Are men still patronising? Marilyn vos Savant was found to have the highest IQ in the world — but that did not prevent men from telling her that she was stupid.
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Incredible story of world's smartest woman
Are men still patronising? Marilyn vos Savant was found to have the highest IQ in the world - but that did not prevent men from telling her that she was stupid.
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What's happening?
From an early age Marilyn vos Savant was recognised as extremely intelligent. She was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest IQA means of measuring human intelligence. A person's IQ is usually ascertained by making them sit a standardised test. Some have criticised these tests as a means of evaluating intelligence, claiming that they ignore much of what it means to be intelligent. in the world: 186.
As a result, Parade gave her a column to answer readers' questions. One was about the Monty Hall problem, named after the host of a game show.
Imagine a game show in which you have three doors to choose from. Behind one is a car - your prize if you make the right choice. Behind the other two are goats.
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Vos Savant explained that the probability of door 1 being the right choice was 1/3 at the beginning, and nothing that happened afterwards could change that. This meant that once door 3 was eliminated, the odds on door 2 must be 2/3.
Most of her critics agreed in the end. A maths professor who had written a letter offering to explain where she had gone wrong sent another to apologise: "I'm now eating humble pieTo admit that one was wrong or accept that one has been defeated. ."
His offer would now be described as "mansplaining". This means a man explaining something to a woman because he thinks he knows more than she does. Very often, he does not.
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Are men still patronising?
Yes! A word as clumsy as "mansplaining" would not have caught on otherwise. And there are equivalents in many other languages: "mecspliquer" in French and "herrklaren" in German, for example.
No! They cannot afford to be now that many top positions in politics and elsewhere are occupied by women, and sexism is no longer tolerated in most of the world's leading countries.
Keywords
IQ - A means of measuring human intelligence. A person's IQ is usually ascertained by making them sit a standardised test. Some have criticised these tests as a means of evaluating intelligence, claiming that they ignore much of what it means to be intelligent.
Humble pie - To admit that one was wrong or accept that one has been defeated.
Incredible story of world’s smartest woman
Glossary
IQ - A means of measuring human intelligence. A person’s IQ is usually ascertained by making them sit a standardised test. Some have criticised these tests as a means of evaluating intelligence, claiming that they ignore much of what it means to be intelligent.
Humble pie - To admit that one was wrong or accept that one has been defeated.