Neuroscientist Larry Cahill on the ‘neurosexism’ debate
>> No one seems to have a problem accepting that, on average, male and female
bodies differ in many, many ways. Why is it surprising or unacceptable that
this is true for the part of our body that we call “brain”?Because the differences between male and female "bodies", meaning anatomical
differences like sex characteristics, are obvious and self-evident, while
differences in brain structure are not and therefore require careful study.Further, because there are well-known and deeply entrenched cultural biases
that risk derailing this careful study and therefore any initial assumptions
that coincide with these cultural biases must be eliminated before serious
work can begin.Finally, because any result that just so happens, completely by chance, and
despite the scientists' best effort, to agree with preconceived notions about
"how things are" should be considered extremely suspicious and scrutinised
again, and again, and again, and again, and noone who really wants to
understand the relevant subjects should feel comfortable accepting such
results as settled, much less defend them as "scientific orthodoxy".In other words, because "bias" is as much a problem in science as it is in
society, and because in the science of sex differences it is doubly so.