[General Battuta]

So for instance women are definitely better at communicating emotion then men are.  The emotions are largely the same and felt in slightly different but equally significant ways.  The difference is that women have a superhighway connecting the two sides of the brain allowing those emotions to generally be expressed in a more communicative way whereas men have a country lane connecting the two sides of the brain and thus the inability to express in an equally communicative way.

This is a total myth. Women's brains are not more interconnected or communicative than men. It has become very prevalent but it is not supported by data. I can send you a few papers if you're interested.

Is Caprica going to be on SyFy, or is it going to be on NBC or something like that?  At least Caprica takes place 2,000 years from now on a world other than Earth.

We have no idea what the chronology is relative to the present day, unfortunately.

[IceFire]

So for instance women are definitely better at communicating emotion then men are.  The emotions are largely the same and felt in slightly different but equally significant ways.  The difference is that women have a superhighway connecting the two sides of the brain allowing those emotions to generally be expressed in a more communicative way whereas men have a country lane connecting the two sides of the brain and thus the inability to express in an equally communicative way.

This is a total myth. Women's brains are not more interconnected or communicative than men. It has become very prevalent but it is not supported by data. I can send you a few papers if you're interested.

Is Caprica going to be on SyFy, or is it going to be on NBC or something like that?  At least Caprica takes place 2,000 years from now on a world other than Earth.

We have no idea what the chronology is relative to the present day, unfortunately.

Yes please send me the papers because what you said just contradicts what I've been reading.

[General Battuta]

Righto. Check it out...

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Grimper]

Some roles are prescribed for a reason. Others aren't (and can go to hell as far as I'm concerned).

One example would be military. Men make better fighters. It's that simple.

The US army did tests on that. Turns out that women make better commandos for several reasons:


1. They work better in a team.

2. Their body fat is more spread out and so they have better insulation against cold. Men tend to have too much muscle and not enough fat, so they freeze very quickly.

3. They work better under pressure.

4. They tend to be more nimble, so they are usually better shots than men.

5. They are usually better drivers when trained (yes I know, don't say it...)

6. They don't whine as much.

[Commander Zane]

6. They don't whine as much.

Are you actually in the military? That's a load of rubbish.
But EVERYONE whines like a bunch of babies, like no tomorrow.

[Dilmah G]

6. They don't whine as much.

Are you actually in the military? That's a load of rubbish.
But EVERYONE whines like a bunch of babies, like no tomorrow.

I have to agree with that. Everyone *****es about everything, but they get the job done in the end

Some roles are prescribed for a reason. Others aren't (and can go to hell as far as I'm concerned).

One example would be military. Men make better fighters. It's that simple.

The US army did tests on that. Turns out that women make better commandos for several reasons:


1. They work better in a team.

2. Their body fat is more spread out and so they have better insulation against cold. Men tend to have too much muscle and not enough fat, so they freeze very quickly.

3. They work better under pressure.

4. They tend to be more nimble, so they are usually better shots than men.

5. They are usually better drivers when trained (yes I know, don't say it...)

6. They don't whine as much.

I think the first, third, and fourth points are much more dependent on that individual irrespective of their gender.

1.  I think this comes down to personality to some extent, but from what I've seen, women seem to bicker and argue less when working in a team, so I half-agree with you there.

3. I can name plenty of incidents where women have effectively failed and crumbled under pressure. But I assume the study is referring to trained women. Otherwise, I find most younger, untrained women prone to breaking down in a life-death situation, but then again, so do most untrained people. Last year I think it was a guy and his mate decided to kill his ex-girlfriend and her friend after harassing her for a few months, he was about to shoot her and her mate and told them to run or he'd blow their brains out. The ex-girlfriend was too busy crying and begging for mercy rather than having her head screwed on right and thinking how the hell she was going to escape, which is what a trained person would've been thinking. The other girl made the second glaring mistake and ran in a straight line for seven hundred metres, she would've been an easy, easy target for anyone who knew how to pull the trigger, luckily she didn't die. My key point is training and personality play a big part in this. Women are basically taught by the media to be passive and be social-centered, while men are portrayed as seeking out conflict etc. 

4. I agree women tend to be nimble, I play paintball on a regular basis and whenever I see women play, when they move their quick, but mostly they stay in the same position for too long, and often take too long to line up the shot. However if women are being used in a marksman role then lining up the shot is a good thing, I agree, women are better snipers. Then again most of these women are relatively untrained and not used to a paintball environment. But that's a heavy generalization, the other half of women I see play are fast-runners, run from cover to cover, and use their patience effectively and sneak behind you. I assume those women are the ones who were present in the study.

Training and personality are the two-big factors IMO.

[Rian]

Of course it depends on the individual. These studies can only talk about the average, and would never say that these things are true of all women or all men. Self-selection most likely also affects these statistics, as people who self-select into an unconventional role may be more competent in that role than the average person off the street. But the point is, large groups of women have proven themselves to be more than capable of performing alongside men in these contexts.

[Scotty]

Back on-topic:

I just saw a preview for a new show, Warehouse 13.  It looks promising if they can get and keep good writers.

