Delusions of Gender: how our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference by Cordelia Fine sounds like a book worth reading, particularly if it's as forthright in bashing junk science journalism as rcent reviewers such as Carol Tavris [1] and Dan Vergano [2] suggest. They respectively describe it as "... a witty and meticulously researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex differences ..." that "... turns the popular science book formula on its head." Good news if Fine's analysis is statistically solid, unlike so many nowadays (cf. Medicine and Statistics). It's tempting to get headlines and airtime and other forms of attention by exaggerating dramatic, unconfirmed results, especially on an emotionally-charged subject.
As the Chinese fortune cookie that I saw recently advised:
| Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it's enough. |
Instinct is good, evidence is better.
(cf. ModernPhrenology, CorrelationCausalityAndAstrology, DrawingTheLine, ...) - ^z - 2011-02-16