Men's Brains vs. Women's Brains

[OpenBook]

So as not to take another thread completely off-topic, I'm starting a different thread on Men's Brains and how they're different from Women's Brains - and why.

 

This was sprung out of one of Carhill's posts (Carhill I hope you don't mind!):

 

ETA, while not 'scientific', I like how

explains the machinations of the male brain. It's funny but also pretty darned accurate.

 

This video is ROFL funny, by the way!!

 

The gist of it is, men segregate their brains into boxes and are very careful not to let the boxes even touch each other; and their favorite is the "Nothing" box with nothing in it (like when they're fishing - "Huh?":lmao:).

 

While women's brains are completely interconnected. Everything has a relationship with everything else. And their brains never stop moving. ZZZzzz-zzzt.:lmao:

 

This sure does explain a lot. My question is, why is it so important for men to keep their boxes separated from each other??? For efficiency? A form of control? they crave simplicity? What is it?

[Emilia]

 

This sure does explain a lot. My question is, why is it so important for men to keep their boxes separated from each other??? For efficiency? A form of control? they crave simplicity? What is it?

 

I don't really believe men or women have a different brain. By and large we are socialised differently yes but how an older generation male thinks is quite different from how a younger generation male thinks for example so to me the question is redundant I suppose.

[IcedEarth]

I don't really believe men or women have a different brain. By and large we are socialised differently yes but how an older generation male thinks is quite different from how a younger generation male thinks for example so to me the question is redundant I suppose.

 

Yeah, they're different because of thousands of years of acting differently in different roles.

 

The "nothing" box is pretty true, and women do seem to interconnect everything.

 

Women make these leaps of logic that Bill Engvall said "evil knievel couldn't make", and he put it as "My wife caught me sneaking cigarettes so she jumped right to 'If you're lying about cigarettes, you must be cheating on me' ".

 

Our brains don't get that type of logic.

[Emilia]

Yeah, they're different because of thousands of years of acting differently in different roles.

 

The "nothing" box is pretty true, and women do seem to interconnect everything.

 

Women make these leaps of logic that Bill Engvall said "evil knievel couldn't make", and he put it as "My wife caught me sneaking cigarettes so she jumped right to 'If you're lying about cigarettes, you must be cheating on me' ".

 

Our brains don't get that type of logic.

 

I don't subscribe to generalisation to be honest, which is what seems to be going on here

[Emilia]

I think that's a pretty good example.

 

I think this might apply to a subset of people who use text as their main means of communication. Those of us that call are more clear and fluent - I believe so anyway

[IcedEarth]

I don't subscribe to generalisation to be honest, which is what seems to be going on here

 

Well, obviously. What did you think it was, scientific fact?

 

My girlfriend alone has a bigger nothing box than I ever could!

[OpenBook]

women do seem to interconnect everything.

 

Because everything IS interconnected!!

 

Since you appear to be male (speaking about your GF - apologies if I'm wrong!) - do you think in "boxes" and are you consciously careful to keep them separated from each other? If so, why? Why is it so important to keep them separated?

[Woggle]

The only real difference between men and women are the obvious physical ones and I guess our views are shaped by our experiences as men and women but our brains are the same.

[OpenBook]

I don't subscribe to generalisation to be honest, which is what seems to be going on here

 

I admire that Emilia. I wish I didn't. Unfortunately some things happen consistently enough to warrant my "generalizing" in an effort to wrap my "interconnected" brain around it. I'm always looking for patterns, and I don't believe in coincidences.

 

I've also been around long enough to realize the unexpected also happens. Pretty much consistently.

 

So you don't "think in boxes"? (I'm assuming you're male - apologies if I'm wrong!) Do you subscribe to interconnectivity in your thinking?

[OpenBook]

There was a post about a month or so ago that I happened to stumble across.

The guy said that the girl had texted on with an "excuse" that she had been busy and said she was sorry she hadn't been around for a few daysand that she had a family issue.

 

The guy took this to mean (automatically) that their date for the next night was off. No questions, no verifying, nothing... in fact I'm not even sure if he said he responded, but he was angry that she blew him off.

 

Now, to me, this is the perfect example.

Every woman I shared this story with (and there were several of all different ages) all said that to them, texting the day before the date was the BEGINNING of what they expected to be a conversation, not a way to blow him off and that many of them would have made sure to do so specifically so that he DIDN'T think he was being blown off, no matter how busy work was, or how much family stuff was going on.

 

Nearly all the men on the thread felt that he shouldn't be "begging for a date" and if she wanted to blow him off, she wanted to blow him off, so be it let it go.

 

Even the idea of sending a text and asking "are we still on for tomorrow or not" was seen by the men as too much.

 

I think that's a pretty good example.

 

Not quite following you here, LFH. I see it as the guy took a huge assumption leap... kinda like what the video was saying about women (they think so interconnectedly they make these huge leaps that baffle men) - instead of taking the girl's message simply and at face value as the guy in the video claims men do. What am I not seeing?

[IcedEarth]

Because everything IS interconnected!!

 

Since you appear to be male (speaking about your GF - apologies if I'm wrong!) - do you think in "boxes" and are you consciously careful to keep them separated from each other? If so, why? Why is it so important to keep them separated?

