Do Women See More Than Men?

[Sunstone]

Do women inherently see more than men?

Consider that hormones not only influence how we feel (our mood), but also influence how we see things (our perspective). That is, hormones operate much like alcohol. Alcohol not only changes our mood, but also our perspective on things.

Further consider that a woman's hormonal mix changes about four or five times over the course of her monthly cycle. In each change, a different hormone dominates. So, in effect, a woman naturally has four or five perspectives offered to her during each monthly cycle. But a man's hormonal mix stays more or less the same through out the month, and consequently, he has only one perspective offered to him.

It therefore might well be the case that women inherently find it easier to look at things in more than one way than men. Conversely, men might inherently be somewhat more narrow in their view of things than women.

If so, this could help explain one psychologist's finding that women relate better to stories than to principles, while men relate better to principles than to stories. That is, if you want to tell a woman "thou shall not steal" you tell her a story about someone who stole something and had bad things happen to them as a consequence. But if you want to tell a man "thou shall not steal" you state it as a principle, a rule, a law. But stories, for the most part, are usually more comprehensive, nuanced and detailed than rules. Stories present a fuller picture of events and consequences. And a story can present more than one perspective, while rules, principles and laws only give you one perspective on a thing.

So, do women inherently see more than men?

Do they inherently tend to take into account the fuller picture?

Are they more nuanced in their understanding of people and events?

Are men more focused than women?

Are men better able to get to the gist or essential point than women?

 

[Quoth The Raven]

At the risk of sounding sexist, I think men can be oblivious to subtleties in the behaviour of others, especially women. They'll look at something and assume it's all straight forward and as stated - because that's how it's been presented to them - and completely disregard any behaviour that says it isn't.
Personally, I've had arguments with my other half when he's been completely confused as to why - when he's been belabouring a point to death for hours and I'm not getting it - I can suddenly grasp it when I have another similar situation to use for comparison. He doesn't understand why the association makes such a difference to my understanding. He also doesn't understand why I want a reason for everything...he often asks my why I can't just accept things without question.
Because I can't...there's a reason for everything and I want to know what it is, because that will help me accept whatever it is.
I'm not very good on the whole unquestioning thingy.:no:

 

[meogi]

I don't know about 'seeing', but I have a hunch they do more reflective thinking than men. And it was probably due to women being treated as men's objects way back in the day; having to be more concerned over their actions and possible repercussions.

Are men more focused than women?

Yes, stemming from the generally more straight-forward tasks (tracking/hunting, building, farming, etc.) they performed. This is also probably why women relate better to stories or analogies, as the men probably informed them of what transpired - rather than experiencing it themselves. And thus, less of a need for intuitive based reasoning.

Of course it's going to be much more complex than that, but it seems like a plausable explanation of beginnings to me. But then again, I'm a man, and I want to get to the point!

 

[Quiddity]

I think their emotions tend to blind them more then help them. :run:

 

[Hacker]

I think their emotions tend to blind them more then help them. :run:

You better run!:slap:

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I have noticed this, but I think it has more to do with societies image of an "emotionless, beer drinking, do minimal work, think about nothing more than sex and booze, macho man" more than hormones.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

I think their emotions tend to blind them more then help them. :run:

Yep, and I've seen men complete fail to see the most blindingly obvious signals because they weren't written in bold print.

 

[Booko]

Do women inherently see more than men?

Depends on the topic at hand, I think (and of course the individual).

Further consider that a woman's hormonal mix changes about four or five times over the course of her monthly cycle.

Hon, my mix can change four or five times in the same day...

It therefore might well be the case that women inherently find it easier to look at things in more than one way than men.

I don't think it's changing hormone levels as much as our brains seem wired to work differently. But more on that later.

Conversely, men might inherently be somewhat more narrow in their view of things than women.

Perhaps it should be "focused" rather than narrow. Narrow implies there's something wrong with you guys, and I don't believe that. Different isn't wrong -- just different.

It's generally understood that women are better at multitasking than men. This makes sense when you understand our usual role in life (which I would suggest is more than just societal tradition).

But there's a price we pay for that multitasking: we don't have the focus men tend to have.

If so, this could help explain one psychologist's finding that women relate better to stories than to principles, while men relate better to principles than to stories.

Ah, but here's the rub: women, generally, relate to the world via "social" means, so naturally we'd be more likely to get an idea from a story about relationships. I mean, what makes a "chick flick" a chick flick? It's all about -- relationships. And romance novels -- same diff.

You can see it when they're infants, even. Girl babies respond more to voices and track faces with their eyes a LOT sooner than boys. We also speak sooner. When grown, we have around (I think) 14,000 words a day -- men have about half that. It's how we operate.

Boys, otoh (and my son certainly did this), focus much more on some task they are doing. They'll play with their Lego perfectly happy if anyone else is in the room or not. In fact, they often get annoyed when you get on the floor and try to play with them -- they see it as interference and a cause of ... lack of focus.

What I find really interesting is all the gay men I've known in my life. Women don't just tend to get along with gay men because they're "safe" -- they also get along because gay men tend to operate like women do.

