YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
by Joe McAdoo
Editor's note: While Rusty Saber columnist Joe McAdoo is taking some time off to frolic on the beach in Maui, SBJ is presenting some of the best of The Rusty Saber from Joe's book, "McAdoo About Nothing."
Scientists have long suspected what married men know for certain: Women and men think differently. Now comes the most recent research findings, reported in the journal Nature, that women's and men's brains are different. (By taking on the topic of women's brains, am I on dangerous ground or what?)
In case you missed all this brain talk in the media, scientific evidence has been amassed over the past 15 years to suggest that women are better at remembering the placement of objects in an area, fine motor coordination and language puzzles.
Men, on the other hand, are superior in visual-spatial abilities, mathematical reasoning and motor tasks involving projectiles, such as darts. I'm not making this up, men are better than women at throwing darts.
Please, all you Gloria Steinem disciples, don't write me nasty letters. I didn't conduct this research; I didn't say men can beat women at dart-throwing.
The latest study found that women, while performing some language tasks, use different parts of their brains than men do. They decode words better. The scientists were able to present magnetic resonance images of a male brain and a female brain. They offer proof that men's mental activity comes from one spot on the left side of the brain.
Women's comes from similar spots on both sides. Therefore, fewer fibers connect the two sides of the male brain than the female brain. What does this mean? Women's mental activity is more spread out through the brain. I suppose this shows that they are more verbally adept. Scientists believe this is why women are better able than men to express their emotions.
This accumulation of 15 years of research explains a lot to me. For instance, it explains the following conversation:
She: "It's not fair. I always tell you how I feel, but you never say anything. You just sit there watching football on the tube. Please, let's share our feelings."
He: "OK, OK. The Chiefs didn't make it to the Super Bowl again this year. I feel lousy about it. How do you feel?"
This left side/both sides of the brain revelation certainly explains to me how a woman can sit in the passenger side of the car, drink a Coke, read a road map and tell a man how he should drive all at the same time. It also explains why the same man, when he gets hopelessly lost, won't stop and ask for directions, but the woman will.
That lonely little spot hidden away in the left side of his brain doesn't allow him the mental capacity to think about anything but driving the car. She can effortlessly harass him because he's lost, drink her Coke, read the map, and look out the car window for someone to ask for directions without missing a beat. Her mental activity is spread all over her brain. He's stuck in one spot.
Knowing that women are superior at remembering the placement of objects in an area explains my wife's purse. It's stuffed with more things than it should be able to hold, yet she knows where everything is. I'll bet that I could verify the research finding if I were to blindfold my wife and take out each item of the purse one at a time in order. I'll bet real money that she could identify them.
I would hold up an item. She would say, without actually seeing the item; "Kleenex." Next: "Billfold." Next: "Kleenex." Next: "Kleenex." Next: "Car Keys." Next: "Kleenex." Next: "Credit Cards." Next: "A wad of Kleenex." Right on all the calls. All because women remember the placement of items in an area, like a purse.
Listen up, men of the world. Yours doesn't have to be a lost cause. Women decode words better than you and outperform you in some fine motor skills, but take heart. The next time a woman gangs up on you with both sides of her brain, play your left-brain trump card. Challenge her to a game of darts.
(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury College and a Springfield public relations consultant.)
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