• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Who is emotionally stronger, women or men?

Are Women or Men Stronger Emotionally?


  • Total voters
    57

Ntharotep

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2015
Messages
1,503
Reaction score
663
Location
Florida
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
So. Typically speaking, men are seen as the colder and more rational under pressure of the sexes. Women are seen as making better emotional decisions as they are more compassionate and more able to empathize.
A few opposing thoughts on this:

Women's Brains are More Sensitive to Negative Emotions

Guess What? Men are More Emotionally Fragile Than Women

Is there a general rule for this or is it a crap shoot that depends on the wiring of each and every individual?

And...debate!
Or just discuss and philosophize. Either and/or...
 
So. Typically speaking, men are seen as the colder and more rational under pressure of the sexes. Women are seen as making better emotional decisions as they are more compassionate and more able to empathize.
A few opposing thoughts on this:

Women's Brains are More Sensitive to Negative Emotions

Guess What? Men are More Emotionally Fragile Than Women

Is there a general rule for this or is it a crap shoot that depends on the wiring of each and every individual?

And...debate!
Or just discuss and philosophize. Either and/or...

Just from personal experience I'd say it depends on the person. I know some men that are emotional roller coasters and some women that I would swear are Vulcan. And vice-versa.
 
Women are seen as making better emotional decisions as they are more compassionate and more able to empathize.
How does a decision based on emotion be "better"?
It seems as there needs to be a logical component to it to make it "better". The more logic the better. Which then leads it to being a more rational decision.

So it seems to me that the person making the less emotional and more logical decision is the one being more rational, be that person a man or a woman.
 
How does a decision based on emotion be "better"?
It seems as there needs to be a logical component to it to make it "better". The more logic the better. Which then leads it to being a more rational decision.

So it seems to me that the person making the less emotional and more logical decision is the one being more rational, be that person a man or a woman.

It's probably not difficult to guess how you'd answer the Trolley Dilemma.
 
Kobayashi Maru.

The Kobayashi Maru wasn't a thought experiment so much as a test in how to deal with a no-win situation. The Trolley Dilemma is more of a personal morality rorschach test, for lack of a better comparison.
 
The Kobayashi Maru wasn't a thought experiment so much as a test in how to deal with a no-win situation. The Trolley Dilemma is more of a personal morality rorschach test, for lack of a better comparison.
By acknowledging that the former is different by being a no-win situation the other must have a winning (better) choice.
What is it? :mrgreen:
 
The Kobayashi Maru wasn't a thought experiment so much as a test in how to deal with a no-win situation. The Trolley Dilemma is more of a personal morality rorschach test, for lack of a better comparison.

I'll admit, I don't get that. The Trolley Dilemma is an extreme, and therefore an easy, test of whether or not an individual will ever make a utilitarian decision, or whether they would simply pretend that "not-choosing" is anything but a choice.
 
So. Typically speaking, men are seen as the colder and more rational under pressure of the sexes. Women are seen as making better emotional decisions as they are more compassionate and more able to empathize.
A few opposing thoughts on this:

Women's Brains are More Sensitive to Negative Emotions

Guess What? Men are More Emotionally Fragile Than Women

Is there a general rule for this or is it a crap shoot that depends on the wiring of each and every individual?

And...debate!
Or just discuss and philosophize. Either and/or...

Well as far as the election goes, Hillary is stronger than cry baby Trump
 
I'll admit, I don't get that. The Trolley Dilemma is an extreme, and therefore an easy, test of whether or not an individual will ever make a utilitarian decision, or whether they would simply pretend that "not-choosing" is anything but a choice.

It's confusing to me as well. But as I've heard it, it contains two problems. The first is that by pulling the lever you are now a murderer because you've made a choice. That, however, is still over my head because inaction is still a choice. The second problem is that by pulling the lever you're officially playing God because you've made a life and death decision regarding the value of human life. And the problem with that is you've decided with zero prior information that multiple human lives are automatically worth more than one human life. And even if you did do the research on the accomplishments and potential of the five people versus the one, what gives you the authority to determine who has more value? Because one person has more shiny things than the other? Because one person would fare better on Jeopardy?

Still, though, the Trolley Problem has a degree of moral simplicity to it because of the relative physical aloofness of the Trolley conductor. Therefore, another dilemma was created to remove some of that ambiguity by removing the physical aloofness. In this example, you are a surgeon with five patients, all in need of crucial organs, and there are no transplant donors available to provide the organs. Then one day a perfect fit patient comes in for a standard checkup and you discover that his organs would be perfect for the five terminally ill patients. Do you take the healthy man's organs against his will to save five human lives?
 
