Apparently men are both smarter AND stupider than women but women are more “chauvinistic”?

Oh goody. Another post on Quora. Brace yourselves, ladies. The question is “how come women say they’re smarter than men?”. Here are some of the answers:

”Chauvinism.

It’s not hard to find a woman who is smarter than a man with a demonstrably low IQ. Similarly, it’s no problem to find a man smarter than a woman who isn’t terribly bright. Generalizing for either example is a logical fallacy, committed by not-very-bright, not very educated (or both) people.

As a matter of statistics, women tend to cluster around the mean where IQ is concerned, whereas men have a broader distribution. What this means is women are generally closer to each other in intelligence, while men as a group tend to have more members of the group at the extremes, either having very low IQs or very high IQs. The theory is that nature (evolution) experiments with the male sex because failures are inconsequential for the species as a whole.

To put this another way, safeguarding the reproductive capacity of a species is important for survival, but so is genetic variation, but they are mutually antagonistic. A lot of mutations among females could endanger the reproductive capacity. The solution minimizes genetic diversity among females, but maximizes it for males. If a male has a destructive mutation, the capability of surviving males to satisfy the reproductive needs of the species is not affected (one healthy male can impregnate many females), thus allowing us to have our cake and eat it too.

The other side of the coin of male redundancy is genetic competition. Every species engages in sexual selection for the fittest specimens. High IQ males are generally the most successful members of society and thus get the most reproductive opportunities, that elevates all subsequent generations of both males and females which is how we got from Australopithecus to Homo Sapiens.

In the end, there are more high IQ men, than high IQ women, but also more low IQ men than low IQ women. As to overall IQ? Hard to say. Probably more or less equal in the aggregate, although skewed by things like mathematical, verbal and spatial skills.”

“I cannot speculate on motivation, but I can tell you that the mean IQ of adult males is higher than the mean IQ of of adult females. The difference is 4–5 points at the mean. A difference of only 3 points at the mean translates into a large difference at high IQs.

Since questions have been frequently asked about the sex difference in intelligence, I have answered a lot of them. I will list some of the answers below, so you can read some or all, as you see fit:

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Brian White

· 5y

What is the average IQ of males?

The mean IQ of males is most often cited as 4 points above that of females, but this seems to vary by race, with the smallest difference for whites. Some data have shown a male advantage of up to 6 points. If you examine IQ only in the right tail (say 130 and above) the ratio of males to females is high. This is due to the difference at the mean and the higher variability (SD) of IQ among males. Source of quoted material below: Brother–sister differences in the g factor in intelligence: Analysis of full, opposite-sex siblings from the NLSY1979. Ian J. Deary, Paul Irwing, Geoff Der, Timothy C. Bates. Intelligence 35 (2007) 451 - 456. Among the top 2% AFQT scores, there were almost twice as many males as females. These differences could provide a partial basis for sex differences in intellectual eminence. The ASVAB data show a sex difference in coding speed of -0.48 (negative favors females); auto and shop information 0.89; mechanical comprehension 0.58;electronics information 0.56; and science 0.21. Among the top 2% AFQT scores, there were almost twice as many males as females. These differences could provide a partial basis for sex differences in intellectual eminence." The higher number of males at low and high ends of the intelligence spectrum are discussed in Sex Differences in Variability in General Intelligence, A New Look at the Old Question; Wendy Johnson, Andrew Carothers, and Ian J. Deary. This paper contains the figures below: The following paper examines the sex differences by breeding group and shows that the differences are lowest for whites: Sex differences across different racial ability levels: Theories of origin and societal consequences; Helmuth Nyborg; Intelligence 52 (2015) 44–62. Source of the next three figures is the paper referenced above.“

That last one claims he’s a “scientist” and he MADE those statistics himself. Let that sink in.

So in a nutshell, women cannot be smarter than men but if a woman proves she’s smarter than a man, she somehow a “chauvinist”. Huh?

”Women are conformists and non original thinkers. Everyone knows this. Anything women accomplish rides on the back of men's prior inventions and research.”

Really, dude? EVERYONE? Speaking of “conformists”

”Why do some women so consistently attempt to enforce female conformity, and feel personally attacked when their female peers don’t conform to toxic femininity?”

Holy fucking shit, this word again: “toxic femininity”! It’s as if this guy gets offended with certain women’s femininity so much that he has to call it “toxic”! Why the fuck is he so obsessed with “female conformity”? Does he not realize the double standard of this behavior? He whines about not being able to enjoy his masculinity all because of some “female conformity” yet he fails to acknowledge the struggles of women regarding gender identity!

”Ngl this is exactly why I have a hard time being friend with other women, some seem to want to uphold a certain standards- which it doesn't bother me- but what bothers me is the expectation for others to follow through and look down upon if you don't. Why not just let the others be and just do what makes YOU happy?

But at the same time I've been seeing "I'm not like the other girls," being associated with "incel nice girls." Which cringe me. The social media I'm noticing has make me weary of this saying.”

Because you’re proving JUST THAT! You hate other women so much to the point where you internalized misogyny. And when you say you’re “not like the other girls”, you’re making other women feel horrible about themselves and fall into the same habit that you have.

”Victim mentality. If the norm is to be a victim, then you better uphold that norm in the way you act, or, apparently, you are being a bitch, or "unrealistic". "How dare you not be afraid of every man you walk by" "how dare you dress the way you want in public" "how dare you not carry mace with you". That's what I often find with my peers anyway. (F(ish)30)”

Apparently, if a woman is “afraid of all men” then she must be a man-hating feminazi. Because all us women are ever good is playing the victim. I highly doubt this “female-ish” person is even a woman to begin with.

”Is it really that hard to comprehend that people tend to gravitate towards other people who share the same interests, values, and ideals? This isn’t specific to women as all humans exhibit this behavior. Furthermore, why would anyone care if someone else doesn’t like them when chances are that we already have established social circles? This “not-like-other-girls” meme you are referencing is a byproduct of social media and not “toxic femininity” because toxic femininity doesn’t exist. This term was created in response to, and as a deflection from, toxic masculinity. If you are having a hard time making friends with other women, maybe you should evaluate yourself before you assume that other women don’t like you simply because your opinions are different.”

Perfect response. I love it!