But stories, for the most part, are usually more comprehensive, nuanced and detailed than rules. Stories present a fuller picture of events and consequences. And a story can present more than one perspective, while rules, principles and laws only give you one perspective on a thing.

Just as relationships are more comprehensive, nuanced and detailed. That's why we have so many problems with you guys -- we assume you see what we do, and really, you don't, often even after we explain it to you.

It's why a husband's best friend and confidant is his wife, but a woman's best friend and confident is...her girlfriend.

So, do women inherently see more than men?

Not in everything, certainly. And quite frankly, there are times when a command structure and decision making process is necessary, and "nuance" is not what is needed. It should be no surprise that it's men who traditionally go to war -- it ain't just because of physical strength.

Are they more nuanced in their understanding of people and events?

With people in their lives, yes. But often women don't pick up on the motiviations of men, where men will do so. That's one of the many reasons women don't rise the corporate ladder as fast as men. We haven't figured out what the rules are, because they were invented by men, and we don't get your rules.

Are men more focused than women?

Generally. Though I would point out that men's work usually allows them to focus, whereas ours does not. You can schedule mowing the lawn anytime, and its not a disaster. Try being late feeding the family or doing the laundry or buying toilet paper at the store sometime. We don't have much leeway.

Are men better able to get to the gist or essential point than women?

Well, it depends on what the essential point is.

 

[logician]

The innate differences between women and men as far as "personality" goes may not be as great as imagined, as society tends to reinforce the stereotypes of males and females thru the media and education. Individual differences between people, and the environment they are raised in, play just as important a part as gender does in determing one's personality.

 

[JerryL]

I don't see that your conclusion flows from your premise.

Someone who constantly hallucinates sees more than someone who does not; but that does not seem likely to give them a braoder picture.

Worse, someone with a consistant hallucination (say paranoia) tends to have a far more narrow picture.

 

[Sunstone]

I think their emotions tend to blind them more then help them. :run:

But according to the neurobiologists, men are no less dominated by hormones than are women. It's just that men are dominated by the same hormone (testosterone) through out the month, while women are dominated by four or five at different times through out the month.

 

[Booko]

The innate differences between women and men as far as "personality" goes may not be as great as imagined, as society tends to reinforce the stereotypes of males and females thru the media and education. Individual differences between people, and the environment they are raised in, play just as important a part as gender does in determing one's personality.

There are very real differences between the way men and women operate (in general, of course), and as I mentioned in a thread that involved Scouting some while back, the differences are reflected in the different ways Girl and Boy Scouts are organized.

If you want, I can probably dig up the thread.

I used to think it was more "nurture" than "nature."

Then I had kids.

 

[Booko]

But according to the neurobiologists, men are no less dominated by hormones than are women. It's just that men are dominated by the same hormone (testosterone) through out the month, while women are dominated by four or five at different times through out the month.

Which also varies during our lives in interesting ways, and testosterone also plays a role with us as well.

 

[Sunstone]

Which also varies during our lives in interesting ways, and testosterone also plays a role with us as well.

Of course testosterone plays a role in women too. But it's not nearly as dominant in women. According to one study, the lowest testosterone male had at least 20 times more testosterone than the highest testosterone female.

 

[Buttercup]

Of course testosterone plays a role in women too. But it's not nearly as dominant in women. According to one study, the lowest testosterone male had at least 20 times more testosterone than the highest testosterone female.

And then there's animals like you that have 50 times more. :flirt:

 

[Sunstone]

And then there's animals like you that have 50 times more. :flirt:

Are you sure? I wouldn't mind discussing your reasons for believing I have so much testosterone with you in private.... In a dark room, too.:flirt:

 

[painted wolf]

only when he has his eyes closed.

funny how culture influences male/female roles and expectations.:slap:

Are men more focused than women?

:biglaugh:

wa:do

 

[logician]

"There are very real differences between the way men and women "

Again, these differences may be quite enhanced by reinforcement from society and family, it's hard to separate out the various influences to say which is strongest.

 

[Fluffy]

Well first off it is probably important to remember that all perspectives are not equal. It also seems likely that in at least some cases, a single perspective will be superior to all others since it will have the advantage of being correct.

So having 2 perspectives on a particular item will only be an advantage if each of those perspectives are flawed in some way since otherwise, one of them would be redundant.

When dealing with emotions, most people would agree that heightened emotional states provide people with inferior perspectives since it makes them biased. In contrast, a calm, level-headed position is therefore seen as preferable.

Now unlike what many seem to believe, I feel that men and women are roughly equal in terms of the average amount and degree of emotion that they experience. Although some people might be better at keeping calm and collected than others, sex does not make a significant contribution to this.

Given all of these things, if it is true that women are provided with more perspectives than men then all of them appear to contain the same amount of emotional bias as the single male perspective and therefore no amount of additional perspectives spawned in this manner will make up for this failing.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Do women inherently see more than men?

My ex saw things that never existed. Does that count?