Saturday 23 October 1999
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Pic of the day: October issue of Scientific American. Just flown in from the USA at blood price.
Gender (e)quality On the surface of things, the only way to create gender equality seems to be to oppress women. Because if we don't, they will collectively float to the top, and the less advanced half of the species will be relegated to the fringes of society. Occasionally brought into the warmth for breeding purposes, but mostly huddling in the outskirts of civilization, playing solitaire and writing sarcastic journal entries on the Internet. But let us look at some reasons for the sudden fluorescence of the female intellect. One reason is indicated in the article: There are women returning to university after some years of working. And in the past, men were more likely to attend universities. So part of the numbers may be catch-up from the previous generation.Another reason is that boys have a harder time at school than girls. Once upon a time it was thought to be the other way around, as boys got more attention in class. Today we know that boys are simply developing slower, physically and intellectualy. On average they learn to walk and talk later, they need help tying their shoelaces for half a year longer than girls. And while the female brain stops its growth around the age of 18, the boys continue into 20 or even 21, ending up with a slightly larger brain (but not relative to body mass). An obvious solution then would be to let boys start school one year later than the girls. So the boys in first grade would be one year older than the girls, giving them approximately the same physical and neurological maturity. Needless to say, since this is a good idea, it is politically anathema and will never even be tried in any civilized country. And so the only recourse will remain as before: To tell the women that it is God's will that they shall shut up and play nice. Hopefully they will have the intelligence to understand why. ...
So how was my day? This dream is so much more surprising as I do not usually spend my days thinking about Noam Chomsky. At all. In fact, on waking I was not even sure if the man is still alive. I have later heard that he is. ... After getting up fairly early (7:20) I was online for a while, speaking with my journalling friends and downloading e-mail, reading a couple daily journals. Then I lazed about playing 3rd Millenium, went shopping groceries. It rained. Came back and played some more while writing on my current novel, Thaumaturge. Slept a couple hours more, got a sore shoulder, kept playing and writing. Towards the evening, I started to think very vividly about sex, which led to my heart racing out of control for a while. As a sacrifice of atonement, I exited my game of 3rd Millenium without saving. OK, so it is not very logical. But then again it isn't very logical to kill a sheep to atone for not witnessing against your neighbor, or to kill two doves because you've been menstruating. All of which used to please the Lord our God, who has given his holy Sabbath but obviously not to think about accidental sex (or not quite sex, depending on your definitions). So, back to the narrow path, or at least somewhere near it. (Note: I am not trying to blaspheme, here. I really like God, but I don't presume to understand Him all of the time.)Of course, I could have avoided this all by asking myself: "What would Jesus have done?" Then again, Jesus would probably been out healing the lame, scolding the Conservatives, and telling secrets of God's kingdom to prostitutes and taxmen. Can you imagine me doing that? |
I don't know if God still has the Jews kill small animals for various reasons. My best bet would be no. Perhaps some reader knows? |