Fritz your wits about your gender with … the Gender Genie!

_{Denyse O'Leary

March 29, 2008

Intelligent Design}

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Men and women communicate differently, an irritated commenter informed me over at Mindful Hack.

Science has settled the issue!

Well, I am not sure that the matter is simple enough to be “settled” by science.

And, as it happens, the Gender Genie has just popped out of its lamp or castaway bottle or whatever today’s genies use, to provide me with a handy tool.

Using an algorithm developed by Moshe Koppel, Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and Shlomo Argamon, Illinois Institute of Technology, you can find out whether the genie thinks you are a man or a woman by submitting a sample of your writing.

Given that the genie works best on texts of more than 500 words, I decided to submit my five most recent columns for ChristianWeek.

What do YOU think the Genie discovered from analyzing my writing?

Go here to find out, or to test your own writing, if you wish.

Also Today at The Mindful Hack

Neuroscience: Let the machine read your mind! We offer an instalment plan …

American Psychological Association reviewer likes The Spiritual Brain!

Neuroscientist Mario Bearegard’s New Dimensions Café interview

Monks lead protest for civil rights in Tibet

Social science: Why are the religious more charitable?

Neuroscience and the arts: But how does meat think?

Comments

Maybe a woman being taught to write by men produces a writer who is another type of writer, a writer who is morphing between male and female styles as situationally required? It could be a productive avenue to explore? Open a crack and let a little light shine on what's revealed!f.blair_{March 29, 2008
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I have offered a reason at the Hack as to why I think my writing samples turn out this way: I was taught to write by men.
As a man, I refuse any share of the blame.larrynormanfan_{March 29, 2008
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Rather than inciting hostility towards Dr. Dembski's work. Perhaps you should email Dr. Koppel. http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/~koppel/DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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F.Blair, I actually just tried it again, this time clicking non fiction and I scored an overwelmingly male score. So I don't know what to tell you.DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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Hi f.blair. It probably has something to do with the use of prepositions and pronouns. Amongst other things. I wouldn't be too quick to judge this quackery. As for your second question. I don't know enough about Dembski's work to comment.DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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Maybe they have that chromosome thing where they are really the opposite sex? Not you of course DD! Just speculating on Poe really, he was quite effeminate by all accounts!f.blair_{March 29, 2008
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Hi DoubleD, What makes you say that? And how do you know when you've reached maximal specified complexity?f.blair_{March 29, 2008
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But apparently so is Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe.DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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f.blair Hi, apparently my writing is effeminate. There may be some truth to that.DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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DeepDesign - and what was the answer?f.blair_{March 29, 2008
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I knew I recognized Moshe Koppel. He commented on NO FREE LUNCH. "Dembski lays the foundations for a research project aimed at answering one of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time: what is the maximal specified complexity that can be reasonably expected to emerge (in a given time frame) with and without various design assumptions." – Moshe Koppel, Professor of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Israel http://www.thedesignoflife.net/buzz.aspDeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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In fairness, the Genie probably works reasonably well when people simply write down whatever pops into their head. I don't deny that women and men show different communication patterns - when they are not inhibited by expectations of style. However, I am a professional writer who was trained by professional editors, and have practiced my craft for about 35 years. When people are taught specific styles - especially the formal conventions with which I am familiar - the differences between men and women non-fiction writers start to disappear. Could a test be arranged for an individual? I doubt it. A person like me - or O'Connell of the Times, who was informed by the Genie that her column on the Genie had been written by a man! - probably *couldn't* simply write whatever pops into our heads. Not after all these years of constant style correction.O'Leary_{March 29, 2008
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I submitted the children's book that I wrote to answer Richard Dawkins (a poetical narrative of about 1400 words) and the results were: Female Score: 1633, Male Score: 2229 Based on their feminine/masculine word lists, it seems mine comes out "male" because I used more prepositions than pronouns.Gerry Rzeppa_{March 29, 2008
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My own language sample consisted of 5 750-word (approx) columns on a variety of topics that had been composed and submitted seriatim, on my usual "science news of interest to people of faith" beat. It should be a good sample for the Genie to work with. Based on the results after a total of six tries (I also submitted the blog post), I think the Genie better hang on to that lamp and not float around waiting for a call from Harvard. As you will know, I have offered a reason at the Hack as to why I think my writing samples turn out this way: I was taught to write by men.O'Leary_{March 29, 2008
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Denyse I entered one of my blog posts about Paul Myers getting expelled from Expelled and it received a score of male = 226 female = 86 I entered one of yours on the same subject and it received a score of male = 330 female = 252 It appears you're not just more of a woman than I am, you're more of a man than I am too! Seriously though the man:woman ratio, rounded to the nearest whole integer, was 3:1 for me and 1:1 for you. The text I submitted was less than the recommended 500 words by half so maybe it didn't have enough to work with to reach a more definitive gender inference.DaveScot_{March 29, 2008
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According to this, I'm a woman. Or write like a woman. Whatever this means.DeepDesign_{March 29, 2008
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