Even though what he said is almost certainly true.
Only open mouth to insert other foot, rinse and repeat as needed.
True maybe, but for whom?
James Tranto oat Best of the Web Today has it nailed pretty well:
"The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, sparked an uproar at an academic conference Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers," reports the Boston Globe:
Nancy Hopkins, a biologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, walked out on Summers' talk, saying later that if she hadn't left, ''I would've either blacked out or thrown up." . . . It was during his comments on ability that Hopkins, sitting only 10 feet from Summers, closed her computer, put on her coat, and walked out. ''It is so upsetting that all these brilliant young women [at Harvard] are being led by a man who views them this way," she said later in an interview.
You've just gotta love this Nancy Hopkins, who managed with her little outburst to reinforce stereotypes of feminists as humorless harpies and of women as ruled by their emotions.
Somebody better tell this guy that to say anything not PC about women or blacks is against the Cardinal rule for Acedemic survival.
It just isnt done. Truth be damned, If you want to keep your job shut up.
Hopkins is a perfect example of what you get with the rampant politicization of science. There's nothing resembling an open mind there. She has no respect for the scientific method, or differences of scholarly opinion. She should have gone into a field such as Women's Studies where raw emotion and adherence to orthodoxy is your ticket to success instead of a field that requires critical thinking skills and tolerance for ambiguity and the unknown.
I dont think its just math and science where women dont match up. Women and men are different and its their problem if they want to ignore it when its convenient for them.
now imagine if there would be any outcry if his comments about how fewer men study english or psychology.
Wow, this guy has guts.
Perhaps he is related to William Wallace?
I should expect he will be drawn and quartered if he does not swear allegiance to political correctness.
This is a tough one. There may be some small difference in math aptitude between men and women, if there is, it's probably not so large that women can't succeed. I know a researcher who studies this issue and there was a much higher percentage of women in computer science a few decades ago, so I don't think you can just blame this on a gender gap. Don't recall if I ever got an explanation from the person about what account for the drop.
War of the sexes --pinging to resident women FReepers. Bring your friends!!
Nancy Hopkins is making a career out of this. Here's a critique of her complaints against MIT from 1999. (Scroll down to see data on the distribution of math talent, males vs. females.):
http://www.uaf.edu/northern/mitstudy/
I wonder how Miss Hopkins would have reacted had Summers remarked that females are innately better at some things than males. Or would she have insisted that anything a female can do could be done equally well by a male?
Would Hopkins have left if Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey were reporting similar gender-specific behavior in chimps or gorillas?
Apparantly, Summers' own observations are not to be believed because...I'm guessing here...he's a guy?
Lawrence best stick to it, or else Nancy will chew his you know what up and spit them out and then poor Lawrence will be absolutely powerless. (smile)
You try to tell it like is and watch the "offended types" come down on you like a ton of bricks. Telling the truth in public is an unforgivable offense.
1) How much more could she have done if given challenging training? and
2) Does schooling matter with regard to an individual's drive to accomplishment?
The reason why some are so sensitive is that Biological Determinism has been used so often in the past to prevent and preclude individuals from pursuit of their aspirations.
It would be the same sensitivity to pointing out that men go to prison in higher proportion to women. This is a true statement, but it can be used inappropriately stereotype all males ... rather than to promote that each individual as unique potential
Truth Offends Feminists. Details at 11:00. ;)
What is wrong with this statement???