 

Well certain subjects should be separated, to me at least. Like work and everything, because I hate talking about my job outside of my job.

 

I don't think it's that simple in that every subject is separated, but some stuff should be in my experience. Like if you had a bad past relationship, it should be put in storage and forgotten about so it doesn't interfere with new ones, you know?

 

Yes I'm male no worries!

[123321]

What is it?

 

Helps us stay on task and focused. Not always a good thing but think about the tasks stone age men and women would be tasked with and then consider which tasks reward single minded focus and which reward always being ready to be interrupted by the baby crying. For instance.

 

 

I don't really believe men or women have a different brain. By and large we are socialised differently yes but how an older generation male thinks is quite different from how a younger generation male thinks for example so to me the question is redundant I suppose.

 

The socialization is the cause argument is soooo lame. For starters, why would anyone imagine that while every other mammalian (brain) shows sex specific traits that are genetically inborn, humans are magically exempt, because we think we "should be".

[MilitantPacifist]

There's a simple answer here: science.

 

Those of you saying that male and female brains are not different are wrong, simply put.

 

There is a scientifically proven difference in a typical female brain versus a typical male brain. Note that I say difference. That doesn't mean one or the other is superior, just that the two are noticeably, physiologically different.

 

In men, brains are larger on average. This does not equal smarter, however, because that's primarily a function of gray matter density, not skull size/brain size.

 

In women, brains are smaller on average, but the density of gray matter is somewhat higher. And the corpus collosum (the "bridge" that connects the left and right brains) is somewhat more developed. Meaning for them, yes, both the rational and emotional sides are more interconnected.

 

So because of these physiological differences, which are proven scientific fact, men and women think a little differently. Women have a harder time separating emotion from logic, on average. And their corpus collosum inter-connectivity means they have higher verbal skills on average, and tend to socialize easier.

 

Where does this difference come from? It's not inborn. In the womb, male and female brains are identical. The difference comes from years and then decades of the brain being soaked in different levels of hormones. High estrogen causes a female brain structure to develop, and brain size to shrink somewhat (this has been demonstrated in MTF transsexuals taking HRT). Testosterone is responsible, IIRC, for the deficiency in the corpus collosum evident in men.

[january2011]

This sure does explain a lot. My question is, why is it so important for men to keep their boxes separated from each other??? For efficiency? A form of control? they crave simplicity? What is it?

 

Compartmentalisation, of emotions especially, allows people to get on with things. To focus on the doing rather than overthinking it.

 

I am envious of my SO's ability to compartmentalise and switch-off into his nothing box. He refers to my being "in the zone" when I'm hyper-focused, but it's a state of intense mental activity rather than the zero-state of nothingness he experiences.

 

Sometimes I think I'd be a lot more efficient and procrastinate less if I could compartmentalise more. However, my ability to "connect the dots" is also part of what makes me good at what I do.

[OpenBook]

Where does this difference come from? It's not inborn. In the womb, male and female brains are identical. The difference comes from years and then decades of the brain being soaked in different levels of hormones. High estrogen causes a female brain structure to develop, and brain size to shrink somewhat (this has been demonstrated in MTF transsexuals taking HRT). Testosterone is responsible, IIRC, for the deficiency in the corpus collosum evident in men.

 

Fascinating!! To think that hormones play such a huge role in shaping our brains. Kind of a scary thought actually. Shijjjghhh...

[OpenBook]

Sometimes I think I'd be a lot more efficient and procrastinate less if I could compartmentalise more. However, my ability to "connect the dots" is also part of what makes me good at what I do.

 

Same here! There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to each.

[OpenBook]

To block out the nonsense while excelling at specific subjects.

 

Okay, to focus. I can see that.

 

Hence why there are almost no female Einsteins.

 

But that doesn't explain a woman having the highest IQ on earth. (Marilyn vos Savant) I don't think intelligence is determined by the method (interconnectivity vs. single-minded focus). Do you think it is?

[MilitantPacifist]

Fascinating!! To think that hormones play such a huge role in shaping our brains. Kind of a scary thought actually. Shijjjghhh...

 

Nothing really scary about it. Each offers distinct advantages. In my opinion, in our current society females have the obvious advantage in capabilities, because most jobs now require advanced multitasking and social skills. Most of the logic-based jobs are done by computers.

[carhill]

In no way plugging for Mark, a guy who happens to run marriage seminars, whom I stumbled across a few years ago wandering YouTube, but he just explains relationship issues in a humorous way which people connect with. Good food for thought. I don't totally agree, and do think socialization has something to do with the end result, but I have seen enough men who 'think in boxes' over the decades to see some traction in his assertions. Relevant to the topic that my post was pulled from, there is also widespread LS opinion that a man can more easily compartmentalize sex from emotion, another bit of support for the 'boxes' theory.

 

I was just watching Julia Roberts verbally assault Albert Finney in 'Erin Brockovich' and the look of complete disconnection on his face speaks volumes and is completely similar to how I've seen friends react when their wives go off on them. It's like they don't sense the dynamic at all, rather just respond to it as unfamiliar noise. More 'box' thinking.

 

Then there's the man who wants 'cave time' and woman wanting to 'talk it out'....

Edited September 29, 2012 by carhill