WHO IS SMARTER? MEN OR WOMEN?
A little over two thousand years ago, in the Sacred City of Athens, Greece, the world’s greatest philosopher, Plato, had this to say about Athena, the woman for whom the city was named:
“The ancients seem to have had the same opinion about Athena as do contemporary experts on Homer. Many of them say in their interpretations of the poet that he represents Athena as Understanding or Thought.
The maker of names seems to think the same sort of thing about the goddess… and indeed calls her by a still higher title, “divine intelligence” [theou noesis], as though he would say: This is she who has the mind better than others.
Nor shall we be far wrong in supposing that the author of it wished to identify this Goddess with moral intelligence [en ethei noesin], and therefore gave her the name ethonoe; which, however, either he or his successors have altered into what they thought a nicer form, and called her Athena”. (Plato, Cratylus, 407b)
Thus, we see that the ancient Greeks, accepted by all thinkers as the wisest people in Human history, thought that a woman was endowed with ‘Divine Intelligence.’
And yet, about two thousand years later, Giuseppe Verdi, probably the world’s best operatic composer, had this to say about women:
Italian words
La donna e mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
Muta d’accento e di pensiero.
Sempre un amablile leggiardo viso.
In pianto o in riso–e menzognero…
English words
Woman is flighty,
Like a feather in the wind.
She changes her mood and her thoughts.
She has a sweet and pretty face,
In tears or in laughter, she is always lying…
How could we have such startling differences in opinion by two extremely intelligent men?
(If you do not like opera, listen to Billy
Joel sing “She’s always a woman” where
he uses much stronger language.)
THE EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES
Humans, as do all animals, had to evolve their bodies and their minds in order to survive.
They also had to procreate. Procreation, amongst all the higher animals, requires two sexes. And, amongst humans, it requires that one of the sexes be available to care for the new infants. Since humans take many years to reach a state of self defense and the ability to survive, one of the two sexes had to develop sufficient skills to protect that infant, not only from predators of other species, but also of any danger from the opposite sex.
It turned out, after millions of years, that the defender of the infant, from any predator, including the other opposite sexed parent, was the female.
The female not only carried the infant through the entire period of pregnancy, but also protected that infant for the number of years that were required to make the infant self sufficient. That period of time could be as much as ten years.
It is quite obvious that the female had to be much more intelligent than the male, who was physically much stronger, and who could easily destroy both the female and the infant.
As we can see from all the evidence we have about early human creatures, a grouping of female, male and children evolved into what we call today: The Family.
Superficially, it looks as though the male is the leader of the family. This is because, from the perspective of survival, the male is the member of the family who defends that family from external predators. But, from the perspective of the infant and the female, the male is just as much a threat as external predators. It was necessary for the female, being physically weaker, to somehow control the male from destroying her and her children.
Giuseppe Verdi diagnosed the methodology succinctly in his famous aria, La donna e mobile. Muta d’accento e di pensiero. (Woman is changing. She changes her moods and her thoughts.)
Plato, however, diagnosed the woman’s thinking and her morality. The thinking and the morality are Divine. By “Divine” we mean that thinking is part of the plan of the Gods.
THE “PLAN” OF THE GODS
The “Plan” of the Gods is very obvious. It is to have a beautiful and harmonious garden on Earth, which the Gods in their heavenly home can look at and enjoy.
Gods have their emotions, their likes and dislikes and their own Godly plans.
Gods have always wanted perfection.
As Gottfried Leibnitz, the famous German philosopher, summed up God’s desire for the world: Since God is good and also omnipotent, and since he chose this world out of all possible world, This world must be “The Best of all Possible Worlds.”
CONCLUSION
In spite of the many problems that all humans must face, one has to admit that the Earth is beautiful and harmonious; and that of the human sexes who procreate other humans on this planet, the female has to be the most intelligent, or the human race would have been extinct and history would not exist.
IN ADDITION…
LIFE EXPECTANCY?
Women live SEVEN YEARS LONGER than men on the entire globe.
ANIMALS?
Female animals live longer and also care
for their young. It is a rare Male animal that cares
for the young. The one outstanding example
is the Australian EMU, a male birdie who
even washes the dishes.
SUMMARY
You can see that my criteria of intelligence
is simple…..SURVIVAL OF THE INDIVIDUAL
AND THE SPECIES.
