How Cultural Myths turn into Scientific Myths

Discussion in 'The Red Room' started by Prufrock, Mar 29, 2010.

  1. Prufrock

    Prufrock Disturbing the Universe

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    It's amazing to recognize how our anthropological and cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity have painted such an inaccurate and enduring picture of how fertilization is actually carried out.

    This article is full of more recent information on how sperm and egg behave, and how romanticized scientific language has been used to describe the process in ways that have turned out to be not all that true, in ways that distort conclusions and skew research. It's a fascinating intersection of biology, anthropology, linguistics, and how these have shaped (or misshaped) our perceptions of ourselves.

    As the authors state, it's hard to study your own culture, your own mindset, because everything seems so normal. But to see it all spelt out like this, so plainly - it's humbling to recognize how we don't always realize how we think!

  2. Bailey

    Bailey It's always Christmas Eve Super Moderator

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    Some interesting ideas, but the problem with both ways of looking at things is that they attribute motivation to biological processes that have none.
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  3. mburtonk

    mburtonk mburtonkulous

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    Will come back to read this.
  4. Vignette

    Vignette In Limbo

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    While I agree with the concepts, the article comes across like it has something to prove, rather than present scientific fact.
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  5. Ash

    Ash how 'bout a kiss?

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    The author comes off as extremely insecure.
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  6. Vignette

    Vignette In Limbo

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    In a sense. But I know in the past I have read about sperm that release chemicals to hinder other sperm, so the competitive sperm image is not entirely untrue.

    Also, sperm.

    This I find extremely hard to believe. Through pinball like bouncing (i.e. random movement) sperm eventually find their way through the cervix, into the uterus, over to where the egg is hanging out and can suck them in? Wouldn't sperm be just as likely (more likely?) to bounce their way out of the vagina? Especially with gravity considered? WTF.
  7. mburtonk

    mburtonk mburtonkulous

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    There was just an article in Science about competitive sperm (I think it was in insects, though).
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  8. Captain X

    Captain X Responsible cookie control

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    There are some nice factoids there, but a lot of it reads like feminist insecurity - just based on the descriptions and wording used.
  9. Scott Hamilton Robert E Ron Paul Lee

    Scott Hamilton Robert E Ron Paul Lee Straight Awesome

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    My thoughts exactly. It's just a feminist pushing her worldview ahead of others' worldviews.
  10. Vignette

    Vignette In Limbo

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    :shock:

    I learned about this in a psychology class I took. People are far more likely to look for things that confirm their theory (or Zeitgeist, in this case) than look at things that might disprove it. The example we were given was to give people a series of numbers, e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and allow them to ask numbers that would fit in the pattern. In this case, the solution might be numbers bigger than one, but the pattern you give them leads them to believe even numbers. People are far more likely to continue asking you even numbers, 12, 14, 16, (confirmation or their hypothesis) than they are to ask odd numbers, which would put them on the right track, but they believe would not confirm their hypothesis.
  11. garamet

    garamet "The whole world is watching."

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    I don't know if the data's been updated, but some trials done in the 70s determined that two distinct types of sperm determined male/female zygotes.
  12. Eightball

    Eightball Fresh Meat

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    Interesting.
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  13. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    wastefully huge swarm of sperm weakly flops along, its members bumping into walls and flailing aimlessly through thick strands of mucus.

    How in the hell do my honeymoon videos keep getting leaked into the internet? :clyde:
  14. frontline

    frontline Hedonistic Glutton Staff Member Moderator

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    Pretty much my impression as well. But I can dig the phraseology used. The author is trying to provide counter point to a cultural perception. I guess the only way to do that is to go over the top in the other direction. In the mean time I found the contents of the article to be impressive enough that I will discuss it with Dr. Evil Jr. He will be fascinated to hear this (sans the emotional content).
  15. frontline

    frontline Hedonistic Glutton Staff Member Moderator

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    So I told Dr. Evil Jr the updated mechanics of fertilization (sans anthropomorphizing) and he said "So basically its just like real life where the women try to make the men do what they want"
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