1. Why do men dominate chess?
In 2005, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers gave a talk on why there were so few women in science and engineering. Instead of parroting the accepted idea that women were discriminated against and not encouraged to pursue these careers, he said all kinds of forbidden stuff.
He said women didn’t want to work long hours because of childcare responsibilities. He said women were genetically different. And he panned the idea of bias in academic institutions.
He was forced out in 2006.
Since then, there is still evidence that men do better than women in certain fields. For example, men dominate competitive chess. They always have. No woman has ever been a World Chess Champion, and the highest-ranked female player today sits at number 124 overall.
I delved into why that is in this video, and I found some fascinating reasons why women don’t rank as highly as men. Some of them are socially acceptable to say out loud. Some … not so much.
It’s true that boys have historically been encouraged to play chess more than girls have. Even now that we have separate male and female competitions (at least until Lia Thomas decides to play chess instead of swimming), and affirmative action to encourage girls to take up the game, men still outnumber women on a huge scale in competitive chess. If you look at this as just a numbers game, the smaller number of women playing means fewer of them are going to make it to the top.
But there are more controversial reasons women aren’t trouncing men in chess also. Are there temperamental reasons women don’t do as well at chess? Do their brains work differently than men’s brains? Are there other unpopular factors we’re not supposed to talk about?
In this video, I say the quiet part out loud and look at all the possible reasons we don’t have a female World Chess Champion.
In the time since Summers resigned from Harvard University, these discussions haven’t gotten any easier. If anything, it’s even harder now to suggest that women and men may have different brains. But how can we have a discussion about science if we’re going to ignore the actual science?
Once again, here’s the video. I’d love to know what you think.
2. John Cleese Won’t Change Scene To Appease The Mob
Monty Python star John Cleese won’t change a scene in the stage adaptation of “Life of Brian” that pokes fun at a man wanting to be a woman.
“I want to be a woman. … It’s my right as a man,” the character shouts. “I want to have babies… It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.” After Cleese’s protest, the character snaps, “Don’t you oppress me!”
Cleese says he has “no intention” of changing the scene.
3. Reparations Math. It’s a Thing.
The Pulitzer Center, which you may remember partnering with the New York Times’ 1619 Project, rolled out an “Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap” school curriculum. These math lessons focus on two questions: “How does white rage fuel the racial wealth gap?” and “What are ways that the United States could begin to repair the harm of enslavement, Jim Crow, and other forms of wealth theft from Black Americans?”
4. More Debate Stories
Last week, we shared how leftist debate judges are ruining high school debate competitions (and, perhaps more importantly, students’ chances for scholarships). Now, students have come forward with their own stories.
Interesting video. As a woman, I can say that men and women’s brains are very different. I think all of the reasons covered contribute to the status of women in chess. I believe if a women wants to play chess, she will. It seems boring to me ( similar to the way I perceive golf), but that’s just one opinion. Science has shown the difference over and over of the way the sexes deal with life in general. We are complimentary halves. Each half having it’s own strengths snd limitations. I like it that way. It makes life more interesting and challenging.😊
Shows how weak & vulernable they are?
OR cant face Reality