Friday, January 21, 2005

Separate but not unequal?

Intelligence in men and women is a gray and white matter: Men and women use different brain areas to achieve similar IQ results, UCI study finds

I remember, back when I was in high school, having a furious debate with Michael Jennings via email over the differences between men and women--I was arguing that they were different yet equal overall, and he was arguing that "separate is inherently unequal", citing Brown v. Board. I did not consider a comparison of the sexes to be analogous to a comparison of races, especially since the "separate" mentioned in this case refers to the quality of education, not to the actual people involved. To wit: "We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." I also was unimpressed with the notion of allowing court cases to dictate one's personal ethics. Unfortunately, I wasn't very eloquent back then, so I think I ultimately lost that debate.

After all these years, though, it looks like I get the last laugh!

Ahahaha!

;P

(Side note: I don't know what Michael would say about that debate now. This was, like, nine years ago, or something. Hell, I could have even misinterpreted what he was trying to say...but the debate/argument had a profound effect on my opinions, so I cite it as I remember it.)

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