Are you sure it’s the facts themselves that make your fellow researchers uncomfortable? Mightn’t it be that such findings are used in exactly the way you suggest they shouldn’t be – to justify antiquated gender norms? (I wouldn’t blame your colleagues either way. I’d much prefer to live in a world where gender stereotypes are as unfounded as they are unhelpful.)
How are you qualified to pass judgement on someone else’s science journalism?
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Virginia Hughes says her criticism of the study: that it has faulty assumptions and flawed methodology. She unfortunately doesn’t elaborate, just goes on to her main point, which is about how common such problems are. But to claim that wasn’t honest and her real problem must be that she doesn’t like the results…
…well, that’s an uncharitable conjecture, stated as fact with nothing given to back it up. So by those same standards, I get to conjecture why you might deny what she said; and for ackpht there’s a comment history that sure makes it look like the reason is he didn’t like the result.
Funny, that.
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I don’t know any scientist who tries to use their mouse data to justify inequality in society. I was referring more to the fact that some people have strong personal feelings about gender that can cause them to ignore the facts. These people are rare IME, but I have met them.
One problem may be that headlines are often clickbait written by someone other than the one writing the article itself. IMHO, the lack of a critique or links to critiques is sloppy science journalism, and does undermine her argument. However, her main argument (unlike the headline) isn’t suggesting that we shouldn’t look for differences, just that we should exercise skepticism before accepting any study that confirms our cultural bias. When it comes to the brain, it’s very easy and usually wrong to claim that because the brain looks like this, people will act like that. (The study leader herself warns against making sweeping statements, especially about individuals, and suggests possible explanations other than ‘born that way’. As a matter of fact, the differences become more pronounced with age, which could suggest that the culture is influencing brain development).
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