Is there anything good about men?
by Roy F. Baumeister · first published 2010
23mentions
12recommended by
20HN commenters
2010–2022first – last mentioned
60% recommend40% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Evolutionary-psychology argument that gender differences reflect trade-offs, such as men's greater risk-taking versus women's selectivity. Cited to explain gender gaps at the top of industries; for contrarian readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…any important measure, women have had it rougher than men. This one is a PC-friendly thing to say, the opposite point of view is not. If you haven't read it, I must urge you to check out the excellent "Is There Anything Good About Men?" essay by Roy Baumeister: http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm Across history, it's estimated that 80% of women all-time had children, whereas only 40% of men did - the majority…
on “How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less” ↗…women were less suited for multitasking and knowledge work? Because they sure as heck are better at a lot of other things. They're, on average, smarter than men. They have better reflexes. Check out "Is there anything good about men" - great essay: http://denisdutton.com/baumeister.htm If they WERE less suited for it, it would be interesting to see how much culture and education influenced their suitability. i.e. Does the difference…
on “RescueTime (YC 08) Data: Are Men more Productive than Women? ” ↗I feel compelled to include a link to Roy Baumeister's "Is There Anything Good About Men?": http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm. It is possible that there are fewer women in the upper echelons of business because evolutionarily women didn't have to take as many risks as…
on “A Truth About the Glass Ceiling No One Wants to Talk About” ↗…evolution made man and woman physically different, how come it made man and woman mentally same? Read: Who is Against Evolution? http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2008/08/who-is-against-ev... Read: Is There Anything Good About Men? http://denisdutton.com/baumeister.htm
on “Men's and women's brains are the same, says scientist” ↗…time. As a general rule of thumb: if women have it bad, men have it worse. But since the bottom half of men are invisible, everyone focuses on the 'poor' victimized women instead. Roy Baumeister's "Is There Anything Good About Men?" explains this well, but they'd never read it because it's "MRA".
on “An open letter on feminism in tech” ↗This is not just your pet theory, it's a very real theory. See "Is there anything good about Men" by Baumeister. Also, as mentioned in a sibling comment, it used to be that you could find a single authoritative hosting of this lecture/essay, but now it's been ... adopted by the internet. I'd recommend…
on “Taking sex differences in personality seriously (2019)” ↗…greater percentage of men be at the top of an industry, or a greater percentage want to speak? Professor Roy Baumeister wrote this amazing paper on the subject (which was posted to HN about a year ago). "Is There Anything Good About Men?" http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm I promise it is worth the entire read, not to be used as weak evidence in a tough conversation. After considering the full article, and the…
on “On false dichotomies and diversity.” ↗Probably Roy Baumeister's book Is There Anything Good About Men?, which discusses possible gender differences as trade-offs in evolutionary terms.
The best explanation I've come across so far is Roy Baumeister's Is There Anything Good About Men? [0], which explains gender determinisms by regarding the evolutionary history of our species. The article was already posted several times on HN [1]. [0]: http://denisdutton.com/baumeister.htm [1]:…
on “When Women Stopped Coding” ↗"Is there anything good about men?" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8765372-is-there-anythin... Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YHdl4FXYpU Lecture text: https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Is-There-Any...…
on “Paleontologists Are Trying to Understand Why the Fossil Record Is Mostly Males” ↗And, if you find this line interesting, read this excellent speech, "Is there anything good about men?" (of course, the answer is definitely yes.) http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm
…gambles than women, so it would make sense that evolution would select for risk-taking males and risk-averse females. (And also explains why women are more selective when choosing mates). More detail in "Is There Anything Good About Men", http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm. Of course, none of this is to say that society doesn't have large effects, or that anyone should be discouraged from any field because of their…
on “What happened to all the female developers?” ↗I think the article you're referring to is called "Is There Anything Good About Men", and has been submitted to Hacker News multiple times. Even though it doesn't have anything to do with technology it's one of the most insightful articles I've found here. Here's a link to the article:…
on “Why Aren't There More Female Entrepreneurs?” ↗Required reading for discussing any of this is "Is there anything good about men"? According to this, there's a preference (genetic and societal) to condition men to take risks, and that risk skews the distribution outward, with more failures and successes. One of the main punchlines…
on “Why Men Are Hard to Help” ↗The article "Is There Anything Good About Men?" by Roy Baumeister [1] takes some interesting angles on the reasons and motivations for men choosing war, and generalizes why the worlds most powerful people, as well as the overwhelming majority of…
on “Why Men Love War (1984)” ↗