Okay, here's a tidbit that goes in the Honestly, I Don’t Know What to Make of This department:
Women overtake men in IQ tests for the first time in 100 years (but is it all down to multitasking?)
The Daily Mail goes on to report that, since IQ tests began a century ago, women collectively have generally scored about five points lower than men. But no longer. James Flynn, described as a world-renowned authority on IQ, is quoted:
“In the last 100 years the IQ scores of both men and women have risen but women’s have risen faster,” said Mr Flynn. “This is a consequence of modernity. The complexity of the modern world is making our brains adapt and raising our IQ.”
One possible explanation is that women’s lives have become more demanding as they multitask between raising a family and doing a job.
Another is that women have a slightly higher potential intelligence than men and are only now realizing it.
Needless to say, you’re going to interpret this wee factoid according to your views about gender. Radical feminists probably will use it to “prove” that staying at home was intellectually stultifying–or whatever.
So let me offer my own biased interpretation: if women are now testing higher than men, the very last thing we need is special treatment from the government to get ahead.