Ah, the Irony

Yesterday, I ranted a bit about the Summers & Science situation. Soon afterward while speaking with a male blogger (and fellow scientist) I realized an additional subtle point about this whole kerfuffle (other than the fact that I really do enjoy saying "kerfuffle").

I asked this person if he had seen the segment about Summers on Special Report. He said, "I wasn't really paying attention at that point. I'm not really all the interested in that story."

I started laughing because it was all just too ironic. I realized that his nonchalance about a "women in physics" controversy is exactly what the mad women are mad about.

My guess is that part of the reason people object to the suggestion that there could be a genetic factor creating a ceiling in women's scientific understanding, is that they want to argue that men have greated a ceiling of scientific advancement. It's like a liberal victim move. They want to be sure that men are doing everything they can to encourage women in science, that they are hyper-aware that "we need more women" in science or whatever.

The fact that the Unnamed Blogger Scientist had no interest in the story illustrates the exact unawareness that these women want to expunge. I told him that, and he replied "I can tell you, there's no conspiracy against women in science at universities. That's why I don't care."

Still, it's funny.