of
speed with even moderately well-trained boys.

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vlad
"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.

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Alex3917
If males are driven to playing fast twitch games because of their biology,
then are the subsequent physiological adaptations considered biological or
cultural?

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mattm
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.

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steve
Inflammatory article that makes many misleading statements.

downvoted. twice.

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ahsonwardak
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.

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

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nostrademons
Or KILLING VIRTUAL PEOPLE IS GOOD FOR YOU ;-)