Last edited:
On the subject of emotion and decision making, I would offer that emotion is not always a detriment to decision making.
This Article discusses the purpose of emotion in decision making. It is not a light read as a warning.

Edit: Is there a sex difference in determining whether to sacrifice one person to save five?
In the trolley scenario, it would be easier to approach it without emotion and look at the logic involved.
One such scenario makes it harder and involved a child with a deadly disease who is walking down the street. You have a chance to kill the child at a distance and save hundreds but there isn't time to evacuate the town before the child infects others.
Would a man or woman approach this differently (knowing there are other factors, such as a parent approaching the scenario differently, etc)?

But back to the discussion at hand. Emotional strength has purpose other than just in decision making. Empathy serves a lot of purpose in determining how to react to others or how to take them.
Including how to determine deception.
 
Last edited:
By acknowledging that the former is different by being a no-win situation the other must have a winning (better) choice.
What is it? :mrgreen:

Remember that all hands on the Starfleet test ship were killed. In the Trolley Problem you get to live to ponder the morality of your decision.
 
Remember that all hands on the Starfleet test ship were killed. In the Trolley Problem you get to live to ponder the morality of your decision.

Are you saying that you do not want to acknowledge that one choice is better than the others?
 
Are you saying that you do not want to acknowledge that one choice is better than the others?

Maybe the Transplant Problem would be a better test for you. See my response to cpwill.
 
Being stronger emotionally would refer to being better able to understand their emotions and deal with emotional issues correct? I would say women are in general better with emotional expression as well as understanding than men are. Does that mean that always showing your emotions or letting them making decisions for you is good? No, of course not. But men are oftentimes told from childhood to shut out their emotions and not deal with them. As a result, we don't really often have good control over emotions.
 
My wife is certainly way more emotional than I but I have met too many men and women who span the spectrum to feel comfortable painting a whole gender with a wide brush.
 
More feminist kerfuffle.
Is this a logical response to the debate at hand? Could you expound on your answer?
Or is emotion in general a feminine/threatening thing for you?
 
Maybe the Transplant Problem would be a better test for you. See my response to cpwill.

I see you do not want to acknowledge such, thus making your speculation on the ease of difficulty in guessing my choice, much more irrelevant than it already was.
 
Last edited:
How does a decision based on emotion be "better"?
It seems as there needs to be a logical component to it to make it "better". The more logic the better. Which then leads it to being a more rational decision.

So it seems to me that the person making the less emotional and more logical decision is the one being more rational, be that person a man or a woman.

Why do the two have to be exclusive?
Emotion and logic are not always at odds.
Responses lacking emotion are not always the best course either. Actions without conscience (which can be based in emotion) can be monstrous and just as without logic as overemotional responses.
 
Women because they don't hide their emotions
 
It's confusing to me as well. But as I've heard it, it contains two problems. The first is that by pulling the lever you are now a murderer because you've made a choice. That, however, is still over my head because inaction is still a choice. The second problem is that by pulling the lever you're officially playing God because you've made a life and death decision regarding the value of human life. And the problem with that is you've decided with zero prior information that multiple human lives are automatically worth more than one human life. And even if you did do the research on the accomplishments and potential of the five people versus the one, what gives you the authority to determine who has more value? Because one person has more shiny things than the other? Because one person would fare better on Jeopardy?

Still, though, the Trolley Problem has a degree of moral simplicity to it because of the relative physical aloofness of the Trolley conductor. Therefore, another dilemma was created to remove some of that ambiguity by removing the physical aloofness. In this example, you are a surgeon with five patients, all in need of crucial organs, and there are no transplant donors available to provide the organs. Then one day a perfect fit patient comes in for a standard checkup and you discover that his organs would be perfect for the five terminally ill patients. Do you take the healthy man's organs against his will to save five human lives?

That last one is easier than the trolley test. Far easier in fact, unless the guys dead, the people in need of organs are hosed they were preselected by nature for termination morally speaking, they are already dead its simply a matter of time. If the guy is alive and in good health it would be murder, plain and simple. Easy peasy. The trolley dilemma is a coin toss. You damned either way. Just wait to the last second to if circumstances change then make your choice. Besides I don't consider it to be a moral dilemma. Its simply a dilemma with no satisfactory answer and therefor whatever answer you pick is moral.
 
Are you saying that you do not want to acknowledge that one choice is better than the others?

The choice is morally equivalent and equally bad. It doesn't matter what choice you make, you are screwed in either test. One scenario you live though the other you don't. There is no "winning."
 
Back
Top Bottom