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Comment by Nohortax | Hacker News Reader

"I am definitely not believing that is has to do something with Biology. People telling “female are just less smart” or some bullshit like that are living under a rock and not in the 21st century."

I'm happy to read that. So many guys have hard thoughts about women on this topic. I'm nevertheless sad that women are not more present in "guy's stuff". They might reverse this way of thinking and put themselves forward. But the education even in developed countries is still deepening a gap gender. E.g. dollies/ make up/dance for girls, cars/ shirt/football for boys. We don't mix enough "gender interests" and we inculcate this difference in kids even not on purpose. I hope it's changing

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There could be a male biological advantage across the population without females being less smart as a population:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variability_hypothesis

But that's hard to separate from the fact that there are just so many more males in the pool of chess players.

Whether or not there is a difference in biology, most likely there is something much more overt that swamps that difference.

Girls get the message early on that their abilities are unwanted in areas that have traditionally been the province of boys. A bit later many get the message that they are appreciated for the sexual opportunity they represent and their abilities are minimized.

I've read too many stories of women who faced this in STEM subjects, and it is apparently even worse in the gaming community.

I played chess extensively as a young girl. I was in chess club throughout elementary and middle school. Friday night was tournament night. I was always the only girl there in a room of 100 guys. It's extremely daunting - especially because idiot elementary boys will make smug comments about getting an "easy" victory because they're playing The Girl. There was nothing more satisfying than watching their faces as I dismantled them move by move. It's a huge confidence builder to be underestimated and then win. I credit playing chess with my ability to stick it out in tech as I experience a lot of the same smug sexism. If you have a daughter that you want to be involved in tech, I highly highly recommend playing chess with her. It's a huge confidence builder and a great place where the only thing that matters is how good she is at the game.

There’s very convincing evidence that the average intelligence is the same for man and women, but the variance is slightly higher for men.

This means that you’ll find more males at the tails of the distribution, and guess where the chess champions are.

Speaking of scientific evidence, it is also well documented that men and women have different preferences in activities they like, since the very first few weeks of life. This might also play a role!

> E.g. dollies/ make up/dance for girls, cars/ shirt/football for boys. We don't mix enough "gender interests" and we inculcate this difference in kids even not on purpose. I hope it's changing

Another side of it would also be boys in girls hobbies I think. There is no reason boys can't dance, except cultural. It is perfectly fine sport/art.

I think that one can't exist without another.

I'm very interested in this male vs female subject with regards to games (chess, video games). I don't think it has to do with intellect, but there has to be some biological difference.

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of men and women being different biologically. Men are physically stronger, that's a fact. Why can't other differences exist?

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