I am very entertained, but I hope I have not annoyed anyone too much.

Not until I see some more blood and guts, I'm not.

is it a co-incidence or is orcishgamer's question from the movie Gladiator? In which case it would be quite amusing if a member of the Arena crowd answered the 'Spaniard' with "I am very entertained, but i hope i have not annoyed anyone too much"!!

At least someone got it:)

Oh, but it''s so missing from this topic.

I could have called myself a weak atheist or a wishy washy atheist, but I think of myself as an agnostic. I just had to admit that I'm leaning heavily towards the atheist end of agnosticism, and since "agnostic atheist" is in Wikipedia I figured that I can officially declare that I'm that.

I tend to be gender oblivious online, which can lead to embarrassing situations at times.

At some point, I was on msn with a buddy with whom I talk about sex from time to time (mostly comparing our experiences and such) and sure enough, we're talking about sex in that particular instance and being rather graphical about it.

Then, about 10-15 minutes into the conversation, I realize it's not my friend that is on msn, but his gf using his handle.

That was awkward to say the least.

i don't mean to be disrespectful,but for a country where girls are constantly told they're worse at math/science than boys in spite of all the "encouragement for girls" programs, where many people believe it to be true (i don't remember if it was harvard's or yale's dean that got the boot for stating it), where they're encouraged to go to all-female colleges to avoid discrimination, this isn't really surprising. Those female scientists belong to the category brainwashed and unaware of it (admittedly, what i had in mind were those women who tell other women "you should know your place"). Hypocritical too. They probably belong to an older generation. I have high hopes for younger generations.

i don't know if the same happens in european countries. i know some female (natural/engineering) scientists who went abroad and who had to prove their worth, but it was to guys. and generally speaking i've had my share of you-need-to-prove-yourself-first, but again, it was always among guys. where i live, the thought that girls might be worse at math is ridiculous, and there is no need for any science encouragement programs aimed specifically at girls. all my experience with female (and male) teachers has been good (computer science), they treat everyone equally.

though really, i could actually understand that they were biased with physics, but biology and chemistry? *facepalm*

well...you might decide to do a blood test regularly once a year, just to make sure everything's okay. then again you might not. maybe you'll never do it. it's your own choice. i know a guy who does a prostate check once a year.

menopause - yeah, but i think it might be slightly hyped up by the media. my grandma had problems with pimples, my mum with sweating and occasional migraines, my aunt..hmm don't remember, meaning it wasn't anything that bad. when it's my turn, i hope i won't have many probs :) i suppose mothers would again say it's worth it cause you get to give birth. i read an article somewhere how women, once it's over, become invigorated and more adventurous than they were before. don't know if it's true.

bladder infection is an illness like any other, and just because you're a woman, it doesn't mean you'll get it, ever. and being a man doesn't make you immune to it either.

so you see, it's not all the time :)

but yeah, you have your own problems too. what is ED btw?

and i think that lady has some other problems. it's also possible that she's the dissatisfied/frustrated/overly stressed kind that can't handle it well, so on a "wrong day" it piles up.

isn't it laughed at when you take your pants off? :)

well, when you go out with a new chick, she might put something in your drink when you're not looking, and then later do nasty things. or be a creepy stalker that will make your life miserable. or when you go to her place (or just around the corner) some brutes she was working with might get you and then sell your organs.

heck, when you're walking in the street the person just passing by might pull out a gun and start shooting. or you might be standing in front of a store and a flower vase might fall on your head and kill you (true story).

you don't think about those things or assume the worst, else you'd never leave your house again, or end up in an asylum.

before you got married, when you went out with women, did you fear you might be laughed at each time? you don't go out with a person that you think might be like that.

as for complete strangers that nobody knows, well, you shouldn't trust people you don't know, so you go to a public place where there are other people.

unless they're thoroughly brainwashed with media drivel/propaganda and fucked up upbringing in a fucked up society, women do not feel like poor, weak, spineless, pathetic damsels in distress that need to fear every single thing and can't do shit themselves.

Yep! Like with everything :)

I know ;)

and i wonder, is there any fit guy here or are you all ugly greasy weirdos who never take showers? cause you know, unless you're hot, you don't count.

queen latifah and adele say hi btw.

I think it might be related to introversion/extroversion.
I used to sit/stand close only to people i felt close to. And guys/male avatars used to stand/sit as close to female avatars as possible. I actually had to move all the time, and in many cases they would be persistent and move closer again.

Concerning your statements regarding females and maths (or computer sciences), I think that there is a greater interest amongst the male population on average for those topics.

One theory I would propose is that females tend to have greater interpersonal interests (notably, dating) earlier in life than boys at an age when the math part of the brain is in full development.

