Maverick Philosopher

Amy Wax Interviewed

Here is a taste:

Once again, you’d have to define racism. You’re basically saying any generalization about a group, whether true or false—and we know it doesn’t apply to everybody in the group, because that’s just a straw man—is racist. I mean, we could do “sexist,” right?

We could.

So, women, on average, are more agreeable than men. Women, on average, are less knowledgeable than men. They’re less intellectual than men. Now, I can actually back up all those statements with social-science research.

You can send me links for women are “less intellectual than men.” I’m happy to include that in the piece if you have a good link for that.

O.K., well, there’s a literature in Britain, a series of papers that were done, and I need to look them up, that show that women are less knowledgeable than men. They know less about every single subject, except fashion. There is a literature out of Vanderbilt University that looks at women of very high ability—so, controlling for ability—and, starting in adolescence, women are less interested in the single-minded pursuit of abstract intellectual goals than men. They want more balance in their life. They want more time with family, friends, and people. They’re less interested in working hard on abstract ideas. You can put together a database that shows that. The person who has the literature is a man named David Lubinski, and he shows that intelligence isn’t what’s driving it. It is interest, orientation, what people want to spend their time doing.

Now, is that sexist? We can argue all day about whether it is sexist. We can argue from morning till night. And it is sterile. It is pointless. Let’s talk about the actual findings and what implications they have for policy, for expectations.

[. . .]

A Rule of Engagement with Females

Accept and return hugs, but do not initiate them. Exception: family members.  Joe Biden take note.

Ersatz Maternity

Having renounced natural maternity, many women today seek an outlet in the political: they seek to become the nannies of the nanny state.

Seeking a Mate?

Better a loving heart than super smart.

The Visage of Disillusion

The faces of the elderly, especially those of old men, often betray disillusionment with life: they've seen through it. It's a business that doesn't cover its costs. (Schopenhauer) Women too are among the disillusioned, but they are 'under-represented.'  That is because women as a group are more child-like than men as a group.  Is that a sexist remark? Not if it is true.  And it is true as anyone with any experience of life knows. Therein lies the charm of so many old ladies: they've retained their girlish enthusiasm.  They are still eager to 'do things' and they complain of their men that they 'don't want to do anything.'  My wife's an old lady, older than me: she's into drinking and dancing with her girlfriends. Me, I'm into thinking and trancing in solitude. O beata solitudo, sola beatitudo!