On 5/3/06, Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> It's been my experience that women can do better at things that men
> believe they should "just know" but actually aren't taught, because
> they take the time to learn rather than approach the issue as a
> know-it-all-and-can't-admit-that-they-don't. Your experience with
> firearms may fall into that category. Driving is another.
If the stereotype is right, women are "multitaskers." This may be related to societal incentives to stick to jobs related to housewifery/childcare, or maybe there's some sort of genetic or hormonal component (though I doubt it). The problem with being a multitasker is that one doesn't specialize in a small enough number of tasks to learn to do one really well. On the other hand, men are more likely to be single-minded (perhaps because they're so often exempted from househusbandry/childcare tasks), they can learn to do one task (chess-playing or whatever) really well.
Put another way, a space cadet (with Asperger's Syndrome?) like Einstein wasn't pushed to really do anything with his life, having only an easy job. This allowed him to dream (to do gedanken experiments) and to figure out some basic questions in physics. If he'd had to take care of kids, on the other hand, ... -- Jim Devine / "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists." -- John Kenneth Galbraith.