The Evening Post and Mail

The Evening Post and Mail

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Half our brains

Half our brains

On the 19th Amendment, the Chinese Politburo, and what it says when systems or mere chauvinism exclude people from "the room where it happens"

Brian Gongol's avatar
Brian Gongol
Feb 24, 2025
1

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Half our brains
Share

Researchers have spent plenty of time and effort looking for differences, but there is no scientific evidence for a meaningful difference in general intelligence between males and females. To any clear-headed individual, there's nothing controversial in that factual statement.

â–  But it's worth observing that the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was only ratified in 1920. The judgment of women wasn't just excluded from the highest offices until just a century ago, it was mostly absent even from the voting booth.

Thanks for reading The Evening Post and Mail! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

â–  Any society, institution, or culture that excludes half its people from the decision-making process on account of sex is making a colossal and stupid mistake. It's literally the surrender of half of the available intelligence.

â–  And yet it still happens, either systematically or through the brute force of chauvinism. It is a matter of strategic stupidity that there are no women among the 24 members of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party: Rival powers like the United States benefit from that decision to self-handicap. It is statistically quite nearly impossible for the 24th most talented man in the country to have better judgment than the most talented woman.

â–  In any contest of judgment, the team most open to the contributions of all of its available talent stands the best chance of arriving at the best answers. Who gets excluded from the room when decision-making is taking place reveals quite a lot about whether the people doing the excluding care more about themselves or about the people they're ostensibly there to serve.

Thanks for reading The Evening Post and Mail! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

1

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Half our brains
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Expand the House
On Calvin Coolidge, orderly debate, and the need to expand the House in order to dilute the power of the cranks
Jan 9, 2023 â€¢ 
Brian Gongol
2

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Expand the House
Load balancing our cities
On macroeconomic forces, the original EPCOT vision, and what to do with America's fastest-shrinking counties
Apr 11, 2023 â€¢ 
Brian Gongol

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Load balancing our cities
Art is better than cigarettes
On $5 slots in Vegas, the library in Sheboygan, and vending machines for high culture
Apr 28, 2023 â€¢ 
Brian Gongol
2

Share this post

The Evening Post and Mail
The Evening Post and Mail
Art is better than cigarettes

Ready for more?

© 2025 Brian Gongol
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.