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Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

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Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#521

Anyone with young boys and girls will notice that girls are much more likely to obey rules and instructions. A lot of doing well in school is about following rules and instructions, and it seems pretty natural that girls will do better. Also, most teachers are women. I haven't checked, but I'd assume most school administrators are women. It seems natural that they'd construct a system that's more suited for females t…

A great video on how boys are treated vs girls in schools: https://www.prageru.com/video/war-on-boys/

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#522

Anyone with young boys and girls will notice that girls are much more likely to obey rules and instructions. A lot of doing well in school is about following rules and instructions, and it seems pretty natural that girls will do better. Also, most teachers are women. I haven't checked, but I'd assume most school administrators are women. It seems natural that they'd construct a system that's more suited for females t…

> Anyone with young boys and girls

I'd have to see hard data, not anecdotes. My daughter is a wild child, actively flouts damn near every rule I create, refuses to follow instructions, and has a lot of trouble in school because she thinks it's stupid.

My son is far more compliant. Like night & day different from his sister. And they've been like this since they were old enough to start showing real personality.

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#523

I realize that this isn't terribly PC, but isn't it possible that testosterone is negatively correlated with attention span and compliance and positively correlated with risk taking? You certainly see it in other species. Without any value judgment at all, I would expect this would manifest in different outcomes in academic settings versus competitive markets. That is, it seems likely to me that some of this is due t…

PC or not, academic literature supports your views. http://psych2.phil.uni-erlangen.de/~oschult/humanlab/publica... "Thus, high levels of testosterone are associated with willingness to incur greater risk in both sexes." In my experience, this view has loose ties to ADHD, specifically regarding the hunter-farmer hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_hypothesis Doesn't say it in the article, but…

>Hartmann's main book on ADHD discusses how he tested an African tribe for ADHD. 100% of those tested were "positive" for ADHD

If this is indeed true, why are we not seriously reconsidering this whole thing of dosing kids on very shaky grounds?

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PC or not, academic literature supports your views. http://psych2.phil.uni-erlangen.de/~oschult/humanlab/publica... "Thus, high levels of testosterone are associated with willingness to incur greater risk in both sexes." In my experience, this view has loose ties to ADHD, specifically regarding the hunter-farmer hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_hypothesis Doesn't say it in the article, but…

I don’t have any background is psychology. This information you provided increases my skepticism of ADHD as being a thing at all. In short, I’ve felt since becoming an adult that ADHD is simply the result of forcing people into situations that are poorly suited to their brains, implemented by people who happened to fair well in those situations. That is, the humans themselves aren’t broken, just a different neuro-var…

>That is, the humans themselves aren’t broken, just a different neuro-variant.

I have also come to this conclusion though personal experience.

A well-intentioned person for whom I hold the utmost respect said I exhibited hallmark symptoms of ADHD. I realized the shoe really did fit, so I decided to get tested.

In the end, I was "diagnosed" with ADHD, allowing me access to a variety of drugs to "treat" it. They don't help. I have a stash of Adderall XR I don't use because it makes me feel...wrong. I've realized I need to change my approach to how I work. Systematic breaks to clear the mind helps tremendously. Coffee has a calming, stabilizing effect. Meditation of various types (Koru is an excellent system) has also helped understand my mind better to know when I'm getting off track.

I am fully convinced people "with" ADHD are supposed to be living as bold risk-takers because their bodies are literally wired for it. More men than women are wired like this, but both can "have" ADHD. Pencil-pushing desk jobs are not for these people, unless they're doing off-the-wall research and analysis.

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because if you don't characterize women as an oppressed people in every possible instance then you're sexist. The truth is that women benefit a great deal from the general goodwill that society grants them. From legal sentencing, to taking your kids to the park, to mentorship opportunities, to simply crossing the road. The list goes on, but western society generally goes out of its way to accommodate the needs of wom…

I can see why you worry your commentary will be perceived as sexist.

Uncomfortable facts are racist/sexist/-ist/-ic/etc.

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#526

I realize that this isn't terribly PC, but isn't it possible that testosterone is negatively correlated with attention span and compliance and positively correlated with risk taking? You certainly see it in other species. Without any value judgment at all, I would expect this would manifest in different outcomes in academic settings versus competitive markets. That is, it seems likely to me that some of this is due t…

I've heard from teacher friends that the year a boy hits puberty is basically a write-off academically

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"By high school, nearly 20% of all boys will have been diagnosed with ADHD." Either 1. we are medicate children too much and schooling is very screwed up or 2. 20% of boys defective to extent that they require amphetamines. I am not see third option. I am not believe 20% of boys defective to such extent. So I believe we are medicate children too much. [0]: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a32858/drugging-of-the.…

20% is how many boys that age were ever diagnosed with ADHD. 89% of children ever diagnosed have a current diagnosis. Only 62% of children with a current diagnosis take any medication.[1] So much fewer than 20% take a specific medication probably. Almost 40% of boys that age need vision correction.[2] [1] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15374416.2017.1... [2] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6644…

Which are absolutely insane numbers compared to very similar societies all around the world. I doubt there is some sort of truly unique illness doing rounds only in America.

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But foreigners can be white too (Europe, Russia, Asia) with all the implications, so the OP’s skin color is not relevant here.

I am in eastern Europe and our foreign students are all from Asia. Huge mental shortcut.

All my groupmates were and most of my doctoral committee are from Russia/Ukraine (the remaining member will be from China) but only one has non-North American (USSR) PhD

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#529
post #83

This is anecdotal but I'm sure many people are seen this increasingly. In the past 10 years on the job, I'm seeing more guys make jokes about how stupid they are. Every time they make a single mistake they say "oh my God, if my head wasn't attached to my shoulders..." Then it becomes a competition of who has done the dumbest thing. I know it's just being playful, but you rarely see the opposite. Turn the tables, I wa…

That's even a common trope in sitcoms. The husband is a loveable but bumbling idiot, while his wife is the voice of reason who frequently needs to save him from his own bad decisions. I wonder if the shows are imitating life, or the other way around. My wife did her master's thesis on discrimination based on communication, and in her research she found a study showing that the constant depiction of people with a sout…

I spent some serious time as teenager training myself out of my southern accent for this reason. You could have a PHD in Astrophysics, but if you speak with a southern accent people will assume you're an idiot.

The only downside, is that I have a slight speech impediment, but it's mild enough that most people don't notice.

And for some reason I still (25 years later) tend to pronounce hill as "heel".

Re: Girls perform better academically in almost all countries (2015)

#530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PC or not, academic literature supports your views. http://psych2.phil.uni-erlangen.de/~oschult/humanlab/publica... "Thus, high levels of testosterone are associated with willingness to incur greater risk in both sexes." In my experience, this view has loose ties to ADHD, specifically regarding the hunter-farmer hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_hypothesis Doesn't say it in the article, but…

I don’t have any background is psychology. This information you provided increases my skepticism of ADHD as being a thing at all. In short, I’ve felt since becoming an adult that ADHD is simply the result of forcing people into situations that are poorly suited to their brains, implemented by people who happened to fair well in those situations. That is, the humans themselves aren’t broken, just a different neuro-var…

I was diagnosed late with ADHD. Then I finally got a job where we don't do scrum. Never had to refill my prescriptions again. LOL
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