men really are better AND worse than women

She didn't know she was supposed to be unhappyRoy Baumeister made a presentation last month at the American Psychological Association that is a flash of cold reality to some, heresey to others and a welcomed breath of intellectual honesty to others.

Professor Denis Dutton chronicals Dr. Baumeister’s presentation on his site. Here are some of his points that resonated strongly with me:

1) “Almost certainly, it is something biological and genetic. And my guess is that the greater proportion of men at both extremes of the IQ distribution is part of the same pattern. Nature rolls the dice with men more than women. Men go to extremes more than women. It’s true not just with IQ but also with other things, even height: The male distribution of height is flatter, with more really tall and really short men”

“… In an important sense, men really are better AND worse than women.”

2) “Maybe the differences between the genders are more about motivation than ability. This is the difference between can’t and won’t.

3) “The gist of our view was that there are two different ways of being social. In social psychology we tend to emphasize close, intimate relationships, and yes, perhaps women specialize in those and are better at them than men. But one can also look at being social in terms of having larger networks of shallower relationships, and on these, perhaps, men are more social than women.”

4) “As a result, culture mainly arose in the types of social relationships favored by men. Women favor close, intimate relationships. These are if anything more important for the survival of the species. That’s why human women evolved first. We need those close relationships to survive. The large networks of shallower relationships aren’t as vital for survival — but they are good for something else, namely the development of larger social systems and ultimately for culture.”

My take:  Dr. Baumeister is thoughtful and heroic in presenting a view that no doubt will be viewed as heretical by those who like to view the world as they wish it to be… and not the way it apparently is.

Roger Freberg

a REAL 50 mph H.P.V.*

* Human Powered Vehicle

a real 50 mph vehicle

Is it a toy? Is it practical? If it takes your entire body to power it, how easy is it to steer? Sooooo many questions… in the meantime, it looks very cool.

I received an email from the  ol SciFi.Com folks  … and since I have been a fan of recumbent bikes, I thought I’d give it a look.  The HyperBike folks have a nice web site  and it looks like they have more in the future:

“For the next prototype, which he hopes to begin work on soon, DeForest has garnered technical assistance that begins to address some of the issues the current prototype presents. He has attracted attention from the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program, a NASA-funded program based in Florida with offices throughout the country.”

For the rest of us… we’ll have to see if this develops into something practical… it already looks fun!

Roger Freberg
 

Patriotic & Proud YouTube Poet

Patriotic & Proud American

She called…

Blacks, Whites…wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philipenes, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitans, waitin’ Hispanics y’all.

Please be paitent
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezualean, Cuban, Dominican, Panamanian Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn’t have time to decipher what to call ’em,
so she called ’em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, “I am America, and I’m calling on the land of the free.”
So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chisled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a pheonix
and said “don’t worry, we’ll stand in your defense.”
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the “hold on”, “wait-a-minute’s”, and “what-if’s”.
And “Daddy, where you goin?”.
And, “Mommy, why you leavin?”.
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said “Don’t worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegience
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I’m breathin, I’ll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
“I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I’LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I’LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!”

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don’t y’all cry for me.
You see, my Father’s prepared a place.
I’ll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW’s, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrafice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy’s weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I’m Black. Or white.

Or

African American or Caucasian,
I’m Asian, excuse me.
I’m Vietnamese, Philipene, Korean, or Jamaican.
I’m Haitan, Hispanic

Y’all, Please be paitent.
I’m Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezualean, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I’m Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We’re just Americans.
So with that I say
“Thank You” to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be…FREE! ”

___________________________________________

Roger Freberg

Here’s more on this inspiring soldier

Trojan Football is Coming! Step 1 — get tickets!

worth their weight in gold!

Step 1: Get the tickets!

For those who know and care… the time is arriving when your long awaited Southern California Trojan Season Tickets will arrive! This happened to me today!

Step 2: WHO gets to go?

This is always a challenge. Karen has graduated from USC and is now heading for her Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee , so she’s not in consideration. Kristin will probably attend one of the games, my guess will be the USC-UCLA game — which should be a tale of revenge and city bragging rights.

Left over tickets? heh heh, silly bruins.

Step 3: Fight on! Let the season begin!

Roger Freberg

Is Arianna Huffington asking us to “Watch Our Neighbor?”

watch thy neighbor?

Well, I just got my daily email from Arianna Huffington announcing that I could now look into my neighbor’s political donation history. I find this a bit disturbing, some might find it intimidating… even threatening. Arianna is quick to qualify her support of this new system by saying: 

“We’re just using technology to make the public record much easier to access and, therefore, much more public.” However, I am a bit concerned with who and how this information will be used. I am not interested in seeing where the big boys & girls donate… they seem to play all sides.. I am worried about exposing all the little folks. I can just see one of my left wing nut neighbors dropping by with a little chat about my donation to  Rudy Giuliani  or the NRA while they attempt to exert a little neighborly pressure on the ‘incorrectness’ of this or that donation. This is not America. 

Yep, sounds a little like how folks used to watch each other back in the old days, right Comrade? Roger Freberg