Reply #8: There is no tape or released transcript

[Red State Blues]

so I haven't heard what he said. Very few have.

from the link provided:

quote:
"It's possible I made some reference to innate differences," he said. He said people "would prefer to believe" that the differences in performance between the sexes are due to social factors, "but these are things that need to be studied."

He also cited as an example one of his daughters, who as a child was given two trucks in an effort at gender-neutral upbringing. Yet he said she named them "daddy truck" and "baby truck," as if they were dolls.
end quote.

So, he's said that the issue needs study. Man, the nerve of this guy!

The comments about his daughters are certainly not scientific and don't represent a sufficient sample but was he wrong to say it if it was true?

BTW: You'll probably like this link better:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/01/19/summerss_tortured_logic?mode=PF

Look, there are studies that show that women are damaged by the (lack of) nurture component when it comes to Science and Math and I fully believe that there's a lot of truth there. There are also studies that show that "science and math nurturing" don't fully explain what's going on and I like to listen to both sides.

The best argument that I've ever heard on this topic (supporting what I believe to be your position) is that we don't live in a gender neutral enough society for any study focusing on the mathematical and science "nature" of teenagers to be valid. I concede this argument but solipsism gets us nowhere.

From my link:(quote)

Summers told the Globe he was discussing hypotheses based on the scholarly work assembled for the conference, not expressing his own views. He also said more research needs to be done on the issues.

Conference organizers said Summers was asked to be provocative, and that he was invited as a top economist, not as a Harvard official.

Summers's defenders at his speech said that after he mentioned innate differences, he immediately added, "I'd like to be proven wrong" on innate differences.
end quote.

Man, what a dumb, close-minded SOB! Let's fire him yesterday! How dare he be provocative when asked to be?

I think it's clear that all human behaviorial study should stop immediately. We already KNOW that there are absolutely no differences between sexes or races in general terms, so anybody who was to find anything otherwise would obviously be wrong.

Where did Summers say that women are inferior? At BEST(worst), all I can see is that Summers hypothesised that in a GENERAL sense, there MIGHT be some innate differences between males and females when it comes to Science and Math. This says NOTHING about any particular man or woman in an INDIVIDUAL sense. It says nothing about inherent superiority/inferiority of men or women viewed in a wholistic sense either.

Maybe I'm a Neanderthal or maybe I'm too far beyond the problem to see the problem. In my world view, even if we could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that men are better at math or women are better communicators (in GENERAL) then it would still say nothing to me about the inherent inferiority or superiority of either. I also believe that it is terribly wrong and misguided to to apply any information from a general study to an individual.

"His words are not about saying that men and women are different, they are to say that women are inferior. This is the major problem with the statement."

Actually, as I have shown, he did not say that women are inferior (I don't care how many reporters say that he did either - I would be interested in a transcript though), so I don't see the major problem.

"Summers already faced criticism because the number of senior job offers to women has dropped each year of his three-year presidency."

OK, here's a real issue. Unfortunately, it doesn't really give us enough to go on. Who were the applicants? What better qualified women were passed over for less qualified males? I'm NOT saying that he didn't do it, show me that he did and I'll be right there with you calling for his immediate ouster!

It's his responsibility to hire the best, be they male, female, transexual, or ???.