Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's not her fault. It's not her fault.

Where is Robin Williams when you need him?
Women will more often than not profess to be 'in the right' when it comes to arguing with their partners. And it would seem that they are never in the wrong when it comes to road accidents as well, a study has found. Eight out of ten women involved in a car crash denied it was their fault and looked for something - or someone - else to blame.
I don't think this is an instinctive behavior so much as it is a learned one. Male children seem to be every bit as inclined to attempt to escape responsibility as female children, but it's clear that adult women are much more inclined to try to avoid responsibility than adult men. This tends to indicate that the difference in behavior between the sexes has a societal cause rather than a biological one, although it falls well short of proving it. It could also be a consequence of the chemical cocktail to which everyone is subjected in adolescence.

But regardless of the causal factor, it is important for men to understand that few women are ever going to take responsibility for their words and actions in the way that most men are. This is in part because women communicate more directly from their emotional centers; how can anyone remember the verbal particulars of what is essentially a non-rational verbal torrent? When a woman isn't making sense, (such as when she's angry), or doesn't appear to be listening to herself while she's talking,(such as in a social setting), you can be relatively confident that she wouldn't be able to tell you what she said even if she very much wanted to. And she's not going to be inclined to take responsibility for something she can't even remember.

Now, as a man, you can either accept observable reality and deal with it accordingly or attempt to transcend it by virtue of your masculine willpower. Good luck with that one.

On a side note, one of the things I find annoying about the media's use of statistics is that they never bother accounting for the obvious. While men are 70 percent more likely to be involved in a serious crash than women, they also drive 63 percent more miles on an annual basis. So, the more relevant statistic would be that on an equivalent mile-for-mile basis, men are seven percent more likely to be involved in a serious crash than women. Is that really so hard?

19 comments:

sconzey said...

Actually, I think men are 4.3% more likely to crash than women which is, depending on the sample size, unlikely to be a statistically significant difference.

NicholasHoltman said...

Evidentally it is hard.

Exhibit A equals 170 male crashes per 163 distance unit equals 1.0429... male crashes per distance unit.

Exhibit B equals 100 male crashes per 100 distance unit equals 1 female crash per distance unit.

B is 4% smaller than A.

A is 4.21% larger than B.

NicholasHoltman said...

Anyway, have you ever met any journalists?

NicholasHoltman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NicholasHoltman said...

Ah, see? I still screwed it up.

B is 4.11% smaller than A.

A is 4.29% larger than B.

Anonymous said...

The "experts" can't properly examine statistics, let alone apply them and you're annoyed with the media???

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the film As Good As It Gets. In the film, Jack Nicholson portrays a writer. A secretary asks how he writes women so well. He replies: "I think of a man, and then I take away reason and accountability."

DaveD said...

I can't count the times I have caught a woman saying X=True follwed almost immediately by Y=True when X and Y are mutually exclusive statements. Sometimes even in the same sentence.

On a political note, this is why I don't think our president is a true alpha...he does the same thing often.

DD

Trust said...

@sconzey said...
Actually, I think men are 4.3% more likely to crash than women which is, depending on the sample size, unlikely to be a statistically significant difference.
___________

I also suspect that women are far less likely to be blamed for a crash, ticketed for a crash (or anything else), or have a crash reported, simply because they are women.

Both my sisters have warnings for speeding in the range of 20+ and 30+ over. My top warning was 10 over, and i've been cited for as little as 10 over and never more than 13 over. I've been pulled over half as often with twice as many tickets.

My wife was in an accident last year. She rear ended someone and took full responsibility for it. Her friend* who was with her tried to come up with every excuse in the book why she shouldn't be responsible, even arguing that "his hitch shouldn't have been on because he wasn't towing so you shouldn't have to pay." My wife said "the hitch doesn't matter, i hit him." I think she's an exception if my experience is any indication.

* On a side note, her friend definitely defends this "never responsible" mold. She is divorced and got the joint credit card in the settlement. After 5 years, her ex-husband asked her to transfer the balance to another card and close it because her 5 figure balance was hurting his credit report. She then argued "fine, you want to make decisions about the card, you pay it off" and changed the address to his. She even got a lawyer. She lost, unsurprisingly, but still argues he should pay it because he told her what to do with it. On one hand, i think she is smart enough to know better, but on the other hand I really don't think she thinks much at all...just rationalizing what is in her own self-interest. Kind of wish she wasn't friends with my wife.

Anonymous said...

This is of course directly related to your previous post about orbitals. Neither wanting to push them away entirely, or reel them in. Both would require some responsibility. "I don't know what it is, he just showed up and would not take a hint."

Like gravity, it just happens.

VD said...

Yes, Trust, you would do well to cut her out of your family's social life. She is a risk factor in the continuation of your marriage. But don't make the mistake of doing it openly by making a rational case for it.

I'll post on this later.

Trust said...

No question. I, like most married men over thirty, know how effective logic is in a female-dominated area.

That is, it's about as effective as attempting a field goal in the NBA finals. The rules don't apply.

indyguy77@sbcglobal.net said...

"That is, it's about as effective as attempting a field goal in the NBA finals. The rules don't apply."

Should I tell him, or does someone else wanna take this one? ;)

indyguy77@sbcglobal.net said...

Vox, while I understand why you say "cut the bitch out" it sure seems like the responsible women know how their friends are and despise it to a good extent.

My sister in law can barely stand some of her family. She doesn't seem to bother hiding her contempt, either. I really doubt the irresponsible ones will have much pull on her in the long run.

indyguy77@sbcglobal.net said...

Vox, while I understand why you say "cut the bitch out" it sure seems like the responsible women know how their friends are and despise it to a good extent.

My sister in law can barely stand some of her family. She doesn't seem to bother hiding her contempt, either. I really doubt the irresponsible ones will have much pull on her in the long run.

Trust said...

@ indyguy77@sbcglobal.net said...
"That is, it's about as effective as attempting a field goal in the NBA finals. The rules don't apply."
_______


LMAO. One phrase, two different meanings. I should know better than to post pre-coffee.

Let me rephrase:

"It's like running for a touchdown in the NBA finals. Rules just don't apply."

Doesn't sound as good though, wish there was a different name for "field goal" in the NBA.

I'll be laughing about my slip up all day.

black said...

"Yes, Trust, you would do well to cut her out of your family's social life. She is a risk factor in the continuation of your marriage. But don't make the mistake of doing it openly by making a rational case for it.

I'll post on this later."


Looking forward to this. My wife has family that are unhealthy. Interactions create distraction and the clean-up takes lots of time away from what's important.

Anonymous said...

Some men have been using car "accidents" as a way to commit suicide and make sure the life insurance goes to the family.

There's no good way to tell between sleeping at the wheel and a deliberate suicide attempt if done properly.

This may account for some of the difference

The Original Hermit said...

"I think men are 4.3% more likely to crash than women"

I am slightly dubious about even this difference. Among my acquaintances, I'm aware of a lot more women not reporting accidents than men. A few years back, my wife and another lady both backed into each other in a parking lot, both equally to blame. Neither of us even bothered reporting it. Every day, I see a lot more bad women drivers than men. Men tend to be more aggressive rather than careless, which can lead to worse accidents. But women seem to have a lot more minor accidents.

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