Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature

[Smith_3]

Why most suicide bombers are Muslim, beautiful people have more daughters, humans are naturally polygamous, sexual harassment isn't sexist, and blonds are more attractive.

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070622-000002.xml

I wonder if it accurate :)

[devilgrrl]

1. Sounds more like a study of Fox News viewers

:popcorn:

[Teaser]

2. This neuroscientist calls bullshit

Is it a particular pathology of psychologists to conflate assertions and speculation with actual, experimental data?

[treestar]

3. LOL

That takes every right wing stereotype for granted.

Humans also naturally, it appears, give up polygamy as they become more civilized.

Most suicide bombers are Muslim today, but what about the kamikaze bombers? It's got nothing to do with any particular religion or group. Given the right set of circumstances, any group could do it.

As for what men prefer, yadda, yadda yadda. Who cares? I prefer youthful, muscled men with a lot of hair on their heads yet no money to old, bald men with lots of money and power. I'm willing to start a study on this. As soon as a woman has the money and power (see Cher, Demi More) the same thing happens.

Things change. Conservatives wish it weren't so, but they're losing their power. Ironic that they try to use "science" to justify the old ways of seeing things and try to prevent change.

:popcorn:

[raccoon]

4. No shit, Sherlock...

"Studies demonstrate unequivocally that men are far more interested in short-term casual sex than women. In one now-classic study, 75 percent of undergraduate men approached by an attractive female stranger agreed to have sex with her; none of the women approached by an attractive male stranger did. Many men who would not date the stranger nonetheless agreed to have sex with her. "

[izquierdista]

5. Very interesting article

Hypothesize, collect data, see if the conclusions are consistent and supported; looks like good science to me. If the conclusions are embarrassing, it is only because it has unclothed the thin veneer that civilization and culture cover us with.

[Marr]

6. Oh my god, that article is full of silly speculation.

"...blond hair evolved in Scandinavia and northern Europe, probably as an alternative means for women to advertise their youth, as their bodies were concealed under heavy clothing."

That seems like an awfully long limb to climb out on. Don't you think it's more likely that blonde hair is a trait tied to lighter skin, which allows a person to gather vitamin D a bit more effectively when there's not much sunlight? Or perhaps lighter skin is just something that developed because there was nothing selecting it *out*.

[Sundoggy]

7. Harassment

I found the entire article interesting though not convincing, but was especially intrigued by the last point, because I have had a personal experience with it.

I had an excellent boss some time ago who was dynamic, creative, knowledgeable, and extremely productive. She had everything necessary to go far in our industry (IT). Unfortunately she had a tendency to throw her weight around based on her perception that she was supported by higher-ups, and was extremely prone to mood swings and bouts of extreme unreasonableness that got her thoroughly disliked. Despite all this she is one of the best bosses I ever had, just because she was really, really good at her job, and very cognizant and appreciative of the skills I brought to the table.

So one day I get a call from Human Resources. A sexual harassment charge had been filed and I had been named as a witness.

I was dumbfounded. I wasn't told who filed the charge, and for the life of me I couldn't imagine what it was about. It turned out that my boss had filed a sexual discrimination charge against HER bosses, claiming that they were obstructing her simply because she was female.

Now I was even more dumbfounded. Apparently she felt that I could or would support such a charge, but it was absurd on the face of it. Any obstructions she encountered were absolutely a combination of the natural environment of a very responsible job and the fact that she really rubbed people the wrong way. I had to tell the truth: that I had never seen the slightest sign of any sexual discrimination. Perhaps she WAS encountering obstruction but there were pretty obvious reasons why that might be.

It really bothered me that she would make such an accusation. Here was one of the savviest women I had ever worked with using this weapon without any regard for truth.

She was fired a couple of months later for insubordination. She was told directly not to invite a group of vendors into the building. She quite typically ignored this and had a meeting with them in her office. The next day she was gone. I think she still feels that everyone was terribly unfair to her.

Caveat that this is not meant to be illustrative of any larger truths, this is just a thing that happened to me personally. The article made me immediately think of this boss; she was just facing the rigors that anyone at that level faces, and either purposely or mistakenly attributed them to sexual harassment.

I think the article is confused on this point, though. The type of "harassment" the author describes as existing prior to women being in the workforce, and which my story relates to, seems to have nothing to do with his two categories. He seems to confuse "harassment relating to sexual behavior" with "harassment through simply being of a different sex".


P.S. I would like to add that an article that, right up front, warns us that the truth isn't politically correct, is flashing a great big red warning sign right there of the author's intentions.

[riverdeep]

8. This article made me laugh.

A distillation of evo-psych bullshit. What is it with psychology? From Frued to Skinner to Pinker. The human mind is more complex than the galaxies.