Are girls dumber than boys? Or is it the other way around?

[briven]

In general... they are equal.

although some characteristics of female intelligence place emphasis in types of information that men do not..and visa versa... As far being "dumber"...I guess It all depends on the value you assign to different types of intelligence/information.

For example, if my girlfriend of the moment and I walked into a room for 30 seconds... she could tell you what color the carpet was, where the sofa was, how many windows there were, if there was a scent of candles, and other details that I would be oblivious to ... whereas I would have noticed how big the TV was and what kind of TV it was, whether or not it had satelite or cable, I would have some idea about the dimensions/size of the room itself.

That being said...She wouldn't know how to hookup a satellite TV system, but I wouldn't know the first thing about decorating a house either.

The types of information retained which makeup your level of intelligence according to some people, vary somewhat by gender...it's hardwired though it depends on your personal intersts as well... But as far as being able to comprehend, men and women are both on an even playing feild.

Like most guys, I am quite smart thank you

Hey, just because I am a girl, it doesn't make me dumb

Men like me have bigger brains. It's science!

I am a girl, and clearly smarter than my guy friends

Other

Updates

+1 y

Girls are not dumb,..just manipulative perhaps

[Anonymous]

Neither is generally less intelligent than the other. However, I'm just talking about brain activity and structure. How you measure intelligence can vary. I haven't read much on this but I found one study that basically said general intelligence was equal but the areas in which intelligence is manifested differs between men and women.

link

Honestly, setting up a satellite isn't one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of intelligence. I'm intelligent when it comes to academics, philosophy, psychology, political science, any kind of social science, social theories, I used to love literature in high school, logic in arguments and understanding fallacies and how to contruct and deconstruct arguments, making connections between information processed, understanding patterns, writing, etc.

I don't know how to set up satellites. Not that I could never learn, which would be the issue on questioning natural intelligence, but I have absolutely no interest in setting up things or building things, etc. that all seems more skill than question of natural intelligence, but I guess that involves some natural ability as well. I think anyone can decorate a house. decorating it well is another issue...and even that seems more to do with trends in what seems aesthetically appealing in society. there are men who make a living off of building homes though and I'm sure they know a bit about decorating them as well.

When I was younger, I was at the head of my class in mathematics. Now I can barely add and subtract. I suck at algebra. While the things I mentioned above have always been relatively easy and enjoyable for me, over the years math became tedious. It's something I have to actually try to understand, its something that I have to practice. I lost interest in it and stopped trying. When I did actually try one semester in high school, I did well.

Perceptions of womens role in society and which fields were appropriate or suitable for women, attitudes about who is better at what, play a huge role in why many women have not been involved in math or science professions or excelling in those areas. The fact that there have always been more male scientists, philosophers, etc. means absolutely nothing when you consider the political oppression of the past and the lingering attitudes about aptitude and gender.

I'm watching Titanic and the snobby, wealthy ladies are sitting down and having tea. Rose's mother says,"But the purpose of university is to find a suitable husband. Rose has already done that." This pretty much sums up my point.

[briven]

great link..

[nadiya]

I don't think its purely based on gender, or even partially based on gender. I know men and women have different kinds of intelligence, but as for an overall 'smarter' or 'dumber', it depends on the person. Also, there are some people who sound intelligent while talking but are no smarter than the average person, and some people who sound dumb while talking but are highly intelligent.

I have many male friends I'm more intelligent than, and many male friends who are more intelligent than I am. Likewise, I have female friends along the same lines. I don't think noticing details like the color of the carpet is based on intelligence, I believe its based on observation skills. I can't even tell you what color the carpet in the room I've been sitting in the past three hours is without looking, lol. I guess I just don't agree that the type of information your retain in the setting your described is influenced by intelligence. I do think that an ability to retain mathematical formulas or historical dates or literary phrases and terms or chemistry constants is based on a certain level of intelligence, but it could also be from a certain level of studying and committing to memory.

What I'm getting at is that there are many different ways to be intelligent, but even with that said I do think men and woman are on an equal playing field in that way.

[crookthings]

It's not hardwired. Your girlfriend wouldn't know how to hookup a TV system because she was probably raised to believe that being handy and fixing things isn't an important part of being a girl. You wouldn't know how to decorate a house because that's not a "manly" thing to do. I'd venture to say about 95% of gender differences come from what we're TAUGHT to place emphasis on.

The brain adjusts to the areas we exercise the most. Someone can make their memory better just by practicing, or they can make it worse by not exercising it at all. Girls can begin to genuinely suck at math if they believe it's just "not their forte" and stop trying. Guys can be really bad at communicating their emotions when it's drilled into their heads that they're supposed to be strong and insensitive.

One of my favorite gender difference studies showed that girls did significantly worse on a math-based IQ test after simply being TOLD, "Men tend to do better on this test than women do." All it took was being told that ONCE. So you can imagine how a lifetime of gender roles can affect someone's neurological capabilities.

[just_tired]

Intelligence is a very complex concept. There is so many different kind of it. Neither of the genders is smarter. The culture and evolution has just orientated different kind of intelligence to the genders. With these affecting, boys are more natural to be smart in different areas than girls and the other way around. Also I think that boys are more ambitious and we aim a lot higher. That's why so many of the great scientist are men and also because until the end of 20th century women were considered the "lesser gender" which is of course not true.

What I've always thought is that no matter if your a man or a woman, old or young, everyone has the ability to be really stupid. And in the end humans are a stupid race.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.” Albert Einstein

[Moloch]

I think there are more intellectual men than women, but I don't think it's because they're dumber. I think it's because many women aren't interested in those types of things.

[AABBCCDD]

Girls are deff smarter...we can multitask better, clean better, communicate better, girls are better with kids(which is why there are a lot more girl babysitters), we cook better, we have less hormones which makes us less likely to do something dangerous or compulsive, we stop arguing when we know we're wrong, we have a better memory, and we generally do better in education...

[thisislifebaby]

I think girls tend to act far dumber than guys, I know heaps of very smart girls but act all ditzy because they think guys like it. In my experience there are a larger amount of intelligent men to intelligent women but overall it is equal.

[Anonymous]

On average it's about the same, but there are more dumber guys and more extremely intelligent guys. Just look at top musicians, scientists, painters, writers, physicians, leaders etc...

They are dominantly males. Men have more extremes at both end of the spectrum.

[Natalya]

Academically yes, it's been proven that girls outsmart boys in education. When it comes to practical things like e.g. Hooking up a TV system then I have no idea

[UberTroll]

Both genders have their fair share of smart and stupid people and those shares have always seemed about equal to me. I will say this though... on average guys seem to be more logical than girls.

[Anonymous]

I think boys are dumber than girls I actually have to write an essay on that last year

[TheGodEmperorLeto]

It's not based on sex.

[calialltheway1993]

No one is dumber than the other.

[stillagoodgirl]

Girls are smarter there's more women in college

[Xx_DRE_xX]

I think I'm pretty dumb for a guy haha.

[Luv2run]

But you give good advice!

[Anonymous]

Girls can be naive but guys are. Equaly smart