权威杂志《经济学人》英文原版(整理完全版)文档格式.doc

权威杂志《经济学人》英文原版(整理完全版)文档格式.doc

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Menandwomenthinkdifferently.Butnotthatdifferently

INTHE1970stherewasafadforgivingdollstobabyboysandfire-enginestobabygirls.Theideawasthatdifferencesinbehaviourbetweenthesexesweresolelytheresultofupbringing:

cultureturnedwomenintoironers,knittersandchatterboxes,andmenintohammerers,drillersandsilenttypes.Switchingtoyswouldputanendtosexualsorting.Today,itisclearwhyitdidnot.Whenboysandgirlsareborn,theyarealreadydifferent,andtheyfavourdifferenttoysfromthebeginning.

Thatboysandgirls—andmenandwomen—areprogrammedbyevolutiontobehavedifferentlyfromoneanotherisnowwidelyaccepted.Surely,noonetodaywouldthinkofdoingwhatJohnMoney,ofJohnsHopkinsUniversity,didin1967:

amputatingthegenitaliaofaboywhohadsufferedabotchedcircumcision,andadvisingtheparentstobringhimupasagirl.Theexperimentdidn'

twork,andtheconsequencesweretragic.Butwhichofthedifferencesbetweenthesexesare“biological”,inthesensethattheyhavebeenhonedbyevolution,andwhichare“cultural”or“environmental”andmightmoreeasilybealteredbychangedcircumstances,isstillfiercelydebated.

ThesensitivityofthequestionwasshownlastyearbyafuroreatHarvardUniversity.LarrySummers,thenHarvard'

spresident,causedastormwhenhesuggestedthatinnateabilitycouldbeanimportantreasonwhythereweresofewwomeninthetoppositionsinmathematics,engineeringandthephysicalsciences.

Evenasapropositionfordiscussion,thisisunacceptabletosome.Butbiologicalexplanationsofhumanbehaviouraremakingacomebackasthegenerationofacademicsthatfearedthemasacovertwayofjustifyingeugenics,orofthwartingMarxistutopianism,isretiring.Thesuccessofneo-Darwinismhasprovidedanintellectualunderpinningfordiscussionaboutwhysomedifferencesbetweenthesexesmightbeinnate.Andnewscanningtechniqueshaveenabledresearcherstoexaminethebrain'

sinteriorwhileitisworking,showingthatmaleandfemalebrainsdo,atonelevel,operatedifferently.Theresults,however,donotalwayssupportpastcliché

saboutwhatthedifferencesinquestionactuallyare.

Differencesinbehaviourbetweenthesexesmust,insomeway,bereflectionsofsystematicdifferencesbetweenthebrainsofmalesandfemales.Suchdifferencescertainlyexist,butdrawinginferencesfromthemisnotaseasyasitmayappear.

Forastart,men'

sbrainsareabout9%largerthanthoseofwomen.Thatusedtobecitedasevidenceofmen'

ssupposedlygreaterintelligence.Actually,thedifferenceislargely（andprobablycompletely）explainedbythefactthatmenarebiggerthanwomen.Inrecentyears,moredetailedexaminationhasrefinedthepicture.Femalebrainshaveahigherpercentageofgreymatter（themanifestation,enbloc,ofthecentralbodiesofnervecells）,andthusalowerpercentageofwhitematter（themanifestationofthelong,thinfilamentsthatconnectnervecellstogether）,thanmalebrains.That,plusthefactthatinsomeregionsofthefemalebrain,nervecellsarepackedmoredenselythaninmen,meansthatthenumberofnervecellsinmaleandfemalebrainsmay

besimilar.

Oddly,though,themainconnectionbetweenthetwohemispheresofthebrain,whichisknownasthecorpuscallosumandismadeofwhitematter,isproportionatelysmallerinmenthanwomen.Thismayexplainwhymenuseonlyonesideofthebraintoprocesssomeproblemsforwhichwomenemploybothsides.

ThesedifferencesinstructureandwiringdonotappeartohaveanyinfluenceonintelligenceasmeasuredbyIQtests.Itdoes,however,seemthatthesexescarryoutthesetestsindifferentways.Inoneexample,wheremenandwomenperformequallywellinatestthatasksthemtoworkoutwhethernonsensewordsrhyme,brainscanningshowsthatwomenuseareasonboththerightandtheleftsidesofthebraintoaccomplishthetask.Men,bycontrast,useonlyareasontheleftside.Thereisalsoacorrelationbetweenmathematicalreasoningandtemporal-lobeactivityinmen—butnoneinwomen.Moregenerally,menseemtorelymoreontheirgreymatterfortheirIQ,whereaswomenrelymoreontheirwhitematter.

Americanexceptionalism

Theworld'

sbiggestinsurancemarketistoosplintered

KANSASCITY,Missouri,isknownmoreforitshistoricalroleasacattletownthanasafinancialhub.Butitistothismidwesterncity,America'

s26thlargest,thatregulatorsandinsuranceexecutivesfromaroundtheglobeheadwhentheywanttomakesenseoftheworld'

slargest—andoneofitsweirdest—insurancemarkets.

ForitisinKansasCitythattheNationalAssociationofInsuranceCommissioners（NAIC）ishoused.Itoverseesamarketaccountingforone-thirdofpremiumswrittenworldwide.OutsideKansasCity,themarketbecom