Goldilocks and the Red Pill
We spend a lot of time searching for exceptionalism while simultaneously correcting people about differences
The very good — Big and small with us in between
The good — Political correctness is a mirage or at least misplaced
Goldilocks and the Shiny Object
When Hollywood makes a movie about the Jurassic Era, it is rarely about insects but more likely about the long-extinct dinosaur. I listened to a Podcast recently. One of the fascinating takeaways is how simple the explanation for many things often is. The parable of Goldilocks spends a bit of time on the merits of not too big and not too small. Insects don’t have lungs. Instead, they have a bunch of tubes near the surface of their bodies. From the fossil record, we know insects were gigantic in earlier earth periods. We also know there was WAY MORE OXYGEN in the atmosphere. More oxygen, bigger insects, simple as that. The climate changes, oxygen is reduced, and big insects die. The smaller ones get along. Survival of the fittest and a little bit of Goldilocks in action.
When it comes to Goldilocks, there is no better example than us! Some rather FEARSOME and CAPABLE creatures than us have evolved with big brains (killer whales, dolphins, elephants). They have EVEN developed the interconnectedness in their brains for long-term memory, feelings, commitment to mates, and the rest. On a mass basis, these are some big brains! The crows and birds like them are VERY INTELLIGENT and birds like crows are pretty small. We humans are a great compromise between too big and too small. Our basic size and stature (and our peculiar way of walking frees our arms for tools. As Goldilocks prescribes, we are not too big, we are not too small, and we are just right!
Differences that Matter (The Red Pill)
Being politically correct is not a major priority for me. I try not to commit too many cycles to it. I make the effort to be respectful. I think laboring to pretend there are no differences between people is silly and unnecessary. Steady readers know I am interested in how our minds work. It seems an awful lot of it is up in the air.
In my eyes, it is worthwhile to guard against unequal treatment. This is quite different than ignoring differences. Modern neurology continues to highlight the differences in male and female brains. Anything beyond the brain, in a modern technological world, is largely meaningless. Why is that? At least in my opinion, differences in stature, strength, and capacities mean less and less. We’ve managed to automate most physical tasks except perhaps for War. Even that, lends itself to men and women in air-conditioned quarters in the middle of Nevada flying drones. It is largely thought that the US Military has built its last fighter jet ala Tom Cruise and Top Gun. The future belongs to the drone and its videogame steering from the air-conditioned desert. This is why it is all the more important to consider the subtle differences between men and women regarding the gelatinous blob on top of our spinal cords.
I hope my steady readers don’t fear I am about to go down the rabbit hole and posit that males or females are superior, nothing of the sort! Rather, I think it will be interesting to talk about the differences and try to understand why. I am mostly focusing on the nature side of things. Certainly, our capacities are best approached by considering nurture also. So let’s start with the real understood DIFFERENCES between a male and a female brain and how they operate. Modernity has brought things like sight, hearing, and strength to just be remnants of the limits of our bodies when we hardly knew any better. A simple bicycle makes the comparison to a fit person of great endurance meaningless. The innovation of wheels, tires, and gears makes the movement a human can do on their own not so significant. Since the Industrial Revolution, the history of the capacity of humankind is all about the tools we’ve made. A bicycle is a simple device in comparison to all the industrial revolution has wrought. This is why I believe all that is interesting and insightful is what is in our heads.
My favorite analogy about our senses and their limits is captured in an old post titled “I See”. Humans were in awe of the sky and crafted some cool stories to explain it. To me, it comes down to the limitation of our eyeballs. For those with an astronomy interest like myself, who cares how limited our eyes are? Our brains have mastered tools like microscopes and telescopes. We can now peer into the largest and smallest instances of intelligence and don’t have to depend on these imperfect eyes of ours. What IS significant about the limitations of our eyeballs is it simply makes no sense to lend any credence to an explanation of celestial bodies which emerged from some human dude or dudette staring into the night sky. In light of what we have learned in time since such old musings can only be slightly beyond nonsense. Here’s the old post if you are interested. This one came about when I heard a person in an oldish movie exclaim, I’m in 7th heaven.
An interesting observation, at least to me, is that although much of the structure is the same, male and female brains are DIFFERENT. The cool part to me is we ALL START FEMALE. While your destiny as XX (female) or XY (male) is settled aka written in the DNA code, the cool thing, to me, is a little information encoded in you from the start decides how the process will proceed. Things can go wrong of course, and we call it mutation. Many among us can become doctrinaire. Their view of the world orbits around morality, right and wrong, and the like, even when it comes to this natural part of our existence (mutation), and dictates how we should treat those who are a little different due only to chance. Viewed this way, it seems an absurd island to live on. Once you understand that differences occur in ALL OF US by CHANCE, what the hell is wrong with people who have concluded it reasonable to discriminate over the difference? For those first five-plus weeks, the basics of our humanness are neutral. These are the basics we all share. This even includes the early layering of our brains. They are constructed a bit like a paper maché head, one layer on top of the next with exposed neurons reaching out for a connection to the next layer pending.
About six weeks into pregnancy the moment of truth comes and an innocuous strand on a Y-chromosome begins to “express” itself. It is at that moment the fireworks start. You can reduce the “expression” to calling Uber Eats and ordering either estrogen or testosterone. It seems whichever of these hormones we drop into the soup for flavoring will CHANGE EVERYTHING in terms of how your brain aligns itself. Each time I explore these sorts of topics, while I am impressed by nature, it seems the individual processes are pretty simple!
How sure are we of this red pill (estrogen vs testosterone)? Think of your brain like an onion or a cabbage. I realize there is not a lot of majesty in a cabbage but bear with me. Our analysis of the central core of our brains (the stuff that happens before that fateful day when we add estrogen or testosterone to the recipe) shows that male and female central brains are IDENTICAL in structure and operation.
The differences are striking! Sure we are all humans but men are from Mars and women are from Venus! There seem to be a lot of numbskulls who pivot on every word uttered by Elon Musk. Women can finally be relieved as the Mars/Venus thing tells us the numbskulls interested in populating Mars with their fearless leader will likely be all dudes. Extra, extra, war coming soon to a planet near you. It all seems inevitable if it becomes a men’s colony.
I am interested to follow along with modern neurology as we learn more about the differences in the brains between men and women. For now, I am in the camp it is way more important how we treat and care for these wonderful little new humans — feed, clothe, house, and educate them rather than worrying about whether a little estrogen or testosterone made it into the recipe.
The Poll & Music
Who better than David Bowie to speculate about Mars.
Such a beautiful cabbage! And so strange that our brains are identical until we add one of those hormones.
Thought provoking as always!