If you look at some of the greatest mathematicians, I think you'll find the majority were not very social types.

Heck, I have a lot of natural aptitude for mathematics and I did not start dating women until I was 22.

I'm pretty sure there is a correlation here.

Of course, these are tendencies, rather than absolute rules and there is plenty of overlap (men who have no interests in mathematics and women who are gifted mathematicians).

However, when talking about gender tendencies, I think taking the perfectly symmetrical approach is very politically correct, but also naive.

Sigh I'm tired, have a headache and really don't want to go there in detail now.

I really don't know about the dating part. Possible since girls hit puberty first. The majority of great scientists (not just mathematicians) were not very social types. It enabled them to spend a awful lot of time on the subject matters that interested them. Not just during the time of brain development, but in general.

Assuming your theory is correct, does that mean that you think that while girls think about dating, guys of the same age are engaged in intellectual pursuits that develop their brain in a way to have more talent for math?
Where does that put guys who like to play soccer/basketball after school with their friends, or computer games, or watch movies?

I don't think so.

Does that also mean that you'll find fewer math talented people among extroverts (since they like to be with other people)? I really don't think so. At grad school/phd level you will find more introverts, cause they're more willing to spend time alone to do what they need to. I know insanely talented people who switched majors cause they didn't want to be stuck in a lab, and wanted to be more with people.

How do you explain the fact that at the department of math at my uni there are always as many girls as there are guys? In each generation. In some generations there were actually more girls. Would that mean that croatian girls have a particular talent for math? Of course not. Computer science and engineering are improving by day, since technology is ubiquitous. You'd be surprised to see how many freshman girls are studying them.

If you tell a child that they're not good at something, or that they shouldn't expect to be good at something, they will live exactly up to that expectation. Unless they decide to prove you wrong, which doesn't happen often.

Physics and engineering, especially some fields, are another story (physics to a lesser extent). But math, math is a myth as far as I am concerned. Let's just agree to disagree.

I agree.

However, I think the early brain development stages are event more crucial.

I think there is more overlap between computer games and computer sciences/math than most people give it credit, especially for the more brainy types of games.

Heck, some people go very far in their analysis for the optimisation of their strategy for some games.

Either way, spending more time by yourself definitely opens up the door for the introspection required for mathematical thinking.

I think about math stuff when I'm alone, not when I'm with my gf.

Also, dating can be a very emotional process and my personal experience is that computer sciences and maths are topics best delved into when you have a cool head.

Definitely. Your talents go hand in hand with your interests as part of it is innate abilities, but part of it is spending the time to nurture the skill.

Well, in my math classes, the ratio of girls was 25% to 33% and in my computer science classes, they were even fewer in numbers.

People I talked to from other universities made similar observations.

It might have been true in past generations, but a lot less for mine.

I think it applies to maths as well, though not as much as computer sciences.

It would be interesting to look at formal statistics on the matter.

Amazing, why i only ever 'hear' about these kind of stories yet never come close to one myself?? (or i have but did not realize) Anyway, please tell us was the GF motivated by jealousy, curiosity, lust or other???

Adele and Queen Latifah? If you threw a stick they'd chase it.

She was affectionately dependent (the type that strays when not in the constant presence of their significant other) and unhappy in her relationship as he is more of an independent type.

She was unfaithful to him twice before they broke up though not with me as he is my friend and while I considered her physically attractive, she was not my type psychologically.

If she had not been my friend's gf, it might have been interesting, but she was so it was awkward.

I had the vague impression that she was flirting with me at one point and should probably have clued my friend in about it, but chose to mind my own business and give her the benefit of the doubt instead and hoped that things would work out between them. It didn't.

Out of curiosity, what do mean by "proving themselves"? Is it that different from a guy having to prove himself? My experience (as a man) is that in just about any new environment I "have to" prove myself to the other guys, be it in the military, at the uni, or even at parent meetings at schools to some degree. When it comes to women, on the other hand, it's usually enough to "prove" I'm not an as*hole, and that's basically it.

One obvious explanation is that it's not the other guys that think I "need" to prove myself, but that it's just me that feel the need to do so. I'm not the only one feeling that way, though, and if enough people expect something of themselves in relation to others, it might for all practical purposes be viewed as a common trait within that group.

So, what I'd be interested in finding out is if "women having to prove themselves in male dominated areas" is any different from "men having to prove themselves in male dominates areas" - apart from men being a lot more used to "having" to prove themselves. Any thoughts?

You're right - there's tons of stuff missing from this topic - we'll just have to try to remedy that, one de-railing at the time =P

Likely Erectile Dysfunction, though possibly Ejaculation Disorder too.