[Dilmah G]

Of course it depends on the individual. These studies can only talk about the average, and would never say that these things are true of all women or all men. Self-selection most likely also affects these statistics, as people who self-select into an unconventional role may be more competent in that role than the average person off the street. But the point is, large groups of women have proven themselves to be more than capable of performing alongside men in these contexts.

Yeah, someone like my mother for example, who is a good mother, but cracks under pressure very easily would stay well away from anything of the sort.

I have no personal issue against women in front-line infantry roles, the only significant reasons why women shouldn't/aren't in those roles are basically the way men treat women and the average woman's stature/strength versus their male counterparts. I would support women in front-line roles as they pass training and can do the same things as men do on the front-lines, thus would serve just as well as a male soldier. One-thing I don't agree with is women being given leeway in infantry training because they're women. Fair enough women have a shorter average stature and are prone to back problems carrying heavy loads, but that's what they're signing up for, front-line infantry is predominantly a mens world, so in the most non-sexist way, women have to play by mens rules if they apply for infantry.

Back on-topic:

I just saw a preview for a new show, Warehouse 13.  It looks promising if they can get and keep good writers.

Does it happen to be an X-Files rip off?

[Scotty]

Possibly.  Wouldn't hurt any, really.

[Grimper]

Well I did say commandos, so obviously they are highly trained. Also these arn't my opinions, they are just the official results from the test.

[Dilmah G]

Well I did say commandos, so obviously they are highly trained. Also these arn't my opinions, they are just the official results from the test.

Fair enough then, they make more sense that way if the individuals were highly trained.

[Falcon]

I hope Sci-fi doesn't turn into another Garbage4TV. Nothing but **** on that channel. I miss TechTV and I'll miss Sci-fi if it turns into garbage. ;_;

[Mika]

Question:
If men and female are physically as capable, why is there a division in the olympic games between men and women? Also, I heard about women who can carry heavy loads in the army, but in the end I never saw one. Why almost all women gymnasts refuse to learn the Thomas flare or planche?

True equality does not mean you substitute woman to a man job and vice versa. True equality means you accept that there is a difference between men and woman and acknowledge the strengts and weaknesses of both genders.

Mika

[IceFire]

Righto. Check it out...

Interesting reading!  Thanks!

[Daniel P]

What about the Discovery Heath Channel.

Before it was good now it just taking about Baby, Birth, and adaption.

How that is heath.

Sci-fi, discovery channel, health channel, and the history channel slowing turning into garbage.

[General Battuta]

Question:
If men and female are physically as capable, why is there a division in the olympic games between men and women? Also, I heard about women who can carry heavy loads in the army, but in the end I never saw one. Why almost all women gymnasts refuse to learn the Thomas flare or planche?

True equality does not mean you substitute woman to a man job and vice versa. True equality means you accept that there is a difference between men and woman and acknowledge the strengts and weaknesses of both genders.

Mika

I would certainly never claim this. Women have lower upper-body strength on average.

But many fit women probably have enough upper-body strength to play with the big boys. If they can pass qualifying exams, no reason to stop them!

We should discriminate on the basis of physical fitness, not gender.

[Scotty]

However, in some places gender can pose distinct challenges and difficulties in some situations.  That is one of the major issues with women on the front lines in the military (and some others, can't think of them right now).  Plumbing is a major issue, as well as differing dietary requirements (slight, but still significant).  Having to ship two different kinds of rations just to keep a unit functioning at a bare minimum would be a logistical nightmare.

[General Battuta]

However, in some places gender can pose distinct challenges and difficulties in some situations.  That is one of the major issues with women on the front lines in the military (and some others, can't think of them right now).  Plumbing is a major issue, as well as differing dietary requirements (slight, but still significant).  Having to ship two different kinds of rations just to keep a unit functioning at a bare minimum would be a logistical nightmare.

Nope, these aren't huge issues, actually -- women have been effectively serving on the front line in major wars for years without starving to death or clogging the toilets or whatever. The differential dietary requirements are insignificant, and since women need only a tiny additional amount of iron compared to men, it'd be easy enough to provide -- just make all the rations nourishing for both.

Practical evidence suggests that the only two big obstacles are, first, the physical difference -- which is why we discriminate on the basis of fitness -- and, second, the attitude of men towards women, with respect to both sexuality (rape is an issue) and protectionism. Those will only be changed by the acceptance of women into these roles.

Remember, women serve in a front-line capacity all the time in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's just not called front-line. And what difficulties there are are dealt with.

[Mika]

Having to ship two different kinds of rations just to keep a unit functioning at a bare minimum would be a logistical nightmare.

I think Army has an answer for that one: send only one. Or nothing at all (as usual)

What it comes to women in army, my grandfather fought against Russian units that had women. I think he carried the guilt of shooting them for the rest of his life. I suppose every veteran starts to regret his deeds in wars some time, but this was different from the other veterans I have seen. It was a much more deeper conflict that affected the rest of his life. And it must have been pretty much the same for those opposing side veterans that survived the conflict and saw the women die right in front of their eyes.

Mika