Nine Shift (Free subscription) | 07/17/2008
Apparently (as explained by Susan Pinker in her terrific book The Sexual Paradox) women respectfully disagree with Vince Lombardi and most males that "winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." Apparently, women prefer "It's how you play the game." Here's...
Nine Shift (Free subscription) | 07/16/2008
1. Dr. Margaret Chan. This woman single handedly prevented the spread of avian or bird flu, thus saving us from a worldwide pandemic. Never heard of her? There's several good reasons, according to author Susan Pinker. First, outstanding women often...
Nine Shift (Free subscription) | 07/14/2008
The best part of Susan Pinker's terrific new book, "The Sexual Paradox," isn't even in the book. We heard her on a radio interview. "Science must triumph over ideology." This summarizes one of the huge huge battles going on right...
Nine Shift (Free subscription) | 07/15/2008
Since this may get lots of negative reaction anyway, why not start out with a sexist joke? From a oldtime comedian, George Jessel (?) "Why do men die before their wives? Answer: Because they want to." So, on to the question, "Why do women make less than men? Answer: Because they want to." Susan Pinker in her great book The Sexual Paradox explains that women value empathy, service, mission...
Pure Pedantry (Free subscription) | 07/07/2008
I often rant about bad coverage of the psychology of sex differences , so it is always satisfying to see an article that really has their facts straight. Amanda Schaffer and Emily Bazelon, writing in Slate, have an excellent article reviewing Louann Brizendine's The Female Brain and Susan Pinker's The Sexual Paradox . They take both authors to task for selective use of the literature,...
Mind Hacks (Free subscription) | 07/04/2008
Slate has just finished an excellent five-part series on two recent books which have attempted to paint men and women as vastly different in mind, brain and behaviour by exaggerating the science of sex difference. The books in question are Louann Brizendine's The Female Brain and Susan Pinker's The Sexual Paradox . Both have been influential because the authors write from an explicitly...
